VALUE

FEMALE
NETWORK
The Honourable Commissioner, September 7, 2023
Ministry of Health,
Kaduna,
Kaduna State.

Dear Sir/Ma,

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION AND INTIMATION ABOUT ABC 2023

Warm greetings to you.

Value Female Network (VFN) is a registered Youth/Women-led non-governmental organization committed to

addressing issues related to the achievement of gender equality with the aim of promoting and protecting the health
and rights of women and girls as well as creating a network of productive young people. Our Focus areas includes:
Child Rights Advocacy Against Harmful Practices, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child Marriage (CM), Girl
Child Education, Adolescent and Young People Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including Maternal and
Child Health, Gender Parity, Digital Skills Literacy, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Line with United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals. Through our sustained projects across Nigeria, VFN has reached over 74,000
adolescent girls, 218,000 young people, and 437 hard-to-reach communities in Nigeria.

The organization is the Implementing Partner for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for programs that
concern adolescents in Southwestern Nigeria. The UNFPA, upon review of FGM prevalence in Nigeria, identified
Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ekiti, Kaduna, and Kano as key states to participate in this year's edition of the annual adolescent
bootcamp, which will be hosted in Osun State.

The ABC is an innovative inclusive five-day camp that brings together in and out-of-school vulnerable adolescent girls
(the majority of the girls are at risk of FGM and child marriage) from FGM-prevalent communities under a controlled
environment for capacity building, life and vocational and skills acquisition, empowerment, Self-Defense, networking,
and mentorship. Cohorts of adolescent girls are provided with accurate and age-appropriate information on harmful
practices, sexual and reproductive health and rights, child marriage, and advocacy training using a fun and
participatory learning approach model. At the end of the camp, girls are named Anti-FGM champions and join an
alliance called the Girls Movement Against FGM. Six editions of the ABC have been implemented (2017–2022) in
Ekiti, Kwara, Osun, and Oyo states. The bootcamp has successfully built the capacities of 5346 adolescent girls.

The 2023 edition of the Adolescent Boot Camp with the theme “Girls Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges”
will be held in Osun State, hosting 500 adolescent girls across seven different states with a high prevalence of Female
Genital Mutilation in Nigeria: Osun, Kwara, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kaduna, and Kano. Both Kaduna and Kano will have
separate camps. Details of the camp are as stated below:

Date: 11th - 15th September, 2023

Venue for the Main Camp: Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria

Date: 12th - 14th September, 2023

Venue for Kaduna Camp: Kaduna State University, Kaduna State, Nigeria

The Adolescent Boot Camp is completely free for participants, and in addition, there will be logistics provisions
(transportation, feeding, and camp materials) for all participants.

While we thank you in advance for your favourable response, please accept the assurance of our esteemed regards.

Sincerely,

Dr Costly Aderibigbe-Saba Tobi Olanipekun

Executive Director, ABC ‘23 Coordinator,
Value Female Network Northern Nigeria
+2348134730893 +2348104000414
aderibigbecostly@gmail.com olanipekunoluwatobi@gmail.com

VFN House, Behind Federal Ministry of Agriculture, GRA, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
valuefemalework@gmail.com www.valuefemalenetwork.org