Nigeria plays a vital role on achieving SDG’s child survival – UNICEF

The United Nation Children Fund, UNICEF has said that Nigeria is plays a key role to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal’s, SDGs, child survival.

This was made known Monday, by the Chief Field Service Coordinator for Nigeria, Dr. Annefrida Kisesa-Mkusa during the opening ceremony of a two-day end of year review meeting for Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe States.

According to Kisesa-Mkusa,the world cannot achieve it SDG’s on child’s survival without first tackling the problem facing the Nigerian children.

She said  “Actually, when you look at the children of the world, Nigeria accounts for about 11 percent of children. It also accounts for 30 percent of children in Africa. In other words, if the issues of children in Nigeria are not solved, the world cannot achieve it’s SDG’s targets”. She said.

She explained the objective of the review is an opportunity to know the real situations the Nigerian children are facing.

“When we do reviews like this, we say we have achieved a lot, but when the surveys are done at the ground level, when we look at the children, you find out that the gaps are really big”.

“For example, the survey done in 2018 for Nigeria, we found out that the under-fives mortality rate is actually stagnant in some of the states and worse in some other states. This is in spite of all the resources UNICEF, other development partners as well as Governments have been using in these States”.

Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Chief Crowther Seth, represented by a Permanent Secretary, Hamman M. Mayo, said Adamawa is the only state enjoying Primary Health Care with support from UNICEF adding that 226 Primary Health Care facilities now operates twenty-four hours due to the support.

The Chief of UNICEF Field Officer Bauchi,  Bhanu Pathak said UNICEF is working in six states of Adamawa, Plateau, Jigawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba in health sectors and sensitization of HIV, Nutrition education , water sanitation , social inclusion and child protection related to children.