COVID-19: Nigeria pledges $2.3bn to safeguard lives of women, children, adolescents

The Federal Government of Nigeria has pledged the sum of $2.3 billion from 2020-2028 to safeguard the health of women, children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced this Friday during the ‘Lives in the Balance’ global summit. The pledge is Nigeria’s commitment to the call to action issued by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) in response to the devastating effects of COVID-19.

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Over 2000 delegates from over 100 countries participated in the summit which was jointly convened by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), UHC2030 and CORE Group.

Dr Ehanire said the federal government was committed to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and actions that would arrest and reverse risks to women, children, and adolescents’ health and well-being during the pandemic and beyond.

He said, “Nigeria commits to protect the progress made in safe guarding the health and rights of women, children, adolescents and the elderly through the PMNCH COVID-19 call to action.

“By this endorsement, I reaffirm our commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage through improved primary healthcare and pledge our commitment to actions that will arrest and reverse the risks to women, children and adolescents’ health and well-being, during and after the COVID-I9 response and recovery, leaving no one behind.”

The federal government also committed to building a model in Nigeria that would cater to the needs of everyone, through strategic interventions that address the unique needs of children, adolescents, women and men.

Afghanistan, India, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico also announced domestic policies and financial commitments to improve the health of women, children and adolescents as part of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond during the summit.

Kenya pledged $2.2bn during 2021-2022, Liberia pledged $10.65m in 2021, and Afghanistan $176.6m during 2020-2023.

Former board Chair of PMNCH, and founder and chair of the Graça Machel Trust, Graça Machel, said women have been portrayed as victims of poverty and COVID-19 but that women were leaders who have showed the best leadership in the period of crisis. She said the unprecedented moment in history required everyone to ensure continuity of essential services for mothers, children, with a defined effort.

Helen Clark, Board Chair of PMNCH and former Prime Minister of New Zealand who also moderated the leadership dialogue, said leadership mattered greatly during a pandemic, and that the most effective COVID-19 responses were led by women. “They have been empathetic and have put health first,” she said.

The ‘Lives in the Balance’ summit took stock of how COVID-19 is impacting the progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and also galvanized a participatory approach from all stakeholders to ensure we can ‘do better’ during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The summit had representations from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, health professional associations, youth-led organizations, and grassroots campaign groups.

The summit also built on the successful Lives in the Balance: A COVID-19 Summit, in July this year, where a range of partners came together to call on global leaders to commit to PMNCH’s seven-point action plan for improving and increasing investment in health systems and social protection policies for women, children and adolescents as the world rebuilds in the wake of the pandemic.