At our current levels of financial support, NECSP is able to offer one program at the international level. As we develop and gain futher support – and as the idea of sustainable population begins to capture the popular imagination – we expect to add more international programs. If you have ideas or suggestions about programs that we should be offering, please contact us.

Adopt-A-Nation: Nigeria
It has been said that there is no global population problem, just 195 international population problems. But some of the world’s 195 countries, like Nigeria, are experiencing more dramatic population pressure than others. NECSP is proud to have adopted Nigeria as the focus of our international efforts. With the help of activists and donors like you, we raise money to help our partner organization, Population Media Center (PMC) of Shelburne VT, provide its unique programming for Nigeria’s citizens.

Population Media Center strives to improve the health and well-being of people in Nigeria through the use of entertainment-education strategies like serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience to promote positive behavior change. These programs have proved extremely effective.

75% of your donation goes directly to PMC’s Nigeria operations and 25% goes to fund NECSP’s grassroots education programming and our ongoing promotion of PMC’s good work.

Donate now in support of the NECSP & PMC partnership

More About Nigeria and Population Media Center
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and 8th most populous on the planet – tragically, it also has one of the highest growth rates (2.5% annually) and fertility rates (5.9) in the world! According to UN projections, Nigeria will be one of three countries in the world – along with India and the United States – that will account for most of the world's total population increase by 2050.

Health, health care, and general living conditions in Nigeria are poor. Life expectancy is 47 years and just over half the population has access to potable water and appropriate sanitation; the percentage is of children under five went up rather than down between 1990 and 2003 and infant mortality is 97.1 deaths per 1000 live births.

As of 2009, Population Media Center had been working in Nigeria for three years, helping to change the attitudes and behaviors that lead to population growth, the subjugation of women and girls, and a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In July 2007, PMC launched its second social content radio serial drama in northern Nigeria, Ruwan Dare (“Midnight Rain”). Ruwan Dare is focused on promoting reproductive health, enhancing knowledge and use of family planning services, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. After completing its first year of broadcasting, Ruwan Dare proved to be a hit.

To monitor the effects of the program on listeners, PMC-Nigeria has established 11 clinic research sites where exit interviews are being conducted to find out what is motivating clients to seek reproductive health and family planning services. Monitoring interviews conducted at reproductive health and family planning clinics with 220 clients in October-December 2007 showed that 55% of the clients reported that it was Ruwan Dare that had motivated their visit to the clinic.

A second round of monitoring from the same group of clinics was conducted from January – March of 2008, and it showed that 66% of clients reported that the program motivated them to seek family planning and reproductive health services. This increase of 11 percentage points provides additional evidence that midway through the course of its two year broadcast, Ruwan Dare is demonstrating a measurable impact on the lives of listeners in northern Nigeria.