The Nigerian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, is partnering with US-based organisation “Operation End Starvation“ to support efforts to combat hunger and child malnutrition.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Mohammed Pate, disclosed this when he led a delegation from the organisation and other agencies under the ministry to seek collaboration with the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on improving food security in Nigeria.
Professor Pate emphasised Nigeria’s commitment to addressing malnutrition through existing government frameworks.
He noted that the recently launched National Community Food Bank Programme, in partnership with the Office of the First Lady, was already making a positive impact across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
He said Nigeria was working to reduce the estimated 6.4 million cases of acute child malnutrition while also addressing the health needs of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
“A lot of good things are already happening in the country,” he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the proposed partnership, the Chief Executive Officer of Operation End Starvation, Mr Williams Moore, said ” the initiative, supported by a major grant from the US government and other global philanthropists, aimed to mobilise more than $1 billion annually to prevent child deaths caused by starvation.”
Moore said the foundation was encouraged by Nigeria’s efforts to tackle acute malnutrition and was seeking collaboration with the country through the global Operation End Starvation programme.
“We want to move one billion to end starvation in the next two years across sub-Saharan Africa. The burden is high but the capacity is also very high,” he said.
He stated that the US Department of State had approved Nigeria’s inclusion in the initiative and praised the country’s health team for its engagement.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said the level of expertise, commitment and dedication demonstrated by professionals extended across various sectors in Nigeria.
“It’s been a delight working with Prof. Pate, Dr Muyi and others. I also work with the Ministry of Education and others. The manpower we have now in the ministries is so wonderful,” she said.
Mrs Tinubu said Nigeria needed an overhaul, which she noted President Bola Tinubu was undertaking, adding that the country was making progress towards its goals.
“Nigeria deserves better and there is nothing we give to her that is too much because if the system works, it will ultimately come back to us,” she said.
The First Lady assured the delegation that any assistance provided would be put to good use by the health team.
Operation End Starvation, an initiative of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, aims to make Nigeria a primary location for demonstrating the impact of large-scale investment through direct government partnerships over the next two years.
The organisation is a non-profit public-private partnership initiative focused on ending child malnutrition and deaths caused by starvation across sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.
