UNICEF urges northern governors’ wives to prioritise breastfeeding, vaccination
The United Nations Children’s Fund has appealed to the Northern States Governors’ Wives Forum to prioritise breastfeeding, vaccination and antenatal care during its next meeting scheduled to hold in Gombe State.
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The UNICEF Chief Field Officer for Bauchi, Dr Tushar Rane, made this plea during a courtesy visit to the wife of the Gombe State Governor, Asma’u Yahaya.
Rane was in the state for a two-day regional stakeholders engagement meeting on the retention, transition and completion models of out-of-school children in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states.
She said, “I encourage your excellency to prioritise issues such as antenatal care, maternal/neonatal mortality, vaccination and breastfeeding in the forthcoming meeting of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum. It will go a long way to address issues around women and children.
“We are here for a two-day high-level consultation on education for the three states of Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe. It was gracefully, hosted by the Ministry of Education by the Honourable Commissioner on out-of-school children in the three states.”
The UNICEF chief noted that Gombe has improved in various indicators like child mortality, maternal health, exclusive breastfeeding and Water Sanitation and Hygiene.
On the growing number of out-of-school children, Rane said, “We believe the state is improving the lives of citizens from the recent passage of the child rights, social safety protection laws and payments of Universal Basic Education counterpart funding.
“Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world and the North-East accounts for 66 per cent of out-of-school children in the country.”
On her part, the Wife of Gombe State Governor, Asma’u Yahaya, said the state and Wives of the Northern States Governors’ Forum look forward to collaborating with UNICEF in achieving its objective.
Asma’u, who is the chairperson of the Forum, said she is aware of UNICEF efforts adding, “We all know what you have been doing and we know how committed you are. We are looking forward to working with you; our doors are open. We have an indefatigable Commissioner for Education. We are looking forward to working with you soon.”
PUNCH/Wumi
