By Nickie Imanguli, Coordinator for the International Youth Leadership Council

I have been involved with the sexual and reproductive rights and justice work for over three years and it never ceases to amaze me the reaction I get from some people when I explain to them exactly what it is I do at my new job as the International Youth Leadership Council (IYLC) coordinator. My initial approach in explaining my job was to go into detail about US international policy around sexual and reproductive rights and young people, but then I realized that the lengthy explanation is not necessary.  Now, when people ask, I tell them that I work with policy around basic human rights.

Article 1 in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Does that not mean that all young people deserve unconditional respect and equal treatment from society? Moreover, society, in the spirit of “brotherhood” has a responsibility to provide access to information and education that will allow young people to make healthy decisions about the well-being of their bodies.

By, Kike, front page blogger on Amplify

Gender discrimination, an ill that still festers in various recesses of our society. Even today we find that every woman has and is still suffering one form of gender discrimination or the other. This is an interview of a young lady who has suffered this in no small way. Her name and certain other facts have been withheld for obvious reasons.

Question: Could you please say where you are from?

Answer: I am from Bida, in Minna, Niger state. I am 19 years old.

Question: Tell us a bit about your family background?

Answer: My father had two wives who didn’t produce sons for him so he married my mum as his third wife. After my elder sister, myself and my younger sister, my mum gave birth to a boy.

Question: Why did your father insist on having a boy?

Answer: From where I come from it is viewed as a sign of weakness if a man had no sons so my dad had to have a son at all cost. In the village we stay in huts which are in compounds.

By Meredith Schonfeld-Hicks, State Strategies Program Manager

Realizing a vision for true youth adult partnerships is a big challenge.  Too often individuals and organizations wind up tokenizing youth and engaging them in partnerships that are not authentic.  But many great individuals and organizations are making the time and effort to develop authentic youth adult partnerships in which each party has the opportunity to make suggestions and decisions and in which the contribution of each is recognized and valued. A youth-adult partnership is one in which adults work in full partnership with young people on issues facing youth and/or on programs and policies affecting youth. These partnerships value the contributions of both parties and appreciate the differences the individuals bring to the relationship and their contributions to an end product or process.  

I was recently facilitating a youth-adult partnerships training with a group of people who were all working towards the goal of teen pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sex education in their communities. The room was filled with youth and adults from various community organizations throughout the state.  At first, many of the participants seemed really confident that they knew all about youth-adult partnerships and they were doing them really well. But as I began the training and explained the meaning behind true youth adult partnerships that value the contributions of both parties and share decision making, they seemed a little less sure and a bit anxious.

“We are all shocked and saddened by the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Throughout his long career, Dr. Tiller stood for one thing - - the health and safety of the patients he served.

For almost two decades, Dr. Tiller was repeatedly targeted by anti-abortion extremists, including having his clinic bombed and being shot. However, despite these incidents, he continued to practice because he believed that women had the right to make their own reproductive health decisions.

Our prayers go out to his family, colleagues and friends. We call on law enforcement to act swiftly to ensure that the person or persons responsible for this senseless act of violence is prosecuted.”

Send Dr. Tiller's family and staff a letter of sympathy and support.

News Articles on Dr. Tiller:

• Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Kansas Church (New York Times)
• Suspect Is Identified in Killing of Abortion Doctor (New York Times)
• In Memory of Dr. George Tiller: A Tireless Supporter of Women’s Dignity (RHRealityCheck)