They stressed the importance of coordinated efforts aimed at supporting women’s wellbeing and promoting broader societal progress.
They made the call at a symposium themed “Women’s Voices in Focus,” organised by MESBA Promotions Limited and partners in Abuja, where participants discussed practical interventions to address increasing challenges affecting women nationwide.
Maimuna Abaji-Yahaya, Chief Executive Officer of MESBA and event Convener, highlighted the importance of expanding women’s access to education, economic opportunities and reproductive health information to enhance informed decision-making and empower vulnerable groups effectively.
Abaji-Yahaya, also a film producer and actor, explained that empowering and sensitising women and girls equipped them to make informed decisions that improved their health outcomes, strengthened resilience, and created long-term benefits within their communities.
She called for comprehensive policy reforms designed to strengthen families and communities, emphasising that such measures would ultimately promote a healthier society by addressing systemic factors contributing to vulnerabilities among women and girls.
According to her, the organisation will soon release a movie aimed at amplifying issues affecting women and girls while proposing practical solutions intended to inspire dialogue and motivate communities toward sustainable social improvement.
“I am looking at producing my next movie on the issue of teenage unwanted pregnancies,” she said, expressing concern that when a girl becomes pregnant too early, “it becomes her crime,” causing distressing stigma.
“It bothers me to know that when a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock too early, it becomes her crime,” she said, noting the shame, judgement and emotional strain many girls experience afterward.
“There is stigmatisation and isolation that goes with it. It is a chain reaction and you find a lot of things going wrong, and sometimes we even have to hide the child from the community,” she added.
“So, we want to talk about it.
“My movies are functional, very impactful movies and we treat issues that relate to people and are relatable to everyday life,” she said, reaffirming her commitment to advocacy.
Also speaking, Mr Adejoh Ibrahim, Artistic Director at MESBA and an actor, said production would soon begin for a new film titled “Fractured Dreams,” intended to highlight solutions addressing critical social issues affecting women and girls.
Miss Joy Giwa, Head Girl of Cherry Field College, Jikwoyi, identified causes of teenage pregnancy, including poor parental guidance, peer pressure, rape, growing technology influences, social media exposure and inadequate sex education contributing to increased vulnerability.
Similarly, Miss Aruwa Habibat-Ojone of the Naval Officers’ Wives Association school stressed stronger reproductive health awareness, improved parental guidance and better healthcare access as essential interventions for reducing unwanted pregnancies among teenagers in today’s society.
Panelists at the event, during a session on “Unwanted Pregnancies: Impact on the Family Unit and Society”, emphasised improved education access, sustained women’s empowerment and effective policy implementation to tackle persistent societal challenges impacting women and families. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
