Bauchi State Government has committed the sum of N100m for nutrition activities with the sum of N5m allocated for each of the Twenty local government councils in the State.
The disclosure was made by the Executive Chairman of Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed when he received an audience from the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) on an advocacy visit.
He said that the State is working to improve the malnutrition indices among children under five years of age considering the alarm raised over severe acute malnutrition in the state.
He noted that the recent Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), 2023/2024 shows that Bauchi State has a high rate of children with malnutrition.
Rilwanu Mohammed assured that efforts are being made to ensure that the situation is changed positively to give children life.
Speaking during the meeting, CS-SUNN Steering Committee Co-Chair Aji Robinson said that the advocacy visit was pushed for 6 months of paid maternity leave and two weeks of paternity leave for nursing mothers and fathers.
According to her, “We want a situation where breastfeeding mothers will have the opportunity to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months to burst the immunity of the baby.”
She added that other areas include the need for the government to establish breastfeeding corners in workplaces, timely release, and proper utilisation of nutrition funds.
Aji Robinson further said that the campaign needs a multi sectorial approach to address the problems of nutrition and maternal health.
The advocacy, according to her is in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The CS-SUNN team also visited the Ministries of Education, Water Resources, Agriculture, Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Local Government, and Chieftaincy Affairs, among others.
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