Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
March 29, 2023.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UK Government have unveiled humanitarian interventions to provide integrated food, nutrition, sanitation and protection services in the Northeast.
The new project will also empower over 300,000 mothers and caregivers in the conflict affected region.
UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, yesterday (Wednesday), in Abuja, disclosed: “The first 1, 000 days of life of a child is an unmatched window of opportunity. UNICEF is grateful for the support of the FCDO to invest early in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in the world,’’
According to her, the new project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK Government.
She added that the children’s protection interventions are being implemented till March 2025 by UNICEF and other partners in 24 Local Councils of Borno and Yobe states.
According to her, the intervention aims to enhance dietary practices, home-based malnutrition screening skills, provision of high impact lifesaving nutrition interventions.
She said the nutritional interventions included the early identification and referral of acute malnutrition cases for treatment.
Besides, she added that the micronutrients supplementation is to prevent infections among children.
“These interventions are aimed at improving the survival of children affected by conflict,” she declared in the statement.
She further disclosed that 25% of children between the age of 12 and 23 months are not vaccinated.
According to her, the Northeast region has one of the highest numbers of unvaccinated children in Nigeria.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and National Immunization Coverage Survey (MICS-NICS 2021) also indicated that the region has one of the highest numbers of children not vaccinated against the child-killer diseases.
Data from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM 2021) shows that four per cent of the population in Borno and two per cent in Yobe have access to safe portable water.
“This led to 1.1 million people in the region to continue practicing open defecation,” she said, warning that this is a risk factor for malnutrition and stunting in children.
The three-year intervention project, will provide essential services and community structures for children, including birth registration and immunization services.
Other community-based services included nutrition counselling, cash transfer support, establishment of vegetable gardens, market-based sanitation and hygiene interventions, mothers’ groups, nutrition mobilisers and WASH Committees.
Her words: “It is heartwarming that through the capacity building and empowerment approach of this project, thousands of children will benefit from this intervention in the long term.”
End.
