SID Initiative Gender, Equality Champions Pay Advocacy Visit To Health Ministry In Lagos

The Sustainable Impact and Development (SID) Initiative, together with its Gender Equality Champions, paid an advocacy visit to the Lagos State Ministry of Health on November 21, 2025.

The visit, held under the Gender Equality Fund (GEF) Project sponsored by Y+ Global, aimed to strengthen collaboration with the Ministry and present SID’s plan for the development of a youth-led and youth-focused communication toolkit.

During the meeting, SID’s Programme Officer, Ms. Gloria Williams, shared updates on the development of the Gender Equality Fund Project Communication Toolkit. She explained how the toolkit was designed to serve as a practical resource to address misinformation, stigma, and barriers to accessing youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria information and services.

Williams emphasised SID’s request for the Ministry to co-develop the toolkit as a state-endorsed document, ensuring wider credibility, ownership, and sustainable use across communities in Lagos State.

The Gender Equality Champions also highlighted their ongoing activities within the project. These included a mentorship session, radio discussions, and a social media advocacy campaign; all held between August and November 2025, as well as a three-day capacity-building training. These initiatives aim to amplify young voices and raise awareness on SRHR, HIV, and other health-related issues affecting adolescents and young people in the state.

Dr. Ayeni Olasumbo, director for Family Life and Nutrition at the Ministry of Health, warmly received the team and commended SID Initiative and the Gender Equality Champions for their youth-led efforts to improve health communication and services in the state.

Olasumbo expressed the Ministry’s support for collaboration and confirmed participation in the upcoming planning meeting to ensure broad-based input and inclusivity in developing the toolkit, strengthening its effectiveness and adoption across the state.

SID Initiative remains committed to building strong partnerships with government agencies and stakeholders to amplify the voices of young changemakers and ensure equal opportunities for young women and adolescents to thrive.

SID Initiative is a youth-led non-governmental organisation dedicated to advancing the SRHR of adolescents and young people in both urban and rural communities across Nigeria. Through capacity-building, digital innovation, advocacy, and comprehensive sexuality education, SID continues to drive youth-led solutions for gender equality and inclusive development.