The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UNICEF

Boko Haram destroyed 1,400 schools in Borno – UNICEF

The UN Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) said 1,400 schools have been damaged or destroyed in Borno as a result of years of Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

UNICEF stated this in its 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan for Northeast – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe – adding, less than 400 health facilities remained functional across the state.

“Only half of the 755 health facilities in Borno remain functional and nearly 1,400 schools have been damaged or destroyed.

“Many of these schools are unable to reopen for safety reasons. Over one million children are currently out of school.

“The protracted crisis has also compromised the physical safety and psychosocial well-being of 2.5 million children in north-east Nigeria, who require immediate assistance,” UNICEF said.

The UN agency said violence and conflict-related displacement had increased dramatically in Nigeria over the past decade.

“In the three most directly affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, 7.7 million people require humanitarian assistance.

“This includes 4.3 million children and 1.6 million internally displaced persons, more than half of whom are children.

“Ninety-two per cent of the internally displaced are located in the three north-eastern states.

“An estimated 400,000 children in 14 local government areas in Borno will be severely malnourished in 2018.

“Five local government areas in Yobe are experiencing global acute malnutrition rates of 10 to 20 per cent.

“An estimated 1.5 million people lack access to safe water – 940,000 in Borno, 480,000 in Adamawa and 80,000 in Yobe.

Read Also: Air Force Bombs Boko Haram in Sambisa

“As a result, vulnerable children are becoming acutely malnourished after repeated bouts of diarrheal disease,” the UN children’s agency said.

In 2018, UNICEF said it would continue to deliver an integrated intervention package to affected populations, in coordination with the Government, UN agencies, and non-governmental organisations.

To effectively scale up interventions, UNICEF said it had diversified and strengthened these partnerships with the aim of employing additional local partners in the response.

To improve the quality of its response, UNICEF said it was increasingly taking an integrated approach, especially among the health, nutrition and WASH sectors.

“UNICEF will work with community-based WASH committees to increase community mobilisation for hygiene promotion, including regular cleaning of latrines and maintenance of water points, as well as the dissemination of hygiene messages.

“A key aspect of this approach will be the integration of WASH facilities into schools, child-friendly spaces and health/nutrition centres, as well as teacher training on the provision of psychosocial support in classrooms.

`The Rapid Response Mechanism will be strengthened to deliver immediate life-saving assistance to highly vulnerable families, followed by a sectoral response,” ÙNICEF said.

NAN

February 2, 2018
Edo marshal plans to combat Lassa fever

The Edo Goverment has approved a marshal plan to contain the spread of Lassa fever and provision of essential materials for health centres to address any emergency in the state.
The state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr Paul Ohonbamu, disclosed this after the weekly State Executive Council (EXCO) meeting presided over by Gov. Godwin Obaseki in Benin on Wednesday.
Ohonbamu said the governor had taken proactive steps and met with stakeholders in the health sector and other allied sectors on how to address and prevent further spread of the disease.
He said that some of the steps taken include provision of potable water, dialysis machine and essential drugs at the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control, Irrua, and increased enlightenment campaigns.
The commissioner also said that the EXCO had approved N600 million as counterpart funding to enable the state government access N1.4 billion European Union and UNICEF funding for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.
The approval was sequel to the visit of the EU/UNICEF representatives on a courtesy visit to follow up on the WASH programme which had begun in two local government areas of the state.
“The project will cover provision of clean water as well as toilets and other sanitation facilities in rural communities.
“This is also aimed at reducing open defecation which is a menace in the rural areas,’’ he said.

January 31, 2018
Yobe rural communities demand water

Rural communities selected for construction of 488 water and sanitation facilities in Yobe have appealed to Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam to provide counterpart funds for UNICEF to execute the projects.

Spokesman of the benefitting communities, Mr Modu Masaba, made the appeal in an interview on Monday in Dapchi.

Modu said the communities widely celebrated the projects said to be jointly financed by UNICEF, Yobe Government and Bursari Local Government Council.

“The benefiting communities commend Yobe government for initiating the project and pleading for timely payment of counterpart fund by the state and Bursari local governments for UNICEF to provide its obligation,” Masaba said.

Read also: Yobe govt reunites 216 deportees from Libya with families

He said the construction of the water facilities would end the severe water problems faced by the communities and the health challenges of water borne related diseases.

“If these water facilities are provided, 70 per cent of health problems confronting the rural communities will be solved,” Masaba said.

Reacting, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, the General Manager, Yobe Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency ( RUWASSA ), said the project comprise 380 hand pump boreholes, 48 solar powered boreholes and 60 water and sanitation facilities in primary schools and health clinics.

Also, Alhaji Zanna Abatcha, the Chairman, Dapchi Local Government Council, said the project would be executed under a tripartite agreement between UNICEF, Yobe Government and Bursari council.

“UNICEF is committing N649.6 million, Yobe state government N263.8 million and Bursari local government council N111.3 million to the water and sanitation facilities in the communities,” the chairman said.

Zanna assured the preparedness of the state and local government council to meet their financial obligations for successful execution of the projects.

NAN

January 23, 2018
UNICEF provides uniform, bags to 12, 000 pupils in Adamawa

The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) has provided uniforms, bags and sandals to primary school pupils in seven local government areas affected by insurgency in Adamawa.

The Director, Social Mobilization, Adamawa State Universal Education Board, Hajiya Fadimatu Alfa, made the disclosure in an interview on Monday in Yola.

Alfa said the gesture was part of support from the fund to enhance school enrolment particularly that of the girl-child in the affected areas.

Alfa said over 8,000 girls in over 40 selected primary schools would receive the items.

Read also: 20,210 babies born in Nigeria on Jan. 1, says UNICEF

“There was an earlier supply of uniforms to over 4,000 pupils in all girls schools in the state who are not part of the latest supply,” Alfa said.

She said those to benefit from the latest supply were pupils in nursery and those in primary one to three.

The director said that UNICEF also provided desks for the schools alongside the rehabilitation of some classrooms.

“The interventions by UNICEF, was done through School-Based Management Committees of the affected schools who are provided with funds to do the job,” Alfa said.

She lauded UNICEF for its support to education and other programmes in the state, and reiterated the commitment of the board to collaborate with the fund to achieve maximum result.

NAN

January 15, 2018
Schools reopen in Maiduguri for 2nd term academic session

Borno State Ministry of Education had directed the re-opening of primary and secondary schools on January 8, after the Christmas and New Year break.

Academic activities resumed in most schools in Maiduguri metropolis, including temporary learning centres at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

In his comment, Alhaji Bulama Abiso, the Chairman, Borno chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), tasked teachers to comply with the resumption calendar.

Abiso said the teachers should ensure that they report to their posts and dedicate themselves to duty.

He also called on the state government to implement the N18, 000 minimum wage and pay the annual increment and promotion arrears to teachers particularly at basic education level.

Abiso noted that such measures were necessary to motivate teachers to put their best toward enhancing academic excellence.

“We commend the government over the reconstruction and rehabilitation of school structures destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents.

“Improvement of teachers’ welfare is imperative to provide enabling teaching and learning environment,” Abiso said.

Also, Master Abba Ahmad, a class 4 pupil at Sanda Kyaremi Primary School, expressed joy over the school resumption.

Ahmad said they were provided with bags and instructional materials by development organizations.

Maryam Muhammad, a 16-year old displaced person, called on the government to adopt proactive measures to enhance enrolment of displaced children in school.

She noted that some of the displaced children were attending classes in temporary learning centres at the Bakassi IDP camp.

“Most of us could not attend classes due to lack of space at the centre, I want to go back to school and called on the government to help me”.

Statistics of the United Nations Children Education Fund ( UNICEF ) showed that over 2, 295 teachers were killed and 19, 000 others displaced during years of insurgency in the state.

It also indicated that 1, 400 schools were destroyed since the start of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009.

The UN agency indicated further that three million children in the northeast are in need of support to keep learning.

It revealed that the organization was working closely with the government and partners to put children in the northeast back into learning environments.

According to the report, more than 525, 000 children had been enrolled in school in the 2017/2018 academic year, while over 37 temporary learning centres have been established, and about 92, 000 packs of learning materials distributed to help children continue their education.

“UNICEF’s education response in the northeast remains critically underfunded, with just 54 per cent of the $31.4 million appeal received, leaving a funding gap of $14.4 million,” it added.

NAN

January 8, 2018
20,210 babies born in Nigeria on Jan. 1, says UNICEF

Approximately 20,210 babies were born in Nigeria on New Year’s Day.

This represents the third largest population of newborns in the world on Jan. 1, 2018, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

UNICEF also said nearly 386,000 babies would be born worldwide on New Year’s Day, representing some 90 per cent in less developed regions.

The agency reported that Kiribati’s Christmas Island in the Pacific would most likely welcome 2018’s first baby while the U.S., its last.

Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in nine countries, according to UNICEF.

These are: India, 69,070; China, 44,760; Nigeria, 20,210; Pakistan, 14,910; Indonesia, 13,370; United States, 11,280; Democratic Republic of Congo, 9,400; Ethiopia, 9,020; and Bangladesh, 8,370.

While many babies would survive, some would not make it past their first day, UNICEF said.

Stefan Peterson, UNICEF’s Chief of Health, said on Monday that the agency was challenging nations around the world to make sure more newborns survive their first days of life.

“This New Year, UNICEF’s resolution is to help give every child more than an hour, more than a day, more than a month – more than survival,” Peterson said.

In 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year, according to the UN agency.

UNICEF said that for almost two million newborns, their first week was also their last.

In all, 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month, the global children’s agency disclosed.

UNICEF said more than 80 per cent of the children died from preventable and treatable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

Peterson stressed: “We call on governments and partners to join the fight to save millions of children’s lives by providing proven, low-cost solutions.”

Over the past two decades, the world has seen unprecedented progress in child survival, halving the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday to 5.6 million in 2016.

But in spite of these advances, there has been slower progress for newborns, UNICEF noted adding, babies dying in the first month account for 46 per cent of all deaths among children under five.

In February 2018, UNICEF would launch ‘Every Child Alive,’ a global campaign to demand and deliver affordable, quality health care solutions for every mother and newborn.

These include a steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, the presence of a skilled health attendant during birth, disinfecting the umbilical cord, breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, and skin-to-skin contact between the mother and child.

“We are now entering the era when all the world’s newborns should have the opportunity to see the 22nd century,” Peterson added.

Unfortunately, nearly half of the children born this year likely will not, the UNICEF official regretted.

“A child born in Sweden in January 2018 is most likely to live to 2100, while a child from Somalia would be unlikely to live beyond 2075,” he lamented.

January 3, 2018
50% of Nigerians living with HIV are adolescents – UNICEF

The United Nations Children Education Fund ( UNICEF ) said on Wednesday that 50 per cent of the 3.1 million Nigerians living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are adolescents, ranging from the age 15 to 24.

The Officer in-Charge of UNICEF Field Office in Kaduna, Dr. Idris Baba, made the disclosure at a one day retreats with journalists to support adolescents and young persons.

Baba said as the HIV prevalence rate is on the decline among adults, “it is unfortunately on the increase among adolescents.”

“HIV in adolescents remains a big concern, at least seven local government areas – Chikun, Igabi, Lere, Kagarko, Birnin Gwari, Jaba and Jema’a – have higher prevalence of HIV among adolescents in the state,” Dr. Baba said.

He said the organisation has scaled up support to tackle high HIV prevalence among adolescents in the seven LGAs.

According to him, only seven per cent of the adolescents surveyed at the beginning of the intervention programme in March had tested and received their HIV result.

He said the support being offered by UNICEF was on HIV prevention, treatment and care in the affected LGAs.

The official disclosed that UNICEF had budgeted about N200 million to run the Adolescent and Young Persons (AYP) programme in the LGAs.

He said despite the decrease in new HIV infections in the areas due to improved access to information, the rate of death among infected adolescents remained high.

December 13, 2017
UNICEF, NOA mobilises journalists to fight HIV in Kaduna

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund ( UNICEF ) and the National Orientation Agency ( NOA ) have mobilised 43 journalists to check the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS among Adolescent and Young Persons ( AYPs ) in Kaduna State.

The Officer in charge of UNICEF, Kaduna Field Office, Dr Idris Baba, said at a One-day Media Dialogue on AYPs HIV Intervention held in Zaria, that the move was necessary to curb the increasing HIV related deaths among AYPs.

Baba said that UNICEF had committed significant resources to supporting AYPs HIV intervention in the state, noting that much would not be achieved without support from the media.

“For various reasons ranging from gender, biological to socio-economic; young women have a higher HIV prevalence rate and were infected earlier in life than men of the same age group.

“So far, only about seven per cent of AYPs in the state knows their HIV status due to lack of HIV/AIDS awareness and because HIV services in health facilities are not youth-friendly.

“This is why UNICEF in collaboration with the state government launched the AYP-HIV intervention project, a combination of HIV counselling, testing and treatment.

“The project is being implemented in seven local government areas of Chikun, Igabi, Lere, Kagarko, Birnin Gwari, Jaba and Jema’a,’’ he said.

Baba explained that youths were not comfortable discussing HIV related issues with elderly people, adding that they felt comfortable with their peers and open up more.

“This means that we will break more grounds when we engage youths to sensitise their peers about the virus to increase demand for the services.

Read also: UNICEF spends N200m to tackle HIV in Kaduna

“It is for this reason that we trained 624 AYPs as demand creators, counsellors and testers for the project.

“468 are creating demand for HIV services, while 156 are providing HIV counselling and testing services in the seven LGAs,’’ he said.

Baba said the project had reached out to 147,196 AYPs with HIV information in the seven LGAs from August to date of which 39,927 were tested and received result.

“Our goal is to ensure that 90 per cent of HIV positive AYPs know their status, 90 per cent HIV positive placed on treatment and achieve 90 per cent viral load suppression among the HIV positive by 2020,’’ he said.

Earlier, the Media and External Relation Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Malam Rabiu Musa, had said the meeting was organised to discusse issues affecting AYPs in the state.

Musa said that the meeting provided the needed avenue to interact with journalists in Kaduna and design effective ways of reaching out to the AYPs through media reportage.

Also, Malam Lawal Haruna, a Deputy Director, NOA Kaduna Office, also said that media was crucial in winning the war against HIV in the state.

“This is because the media informs, educates and influences peoples’ opinion and decisions with the potential of reaching a large audience.

“We therefore, need the media to continue with their support of providing the needed awareness on HIV/AIDS among young persons on how to remain HIV free,’’ Haruna said.

NAN

December 13, 2017
UNICEF spends N200m to tackle HIV in Kaduna

The officer in-charge of UNICEF Field Office, Kaduna, Dr Idris Baba on Tuesday said the organisation has scaled up support to tackle high HIV prevalence among adolescents in seven local government areas of Kaduna State.

Baba, who made the disclosure in Zaria at a forum with media executives in the state, said: “HIV in adolescents remains a big concern; the seven LGAs have higher prevalence of HIV among adolescents in the state.”

According to him, only seven per cent of the adolescents surveyed at the beginning of the intervention programme in March had tested and received their HIV result.

He explained that the support being offered by UNICEF was on HIV prevention, treatment and care in the seven local areas.

The official disclosed that UNICEF had budgeted about N200 million to run the Adolescent and Young Persons (AYP) programme in Chikun, Igabi, Lere, Kagarko, Birnin Gwari, Jaba and Jema’a local government areas.

Read also: 160,000 died of AIDS-related illness, says UNICEF

He noted that in spite of the decrease in new HIV infections in the areas due to improved access to information, the rate of death among infected adolescents remained high.

The official stressed that the main objective was to raise AYP access to HIV testing from 20 to 40 per cent by the end of the intervention programme in May 2018, and increase condom usage among adolescents from 30 to 50 percent in the seven local areas.

He said the programme was also aimed at raising the use of anti retro viral therapy from one to 21 per cent among HIV positive persons and increase the number of schools providing Family Life Health Education from the present 25 per cent to 45 per cent.

Baba noted that UNICEF had trained no fewer than 1, 300 persons to facilitate the success of the programme in all the local government areas.

According to him, the programme has helped to achieve 52 per cent awareness on HIV due to improved access to information among adolescents in the seven local areas, while the number of those who had tested had gone up to 46.6 per cent.

NAN

December 12, 2017
UNICEF wants children protected from abuse, exploitation

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged government and the private sector to protect children from online abuse, exploitation, trafficking, cyber bullying and exposure to unsuitable materials.

Its Communication Specialist, Eva Hinds, said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that the Executive Director of the fund, Anthony Lake, made the call at the unveiling of annual flagship report on “The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a digital world.”

Hinds said Lake had noted that one out of three children worldwide used the internet.

He added that in spite of children’s massive online presence or usage, too little was done to protect them from the perils of the digital world and to increase their access to safe online content.

Lake, therefore, emphasised collective efforts by government, the private sector, children’s organisations, academia, families and children themselves to level the digital playing field and make the internet safer and more accessible for children.

The executive director said: “UNICEF report x-rays the different ways digital technology is affecting children’s lives and chances, identifying dangers, as well as opportunities.

“It argues that governments and the private sector have not kept up the pace of change, exposing children to new risks and harms and leaving millions of the most disadvantaged children behind.

“The report also examines how the internet increases children’s vulnerability to risks and harms, including misuse of their private information, access to harmful content, and cyber bullying.

“It notes the ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, which make online access for many children less supervised and potentially more dangerous.

“For better and for worse, digital technology is now an irreversible fact of our lives; digital world, our dual challenge is how to mitigate the harms while maximising the benefits of the internet for every child.”

The report, according to Lake, recommends that government, among others, should protect children’s privacy and identity online, as well as place them at the centre of digital policy.

He stressed the need for government and the private sector to advance ethical standards and practices that would protect and benefit children while they surf the internet.

December 12, 2017