Nigeria key in meeting world sustainable development goals target on child survival ― UNICEF

It has been opined that for the world to achieve its target on child survival and reduce mobility and mortality rates as contained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a lot depends on Nigeria as a nation fighting against all forms of issues militating against child survival.

The opinion was expressed by UNICEF Chief Field Service Coordinator for Nigeria, Dr Annefrida Kisesa-Mkusa, during an interview with newsmen in Gombe shortly after the opening ceremony of a two-day end of Year Review Meeting for Adamawa, Gombe, and Taraba States.

According to her, “if the issues of children in Nigeria are not solved, the world cannot achieve its target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) that relates to children”.

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She further stressed that “actually, when you look at the children of the world, Nigeria accounts for about 11 per cent of the Number. It also accounts for 30 per cent of children in Africa. In other words, if the issues of children in Nigeria are not solved, the world cannot achieve its SDG’s targets”.

Annefrida Kisesa-Mkusa also said that, the review offers opportunity to know the real situation on the ground adding that, “when we do reviews like this, we say we have achieved a lot, but when the surveys are made at the ground level, when we look at the children, you find out that the gaps are really big” .

“For example, in the survey done in 2018 for Nigeria, we found out that the under-five mortality rate is actually stagnant in some of the States and worst 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”, she explained.

She added that, in the review meeting, “we try to ask ourselves, what is not happening because something may not be going on according to plan, otherwise, we are spending a lot of human and financial resources but the results which we are achieving don’t seem too much compared to the resources otherwise, the surveys should be showing a big improvement”.

Earlier in his welcome address, Bhanu Pathak, the Chief of Field Office, Bauchi Field Office of UNICEF, said that the Field Office is working in six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa Plateau and Taraba States in the areas of health and HIV; Water and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); nutrition; education; child protection and social inclusion as it relates to children.