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Tag: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

  • Over 1.5m stunted children in South-West, Edo – UNICEF

    Over 1.5m stunted children in South-West, Edo – UNICEF

    United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) says over 1.5 million children under five years in the South-West and Edo needs urgent intervention to address their stunted growth.

    Mrs Ada Ezeogu, the UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Akure Field Office, made this known at a two-day media interaction on child nutrition in the South-West.
    The forum was organised by the Ogun Ministry of Information and Strategy in collaboration with UNICEF on Tuesday in Ibadan.
    According to her, an estimated 17 million or 43.6 per cent of children in Nigeria under the age of five have their bodies and minds limited by stunting.

    She pointed out that in the South-West, Ogun has the highest incidence with 26.1 per cent or 277,462 children.

    The nutrition specialist described stunting as a “manifestation of the severe, irreversible physical and cognitive damage” caused by chronic malnutrition early in a child which is one of the most significant barriers to human development.

    She identified the challenges faced by the affected states as absence of policy on adolescent nutrition, shortage or lack of maternity leave, non-enforcement of the code of marketing of breast milk substitutes, and lack of workplace protection and support for nursing mothers.

    The Ogun Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Dayo Adeneye, emphasised the need to intensify effort to reduce stunting through proper nutrition, especially now that Nigeria was at a critical stage of malnutrition.

    According to him, proper nutrition is germane to human growth, adding that a well-nurtured generation will contribute meaningfully to the development of its society.

    “It is quite alarming to note that a large percentage of the young children in Nigeria is either undernourished or micro-nutrient deficient, while some even suffer from over-nourishment, otherwise called obesity.

    “We cannot continue to fold our hands and stand aloof with such issues staring us in the face, most especially, when those affected are the vulnerable in society.

    “These are under five, who have no voice and are definitely looking up to us to proffer solutions to their plights,” he said.

    Adeneye noted that the Overview of National Nutritional Level indicates that 80 per cent of the world’s stunted children live in 14 countries, saying Nigeria has the second highest burden of stunting after India.

    NAN

  • Environment contributes 80% to children’s IQ – UNICEF

    Environment contributes 80% to children’s IQ – UNICEF

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday says 80 per cent of children’s IQ is derived from the environment.

    Mrs Swadchet Sankey, UNICEF Education Specialist, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    She frowned at the popular attribution of brain development or quality of child’s brain, intellectual capacity to genetic factors or parental genes.

    Sankey emphasised that the kind of environment a child grew or is nurtured would to a large extent affect the quality of his/her brain irrespective of the intellectual capacity of the parents.

    She explained that a child’s brain develop in response to both genes and the environment, describing the process of early brain development as constantly modified by environmental influences.

    The specialist further emphasised that the environment of a child’s earliest years could have lifetime effect on him/her.

    “Though biology and environment are key to brain development but the formal is more critical because no matter the quality of parental gene if the environment is unhealthy it will impact negatively on their brain.

    “Nurturing environments contribute to positive health outcomes and fewer developmental challenges. When poverty set in its impact on environment poses a threat to individual’s growth and development,” Sankey said.

    She identified the period of child’s brain development as ranging from age zero to three years, describing the period as critical.

    According to her, if you can have a child that has inherited good brain, good intelligent but malnourished, sick and lack the opportunity of early learning, nurturing care, stimulation, such child’s brain development will be hampered.

    “A stable environment is the one that is sensitive to health and nutritional needs of the children. So any environment that is not sensitive to health and nutrition of children is not a complete environment that allows development to occur.

    “Any environment that does not protect children, that does not make them to be save, does not protect them from toxic stress like children in an environment of conflict will affect the quality of their brain.

    “Children that are in an environment where there is crisis, pollution among others will not be intelligent no matter the gene of their parents,” she said.

    “Early childhood development is a whole package that deals with environment and the child, the kind of environment they are exposed to whether at home or outside goes a long way to affect the child’s development,” she added.

    The specialist urged parents and caregivers to be conscious of the kind of environment they groom their children, ward in order to better their lots and impact positively in the development of the nation.

  • FG, UNICEF partner to reduce number of out-of-school children

    FG, UNICEF partner to reduce number of out-of-school children

    The Federal Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) have called for collaboration to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

    Nigeria currently has the highest number of out-of-school children with 10.5 million.

    UNICEF’s Education Specialist, Swadchet Sankey, at a media dialogue in Kano, on early childhood development (ECD) said the figure was alarming.

    The dialogue was organized by UNICEF in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Information.

    She said Nigeria needs to get its early preprimary education right in other to begin to reduce the huge figures.

    According to her, building Amajiri schools would not reduce the figure, adding that the federal government  must get its early learning and preprimary education right.

    Sankey, who commended the rate of enrollment in schools, called for more efforts to keep children in school.

    She said: “We are contributing to the number of out-of-school children.

    “One of the strategies of reducing out of school children is not just building amajiri schools, it is not just doing school feeding programmes but we need to get our early learning approach and preprimary education right and ensure that children are enrolled in school.

    “We need to be able to create opportunities that allows everybody to have access to quality learning.

    “We need a national parenting education program. We need parents to understand what ECC means. We need government to understand what ECC is.

    “Preprimary education is very important. We need to create an opportunity that gives room for early child learning. Early learning matters because it helps the children to lay the foundation for school.

    “Development cannot occur without adequate attention to early childcare. Parents no longer have time to engage with their children. We need to create an enabling environment for parents to support their children.

    “Right now in Nigeria our enrollment shows 20 per cent even though the survey is a little bit higher.”

    Also, Assistant Director, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Mayowa Aleshi, said the federal government has allocated funds to early childhood development program.

    He called for adequate planning and utilization of  resources to expand ECD in the country.

    He disclosed that there are about 62,406 primary schools as at 2014, adding that only 28,026 of them had Early Childhood Care and Development Education centres.

    According to him, the centres have 56,588 teachers and caregivers with 74% of these population qualified.

    He also disclosed that the federal government has set aside “2% of consolidated revenue fund for implementation of UBEC Programme Funding; segregated to a matching grant of 50%,  instructional materials at 15%, teachers’ development at 10% and 5% each of the three components on pre-primary schools.”

  • Hand washing practice reduces risk of diseases by 40% – UNICEF

    Hand washing practice reduces risk of diseases by 40% – UNICEF

    The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) says that hand washing practice can reduce the risk of contracting diarrhoea and other communicable diseases by 40 per cent.

    The UNICEF’s Country Representative, Mr Mohamed Fall made the assertion in Akure on Friday when he paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.

    Fall stressed the importance of promoting sanitation and hand washing in complementing the achievements of the state government in the areas of healthcare and quality education.

    He pointed out that partnership between UNICEF and the state government will go a long way to improve sanitation in the state.

    Fall noted that access to quality education and good healthcare is crucial to human capital development.

    Driving home the position of Nigeria in African Affairs, the country representative said, “if Nigeria does not make Sustainable Development Goals, Africa will not make it, especially the sub Saharan Africa.”

    He also commended the state’s achievements in the area of child survival, saying “From all indicators on child survival, the state is doing well, Ondo State is standing as one of the best performing state in under five (child) survival.

    “All investments might be lost without having good sanitation, but with joint effort must be geared towards better sanitation in the state,” he said.

    Fall urged the governor to ensure security of lives and property of the agency’s staff posted to Akure, saying, “Akure has the best sub-office so far.”

    Responding, Gov. Akeredolu thanked the UNICEF for its concerns about improving the sanitation in Akure and other parts of the state.

    The governor also assured UNICEF of adequate security of lives and property of all and sundry living in the state, saying that his administration was committed to achieving the SDGs and promoting hand washing and sanitation.

    He promised that measures would be taken to ensure that all houses have toilets to enhance the state’s environment and reduce open defecation.

    Billboards on importance of sanitation and having toilets were visible at the main entrance of the governor’s office.

    NAN

  • UNICEF urges FG to increase funding of education sector

    UNICEF urges FG to increase funding of education sector

    Mr Eki George, UNICEF’s communication For Development Specialist in Kaduna State, has urged the Federal Government ( FG ) to increase funding of the education sector to solve the nation’s technological challenges.

    George made the made the call at the opening of a five-day National Social and Behavioural Change Communication ( SBCC ) Strategy, for Infant and Young Child Feeding ( IYCF ), 2016 to 2020 domestication workshop in Kacha, Kaduna state.

    According to him, any nation that fails to properly fund its education sector will not develop.

    “Education remains a crucial tool for technological advancement towards national socio-economic development.

    “Nigeria desires to develop technologically, but sadly the country is not making the needed investment in educating its population to be creative, inventive and innovative.

    “Today, many graduates in the country are not employable, because the educational institutions have not been able to properly educate the youths with requisite skills needed to move the country forward,” he said.

    George decried the seeming neglect of education at the basic, which he said was the fulcrum upon which the secondary and tertiary education relied upon to grow.

    He further noted that it was unfortunate that many primary school teachers in the country are deficient in academic qualification, saying there is need for training and re-training of teachers.

    “Poor service delivery at the basic level where students are poorly prepared at primary and secondary school levels for tertiary education is the root cause of challenges in our education system.

    “Now we have a situation where our children struggle to pass WAEC, struggle to graduate and struggle to get employedand even when they get a job, they are ill equipped for lack of requisite skills. “This is because the country has not given the needed attention to education at the basic level, which was responsible for weak foundation for tertiary education.

    “If Nigerian universities cannot adequately prepare their students to effectively address contemporary problems, how can they prepare them for challenges of the future?

    “We need a bottom-up approach; from the basic to the tertiary institutions to be able to address the rot in our education system.

    “The answer remains adequate funding so that we can give the best to our citizens,” he said.

    The workshop was organised by the National Orientation Agency ( NOA ) in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ).

    Earlier, UNICEF’s focal Person in Kaduna, Malam Lawal Haruna, explained that the objective of the workshop was to create a medium for relevant stakeholders on nutrition to appraise the national IYCF SBCC document.

    Haruna, added that the workshop would enable the stakeholders to set achievable goals as well as design effective strategy for IYCF SBCC, based on the peculiarities in the state for domestication.

    NAN

  • 3m children need emergency education support in N/East – UNICEF

    3m children need emergency education support in N/East – UNICEF

    The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) said over 57 per cent of schools in Borno remained closed, in spite the new school year, due to the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East Nigeria.

    A statement signed by UNICEF, Abuja, Chief of Communications, Ms Doune Porter, on Friday said as a result, an estimated three million children were in need of emergency education support.

    “Since 2009, across the North-East, over 2,295 teachers have been killed and 19,000 displaced.

    “Almost 1,400 schools have been destroyed with the majority unable to open because of extensive damage or because they are in areas that remain unsafe, “ Porter.

    Porter quoted the Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF, Mr Justin Forsyth, who said, “Children in North-East Nigeria are living through so much horror.

    “In addition to devastating malnutrition, violence and an outbreak of cholera, the attacks on schools is in danger of creating a lost generation of children.’’

    She, however, stated that UNICEF was working with partners to rehabilitate schools as well as training teachers, to build a stronger education system for the future.
    According to Porter, some children living in camps for the displaced in Borno are actually benefiting from education for the first time in their lives.

    “In the Muna Garage camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, for example, an estimated 90 per cent of students are enrolled in school for the first time.

    “In the three most-affected states of North-East Nigeria, UNICEF and partners have enrolled nearly 750,000 children in school this year.

    “Also, we are establishing over 350 temporary learning spaces, and distributing almost 94,000 packs of learning materials that will help children to get education, “ she said.

    “The use of children as human bombs, close to 100 so far in 2017, has sown a climate of mistrust among communities in the North-East.

    “Also, cholera outbreak has affected more than 3,900 people, including over 2450 children. “

    According to her, UNICEF’s life-saving emergency programmes in the region, however, remains underfunded.

    The Chief of Communications noted that with only three months left in the year, UNICEF had a 40 per cent finding gap in its needs for 2017.

  • UNICEF canvasses four weeks paid paternity leave

    UNICEF canvasses four weeks paid paternity leave

    The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) on Tuesday recommended six months paid maternity leave and four weeks paid paternity leave to ensure healthy development of young children.

    UNICEF Representative in Nigeria Mohammed Fall disclosed this at the National Early Childhood Development conference ( ECD ) in Abuja with the theme; “Investing early in Nigerian children’’.

    Fall also recommended two years pre-primary education, adding that the policies will afford parents time and resources needed to support their young children’s healthy development.

    He said that Nigeria currently has three months paid maternity leave, only one year free pre-education and no paternity leave.

    The representative emphasised that based on the 2016 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, the key indicators of child development remain low in ally.

    Fall says, “Only about 40 per cent of children within the ages of 36 to 59 months are attending an organised early childhood education programme, while more than 31 per cent of children under the age of five are moderately and severely underweight.

    “Yet research in the Lancet series 2016 shows that early childhood education programme is a foundation for health, productivity, learning and social cohesion’’.

    Fall noted that the conference was aimed at creating awareness on the meaning and importance of the early years of a child from conception to five years in early childhood nutrition, education and development.

    “Nigeria is putting its children at risk of underdeveloped both physically and mentally because critical national policies are not providing an adequate foundation for their growth.

    “During the first one year of a child’s life the brain grows rapidly.

    “Providing good nutrition, loving care and appropriate play provide solid foundation for child’s learning and eventual contribution to economic and social growth.

    “Early Childhood Development includes physical and cognitive support has a strategic place in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ).

    “Investing in ECD includes services to support caregivers, quality pre-primary education and good nutrition will help to secure healthy and productive future generations in Nigeria,’’ Fall said.

    “Supporting exclusive breastfeeding, having good ECD policies in place will help to improve the overall health of a child, enable parents and care givers to be more responsive to children’s needs and provide greater safety and security,’’ he added.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the conference was the inauguration of UNICEF report on Early Moments Matter for Early Child.

  • UNICEF partners stakeholders on menstrual hygiene

    UNICEF partners stakeholders on menstrual hygiene

    The United Nations Children’s  Fund ( UNICEF ) is to organise a workshop on Menstrual Hygiene Management ( MHM ) for secondary school girls in Osun, Kano and Enugu to identify  the challenges with the condition  and  ameliorative measures.

    Mr Femi Aluko, the UNICEF Coordinator of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in Osun, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Osogbo that stakeholders  would gather to address the challenges facing MHM such as  taboos and poor hygiene among female school girls.

    NAN reports that menstruation is a normal biological process and a key sign of reproductive health, yet in many cultures it is treated as a  negative, shameful or dirty condition.

    A study from UNICEF revealed that one  out of  three  girls in South Asia knew nothing about menstruation prior to getting it while 48 per cent of girls in Iran and 10 per cent of girls in India believe that menstruation is a disease.

    Many girls and women face challenges including limited access to affordable and hygienic sanitary materials and disposal options,  leaving many to manage their periods in ineffective, uncomfortable and unhygienic ways.

    Aluko, however,  said the forum had  become imperative, with the goals of approaching MHM from a human rights perspective and ultimately about working toward  achieving gender equality.

    He said it would also broaden  the collective understanding of MHM to encompass women’s and girls’  rights  and provide an entry-point for engaging states, particularly in relation to their human rights obligations.

    “Further, broadening our understanding of menstrual hygiene could also change what practitioners and researchers do and what they measure.

    “The workshop will also be used  in developing a zonal action plan that would address the challenges of managing menstruation among adolescent girls and women in the country,’’ he said.

    He said dissemination of national research and development of the intervention action plan on MHM would be deliberated on during the workshop.

    Aluko said that a UNICEF research in some selected schools in Nigeria showed that there was no conducive situation  in terms of washing facilities for menstruating girls to be comfortable with.

    He expressed the hope that the workshop would afford the stakeholders an opportunity to channel a course on how to overcome the challenges.

  • UNICEF urges FG to revitalize PHCs to reduce illness, death

    UNICEF urges FG to revitalize PHCs to reduce illness, death

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on the Federal Government to revitalize the Primary Health Care delivery system to reduce illness and death among Nigerian families.

    The Chief of Health, UNICEF Nigeria, Mr. John Agbor, made this known in an online interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

    According to him, one functional Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in every ward in Nigeria will make a huge difference in reducing illness and death among families.
    “In recent years, the Federal Government has undertaken an ambitious and laudable campaign to revitalize the primary health care delivery system.

    “Also, to ensure that there is one functional PHC in every ward in Nigeria; when this is achieved, this will make a huge difference in reducing illness and death among Nigerian families.

    “This primary health care approach provides an integrated and coordinated package of health, nutrition, HIV and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services within wards, “he said.

    The UN official said that a functional PHC was also a fair and equitable approach to Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.

    According to him, such approach will help Nigeria to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by the United Nations member states.

    “UNICEF commends the Minister of Health for adopting this path, remembering that Nigeria did not achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    “We urge the Ministry of Health and the government to continue along this path; and that will mean finding the financing to ensure that there is a functional PHC in every ward in the country, “he said.

     

  • Meningitis cases declining – NCDC

    The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the number of new cases of suspected Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) is declining as outbreak control measures takes effect.

    The Communication Manager of NCDC, Dr Lawal Bakare, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

    Bakare said that the cumulative number of suspected cases recorded in Nigeria throughout the outbreak period was now 9, 646 and 839 deaths from 43 local government areas in 23 states.

    “A total of 628 new cases were reported in week 16 against 1,935 in week 15 and 2,127 in week 14.

    “While the total number of suspected cases will rise with each new case, the number of new cases recorded per week is dropping in the affected states indicating that the outbreak is likely to have peaked.

    “We expect a continued decline in the number of new cases with the intensification of control measures in the affected states,’’ Bakare said.

    He said that the national response has identified the need to provide technical support to all affected states in the areas of case management, epidemiology and risk communication.

    The manager added that support teams were currently being deployed to the most severely affected states of Zamfara and Sokoto to further strengthen and support the states in their response.

    Bakare further said that a large reactive vaccination campaign, which would cover over 800,000 persons aged between two and 29 years would commence in Sokoto on April 27.

    He explained that a national support team, led by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), would be providing support to Sokoto state in order to ensure that vaccination activities were well coordinated.

    “Partners from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and others are all collaborating with NPHCDA and NCDC to provide the best possible support to Sokoto during the vaccination.

    “Teams have been mobilised to all the LGAs in Sokoto State, and people are being mobilised to turn out en mass to be vaccinated,’’ he said.

    According to Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Chief Executive Officer of NCDC, the lessons from this outbreak would inform our future response activities.

    “This includes the need to strengthen awareness, improve clinical skills of health workers, strengthen laboratory capacities to confirm diagnosis of meningitis promptly,” he said.