The Ebonyi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency(SPHCDA) with support from Breakthrough Action-Nigeria(BA-N), a USAID flagship Social and Behaviour Change Project, has Inaugurated the State Ward Development Committee(WDC) executives.
The elected executives are to oversee the health and development needs of their wards and operation using the National Primary Healthcare Agency(NPHCDA) Ward Development Committee (WDC) as operational guideline.
The State WDC forum is a congregation of all LGA WDC Forum chairpersons across the 13 LGAs of Ebonyi state. The LGA WDC Forum comprises of all WDC chairpersons and their representatives across all the political wards of the Ebonyi.
During the inauguration, the Breakthrough Action-Nigeria(BA-N) State Coordinator, Ifeoma Chris-Okafor, explained that their mandate is to increase the seventeen(17) Priority Health Behaviors, through its Community Capacity Strengthening(CCS) approach.
She then noted that BA-N focuses on social change at the community level and also supports the State to build the capacity of various community structures such as the community leaders, TBAs, women groups, village and ward development committees (VDCs/WDCs) to recognize and identify their health needs and create a Community Health Action Resource Plan (CHARP) to collectively demand appropriate and quality health services, and further address their identified issues.
She further noted that BA-N also supports the state to empower communities to mobilize resources and increase community ownership and sustainability by developing systems to ensure community involvement and participation.
On her part, the Breakthrough Action-Nigeria(BA-N) Community Capacity Strengthening Officer, Ijeoma Chiemela, stated that the purpose of the WDC Forum both at the LGA and the State level was to Coordinate, Monitor and Supervise the activities of all the WDCs in different wards.
She also added that the forum will serve as an Advocacy and Cross-learning platform for all the WDCs for growth and capacity building, Stand as the Resource Mobilization Hub to raise funds and resources to support the activities of the WDCs and Serve as the database and electoral body for all the WDCs in the State.
Meanwhile Ikechukwu Nwali, the BA-N Community Capacity Strengthening Assistant highlighted that the Eze’s(Traditional Rulers) will serve as the patron of the WDC Forum.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike who was represented by the state Executive Secretary-State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Barry Oko, charged the newly elected executives to lead effectively and see to it that Ward Development Committees(WDCs) across Ebonyi state are coordinated effectively, become very functional and active.
She also urged them to see to it that all the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) are fully supervised to provide basic healthcare needs of the communities.
The program was attended by other SPHCDA Program Officers and LGA Administrative Secretaries(Directors PHCs), Eze’s-Traditional Rulers.
A highlight of the program was the election and the inauguration of the state WDC winners.
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