UNICEF, Group Want More Budgetary Allocations For Nutrition

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has called for increased and timely release of budgetary allocation to nutrition in Nigeria in 2019.
The Programme Manager, Health, CISLAC, Ms Chioma Kanu,made the call yesterday in Abuja at a two-day Social Media Conference on Sustainable Funding for Nutrition in Nigeria.
The Tide reports that CISLAC is currently implementing a project to influence budgetary process with support from the UNICEF in northern Nigeria.
The priority target states for nutrition intervention are: Jigawa, Niger, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Sokoto and Gombe.
Kanu, quoting a report, said Nigeria was one of the 20 countries responsible for 80 per cent of global child malnutrition.
She expressed sadness that about 45 per cent of all under five deaths were attributed to under nutrition, including low birth weight, which was a significance of maternal under nutrition.
“Approximately, 2.5 million Nigerians under five years are affected by malnutrition.
“This accounts for one tenth of the global total, meaning that nearly a thousand Nigerian children dies of malnutrition-related causes,’’ Kanu said.
She said that the advocacy was to influence state and federal budget process for improved nutrition allocation, release and accountability in Northern Nigeria.
“We want to see increased domestic investment for the scale up of Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in target states,’’ the programme manager said.
She appealed to civil society organisations and the media, to track and report, in order to create awareness of prevailing budgetary allocation to nutrition in the country.
According to her, UNICEF, like most donor agencies, were moving from service delivery orientation to advocacy, leaving the government to take full ownership of the health sector and reform the system for accountability, especially in the north.