Entries are invited for the First Professor Babatunde Osotimehin Annual Essay Competition (PBOC). In honour of the life, times and work of the late professor of clinical pathology, former Nigerian Minister of Health and Executive Director of UNFPA between 2011 and 2017, young people are invited to submit entries on the theme- “Comprehensive Sexuality Education for the Adolescent Girl in Ghana”.
Osotimehin, despite his self effacing mien was resilient in seeking sustainable solutions to reproductive health issues facing young people and women. He was keen on adopting local solutions to address global challenges like access to family planning, unintended pregnancies, STIs, Maternal Mortality, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) etc, without deflecting attention from other possible solution sources.
The essay competition seeks to enrich conversation and research on the continual and untiring quest for brilliant solutions as a means to drive the much desired demographic dividends. Top 10 essay entries from the competition will be compiled into an anthology and launched during the award ceremony, which will be held in Accra in the margins of the African Girls Summit scheduled for August 2018.
Essay Topic:
“Childhood to Adulthood: The importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education for the Adolescent Girl’s healthy development in Ghana.”
Entries well articulated demonstrating latitudinal understanding of the issue and rich in suggesting smart solution and highlighting the roots of some of the problems are sought.
Benefits:
Prizes will be awarded to three individuals with the most outstanding essays.
- Winner will be awarded the sum of Five Thousand Ghana Cedis and a sponsored trip to attend the Family Planning Conference in Rwanda later this year.
- First Runner up will be awarded the sum of Three Thousand Ghana Cedis and an iPad.
- Second Runner up will be awarded the sum of Two Thousand Ghana Cedis, and a Smart Phone.
Guideline for Essay Entries:
- Essays must be independent and original;
- Entries should be between 2500 to 3000 words (references excluded);
- Essays must be written and typed in English using Arial font type, size 12 with single line spacing;
- All plagiarised essays will be disqualified;
- All resource materials used should be referenced using APA style;
- Participation is open only to Ghanaian citizens between ages 15 and 24 that are resident in Ghana;
- Only one entry is permitted per person;
- All entries must be original and hitherto unpublished. The copyright for all entries will be transfered to the organisers;
- Participants deem it fit for the organisers to use their details and entries for promotional purposes;
- All entries must be submitted on or before July 4th 2018 and must contain the name , address ,profession and age of entrant.
- Please note that entries that do not match the above specifics will be automatically disqualified.
How to make submissions.
Completed entries should be submitted in a Microsoft Word format to this email: ghana.info@unfpa.org
About Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin (1949-2017)
The late Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin was an internationally acclaimed global leader in public health, women’s empowerment and young people’s development, who initially served as Minister of Health in his native Nigeria before eventually becoming the Executive Director of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) on January 1, 2011 holding the rank of Under Secretary General of the United Nations, a position in which he led the organization until his death on June 4, 2017.
A universally acclaimed Physician of repute, Dr. Osotimehin was among others, a Professor of Clinical Pathology, Provost of the College of Medicine, Member of the UK’s Royal College of Physicians, Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies, as well as a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Osotimehin held positions as Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Director-General of the Nigerian National Agency for the Control of AIDS,
As Executive Director of UNFPA, he spearheaded efforts by the international community to advance the milestones established by governments at the International Conference on Population and Development, and notably introduced new reforms that enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency of UNFPA, with a more robust vision for improving the lives of women, adolescents and youth around the world. His leadership and advocacy with governments and other key stakeholders had a sharp focus on youth health and participation, marshaling global efforts towards eliminating gender-based violence and harmful practices as well as improving maternal health. Dr. Osotimehin passionately advocated for investment in the girl child as a pathway to sustainable development and worked assiduously with governments, academics and development partners to translate this to action. In recognition of his work, he was indeed given the title of "Honorary Woman".
Dr. Osotimehin’s last working visit to Ghana was in 2016 during which he addressed the Ghanaian Parliament on harnessing the youthful population of Africa for sustainable development.
