50% of SFH’s programme beneficiaries are the poor.

50% of rural pregnant women and children under 5 sleep under long lasting insecticide treated nets in at least two focus states.
Modern contraceptive prevalence rate increases from 11% to 16%.

Consistent condom use among high risk groups increases by 20%.

SFH MISSION

Society for Family Health has a mission to empower Nigerians, particularly the poor and vulnerable to lead healthier lives...more 

SFH visits SOS Village Gwagwalada

Children playing in the village

Societe Sociale (SOS) staff visited the SFH Nigeria office in September to seek collaboration with their health facility situated in SOS village Gwagwalada, Abuja. After this preliminary meeting, the Corporate Communications department of SFH Nigeria paid a visit to the SOS Village in Gwagwalada. The visit was indeed unlike any other as it relates to children and solidified the idea that such initiatives as SOS remain relevant and much needed in this society.

Being that the Society for Family Health, Nigeria is one of Nigeria’s largest non-governmental organisations with interventions in various health fields, such as child survival, malaria prevention and treatment, HIV and AIDS prevention and reproductive health; SFH Nigeria also implements life saving programmes in partnership with the public and private sectors and provides health products, clinical services and behaviour change communications in both urban and rural areas especially among the most vulnerable.

The SOS village is an initiative which caters to orphans and vulnerable children. It has two programmes – the Family Based Care (FBC) and the Family Strengthening Programme (FSP). The FSP in Gwagwalada currently caters to 40 families; the children reside with their biological parents outside the village, but SOS is responsible for their upkeep. The FBC programme admits abandoned babies and children and takes care of them from childhood to adolescence, when they can sustain themselves and then to adulthood and for the rest of their lives; as they say, from cradle to grave. The SOS children constantly interact with children in the society; for instance, the SOS primary school is open to children in the community. In addition, when the children reach adolescence they are moved to a youth home where they are further integrated into society.

Hajiya Rakiya of SFH Nigeria exchanging pleasantries with staff
of SOS Village Gwagwalada

The Gwagwalada SOS village is four years old and is made up of 12 families, a Mother, an Auntie and 10 children who are situated in a family bungalow in the compound; the Village Director is the Father for the 12 Mothers and total of 120 children. The children come from all over Nigeria mostly from Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun. The major language spoken in the village is English and the mothers have autonomy to teach the children other languages as well as expose them to their individual religion. The health facility provides services to the children and the communities that are around the SOS village.
SFH Nigeria staff received a tour of the large, beautifully maintained compound.  The functionality and humane nature of all the staff encountered was impressive and fascinating. Hajiya Rakiya ultimately expressed that “it was a heart-warming experience!”

“Society for Family Health Nigeria…Creating Change, Enhancing Lives”