Wise Up Youth Health Campaign Takes Centre Stage as Calabar Carnival Marks 20 Years, CR- SACA Hails UNFPA for Integrated Service Delivery. By Raymond Enoch
As Carnival Calabar gathers momentum for its landmark 20th anniversary, the Cross River State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has launched an integrated youth health campaign aimed at expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services during Africa’s biggest street festival.
The campaign, known as Wise Up Carnival Calabar, commenced on December 1 to coincide with World AIDS Day and will run through December 29, the date of the main carnival parade. It targets adolescents and young people attending the month-long festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the southern Nigerian city each year.
Launched in 2016, Wise Up has evolved into UNFPA’s flagship youth-focused intervention during Carnival Calabar, leveraging the scale and visibility of the cultural event to promote HIV prevention, condom use, family planning, gender-based violence (GBV) awareness and healthier lifestyle choices.
This year’s campaign is being coordinated by the Cross River State Agency for the Control of AIDS (CR-SACA) in collaboration with the state Ministry of Health, UNFPA, youth networks and development partners, reflecting a deliberate shift toward stronger state leadership, integration and sustainability.
Throughout the carnival season, daily services are being delivered at a UNFPA-supported Wise Up booth located at the Calabar Christmas Village, a central hub of festival activities. Available services include HIV testing and counselling, family planning, basic medical screenings, medical consultations and referrals, health education, GBV counselling and referral services, as well as condom distribution accompanied by sexually transmitted infection (STI) information.
The integrated approach is designed to reduce missed prevention opportunities during mass gatherings, periods when young people are considered more vulnerable to health risks due to increased social interaction and mobility.
The Cross River State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to taking ownership of the initiative and expanding integrated service delivery during major public events and festivals, positioning health interventions within spaces where young people naturally congregate.
Plans have also been announced for the establishment of a Partners’ Complex in Calabar, aimed at strengthening coordination among development partners delivering health and humanitarian services across the state.
Cross Rivers-SACA has described the Wise Up campaign as a strategic response to declining donor funding and rising service demands, emphasizing integration as a pathway to maintaining visibility, service continuity and effective referrals during high-demand periods.
UNFPA officials say the initiative is intentionally designed to leverage the annual influx of young people into Cross River State during the carnival season, using celebration as an entry point for promoting safer behaviours, condom use and access to essential health services, while encouraging long-term state ownership beyond donor-driven funding.
This year’s campaign carries the theme “Your Choice Leaves Traces,” aligning with Carnival Calabar’s 20th anniversary theme, “Traces of Time.” The message underscores how decisions made during moments of celebration can have lasting health and social consequences.
The campaign aligns with UNFPA’s Three Transformative Results—ending unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices—while also supporting Cross River State’s priorities on HIV prevention, adolescent health and integrated primary healthcare.
Peak campaign activities will coincide with the main carnival parade on December 29, when Wise Up volunteers and partners will participate as a non-competing band, alongside road walks, condom and information material distribution, and high-visibility health messaging along the carnival route.
Launched in 2005, Carnival Calabar has grown into one of Africa’s most prominent cultural festivals and remains a major driver of tourism, youth engagement and economic activity in southern Nigeria as it celebrates two decades in 2025.
