The Jigawa State Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have agreed to deepen their partnership to advance child welfare, social protection and human development in Jigawa State.
The commitment was reached when the Chief of the UNICEF Kano Field Office, Mr Shafeeq Ur-Rehman, paid a courtesy visit to the Government House in Dutse alongside members of his management team.
The development was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Hamisu Mohammed Gumel.
The Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi, congratulated Mr Shafeeq Ur-Rehman on his appointment, describing it as timely for both Jigawa State and the North-West region.
He reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to implement policies and programmes that enhance the well-being of children, women and other vulnerable groups.
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The Governor praised UNICEF for its longstanding support for Jigawa, noting that the partnership, which began shortly after the state’s creation in 1991, has evolved into a strategic development alliance focused on improving the quality of life for children and women.
He said the collaboration has produced tangible results in healthcare, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection and social policy, adding that the interventions align with the state’s Greater Jigawa Vision and his administration’s 12-Point Agenda.
Governor Namadi also recalled the recent North-West High-Level Policy Dialogue on reducing multidimensional poverty through innovative financing and expanded social protection systems, coordinated by UNICEF under the North-West Governors’ Forum.
According to him, the resolutions reached at the forum complement Jigawa’s development priorities, including tackling poverty, expanding child-focused social protection, reducing malnutrition, increasing school enrolment, strengthening early childhood education, improving primary healthcare and immunisation, and providing greater access to safe water and sanitation.
Highlighting the state’s achievements, the governor said findings from the 2023–2024 National Demographic and Health Survey showed a significant decline in moderate and severe malnutrition across Jigawa.
The Governor noted that Jigawa has maintained its status as Nigeria’s first Open Defecation Free (ODF) state since achieving the milestone in 2023, while the state’s Back-to-School Initiative has returned hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children to the classroom.
