The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the Katsina State Government to adopt child-sensitive budgeting to improve the welfare and development of the state’s 4.5 million children.
Mr. Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah, Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, made the call during a media dialogue on child-sensitive budgeting and planning held in Katsina.
The event was organized by the UNICEF Kano Field Office in collaboration with the Katsina State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
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Farah emphasized that prioritizing children in budgetary decisions is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty and ensuring a brighter future for the state.
The dialogue was convened
To engage with journalist, the CSOs and representatives of the State’s MDAs on the importance of increasing budgetary allocation on the lives of children
Mr. Farah regretted that the government’s approved social sector budget has continued to decline, from 38.57 per cent in 2016 to 12.98 per cent in 2020, saying that that UNICEF was worried against the backdrop of unflattering statistics skewed against Katsina’s 4.5 million children.
According to the UNICEF Chief, “one in six children in Katsina State die before celebrating their fifth birthday, a stark reminder of the urgent need to strengthen child survival interventions.
“Only 41 per cent of children are fully immunised, leaving the majority vulnerable to preventable and life-threatening diseases.
“Three in four children (75.5%) in Katsina are multidimensionality poor, lacking access to essential services such as health, education and adequate nutrition.
“Over 6 in 10 children (61.2%) live in monetary poverty, severely limiting household capacity to meet their basic needs.
“One-third of children (33.3%) are out of school at the primary level, undermining the state’s future human capital and economic growth.
“Only 23.4 per cent of children aged 6–23 months receive the minimum acceptable diet, a major barrier to healthy growth and brain development.
“More than half (51.3%) of children under five are stunted, indicating chronic malnutrition with long-term consequences on health, learning, and productivity.
Mr Farah warned that in order to change the narrative about these alarming social indicators, the budget situation needs to be reversed.
He maintained that Children represent over half of Katsina’s population and investing in children, in their health, nutrition, education, protection and participation, is not charity; it is the most strategic investment Katsina State can make
State Commissioner of Budget and Economic planning, Dr. Tijjani Umar said Katsina State Government has been doing its best to protect the rights of children
“Katsina is among the most populated states in Nigeria, with an estimated population of 10 million; out of this, 4,500,000 are children between 0-14 years.
He expressed the believe that with that key stakeholders sitting together to strategise on the issue, the positive outcome toward increasing child financing that will impact children and to reduce the trend analysis for the State can be assured.
He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to improving the lives of children in the state.
“Our ministry wishes to reaffirm its full commitment to ensuring that child-sensitive financing is projected in the next year’s budget,” he concluded.