Jigawa Govt, UNICEF unveils new Workplan, targets grassroots community
From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
The Jigawa state government and United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF), organised a one day 2024 end year review meeting and 2025 – 2027 workplan consultation.
The meeting which held at Manpower Development Institute Dutse on Monday involved both UNICEF team from Kano field office and representative from various Jigawa state Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Speaking at the meeting, Macheal Banda the UNICEF officer in charge Kano field office who represented the chief of Kano field office Rahama Muhammad said, a lot of tremendous progress have been achieved within the year 2024.
He identified priority sectors of progress as water and Sanitation open Defecation free, education, health, reducing out of schools children, Nutrition, child protection, reducing poverty through social policy programming, Cash transfer and child birth certification.
“What we are doing today is to take stuck statistically with evidence of that progress towards realization of children right. The meeting is importance for three things: to take stuck of what we have done, to ensure that we take care of the changes in the environment for programming between 2002 and now as a lot happened, and reposition our self strategically to work more on local community level” Banda said.
According to him, the new Workplan focuses more on education: reduce of out of schools children and improve learning outcomes (literacy and numeracy), Water and Sanitation: open Defecation Free, Health: Nutrition and zero dose immunization, child protection and child right : improve on birth certification and reducing poverty through Cash transfer, reducing neonatal and maternal mortality among many other important matters.
The UNICEF officer in charge appreciated collaboration across many sectors in the state and commended governor Malam Umar Namadi for his committiments not only interm of attending the priority but also in putting resources on the table where it matters.
He then finally urged government and all other stakeholders to continue supporting the UNICEF effort on the realization of children right as well as ensuring the extension of maternity leave from three to six months.
