The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF has secured a grant of fifteen million Canadian dollars to improve health indices among adolescent girls in Kaduna, Kebbi, and Bauchi states over the next five years.
UNICEF Health Specialist in Abuja, Dr. Fatima Cheshi, announced this in Kaduna at the opening of a two-day engagement meeting with heads of ministries, agencies, and departments in the health sector.
Dr. Fatima explained that the grant, donated by Global Affairs Canada through UNICEF, is aimed at strengthening the capacity of health workers to effectively address the health and nutritional needs of adolescent girls, as well as children under the age of five.
“The grant is targeted at strengthening the capacity of government institutions at the state and local government levels to deliver on sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on adolescent girls of childbearing age and children under five.”
“The grant is from Global Affairs Canada and was given to UNICEF to support the three states of Kaduna, Kebbi, and Bauchi.”
“It is a five-year grant worth fifteen million Canadian dollars, aimed at improving health outcomes for adolescent girls, particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health, to enable them reach their full potential and contribute to national development.”
In a speech, Permanent Secretary, Kaduna state Ministry of Health Dr. Aisha Abubakar who appreciated UNICEF for the gesture emphasized that the State government was committed to upgrading large scale infrastructure and capacity building for health care workers on adolescent and youth friendly health services.
“The state government is working tirelessly with partners through several measures, including large-scale infrastructural upgrades, capacity building for healthcare workers on adolescent and youth-friendly health services, gender-responsive programming, community engagement, investment in girls’ education, increased school enrolment drives, and strategic investment in family planning.”
“Yesterday, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Health, we launched the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII). MAMII will serve as a platform to harness evidence on the causes of maternal mortality rate (MMR) and neonatal mortality rate (NMR) at all levels, to strengthen sexual and reproductive health (SRH), maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), and nutrition interventions across the state.”
Cov/SHINDONG BALA
