Efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in Lagos State have received a boost through a partnership between the developers of Alaro City and the Lagos State Office of Civic Engagement, whose Mother, Infant and Child (MICH) Program provides disadvantaged pregnant women in the state with nutritious food items to improve the health of the mother and aid the brain development of the child.
The MICH Program, which was flagged off in July 2020 by First Lady Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, provides pregnant women in all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state with basic food items during and after pregnancy and delivery.
It targets less privileged and pregnant women living below the poverty levels within the state.
Speaking on the essence of the partnership, Head of Operations at Alaro City, Odema Ogbeh, said the MICH Program aligned with two of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pillars: community and health.
“We always strive to ensure our CSR programs create long term benefits for our host communities, and the MICH Program allows us to do this in a potentially life transforming way. The Lagos State Government, which has been an excellent partner on our Alaro City project, has continued to show visionary leadership in improving the living conditions of Lagos residents. We are happy to support Lagos State initiatives aimed at achieving this noble objective,” Ogbe said.
Alaro City is planned as a 2,000-hectare mixed-income, city-scale development with industrial and logistics locations, complemented by offices, homes, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, entertainment and 150 hectares (370 acres) of parks and open spaces.
The new city, a model for Public-Private-Partnerships, which are a key focus for the Lagos State Government, is a joint venture between Rendeavour and Lagos State.
Over 3.5km of initial road networks with rain garden drainages and cycling lanes are under construction; as well as power, water and sewerage infrastructure.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while launching the latest phase of the initiative targeting 5000 women, said “The MICH programme is a component of the ‘Womb to School’ initiative, which is a basket of social services aimed at supporting the development of socially responsible citizens from the womb through infancy, childhood, and into adulthood.”
Through the initiative, he said the government would reach out to indigent pregnant women in the state to ensure they are well catered for during the period of their pregnancy to ensure safe delivery, healthy mother and child.
“Our target is to reach 5,000 underprivileged pregnant women who would be selected by doctors and specialists in each primary health care centres across the state to access the MICH food packs, which contain recommended daily nutritional composition of protein, carbohydrate, lactose, milk fat, fiber; vitamins a, b, d3, e, b1, b2, b6, b12, calcium and folic acid,” he said,
Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Princess Aderemi Adebowale, said the MICH Program targets 15,000 beneficiaries within its first three years and would benefit from support from public and private organisations.
“We are pleased with our partnership with Alaro City, which supports us in our work to ensure social cohesion through a systematic build-citizens-from-the-womb strategy, with particular focus on the development of the unborn child into civically responsible and collaborative citizens,” she said.
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