The Chief of Bauchi Field Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, Nuzhat Rafique has said that proactive steps must be taken to improve nutrition financing in Bauchi.
She said this during a two-day programme with the members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning, and Multilateral Coordination at Elim Suite Hotel, Jos, Plateau State.
The programme centered on Adequate Budgetary Allocation & Release for Nutrition and other PHC Services.
Rafique said that the meeting provides the opportunity for the stakeholders to discuss and commit to actionable strategies to increase funding.
She recalled that in the last five years, there has been 2.9 percent increase in severe acute malnutrition and 7 percent increase in moderate malnutrition in Bauchi state, saying action must be taken to curb the trend by expanding the investment in nutrition to save the children.
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She said that the UNICEF provides both technical and financial assistance to strengthen policies, improve service delivery and ensure the availability of essential nutrition commodities, including ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and multiple micronutrients supplements (mms).
Rafique commended the Bauchi State government for the continued collaboration, saying that without children, no future of any given society is guaranteed.
On his part, the speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Y. Sulaiman assured of finding a way to making provision for nutrition in the 2025 budget despite being passed and signed into law.
The speaker described nutrition as very important, which if not taken care of, will affect the lives of the children, lamenting that the meeting came late and at a time the 2025 budget has been passed and signed into law by the governor.
“We want to assure UNICEF and other partners that Bauchi state assembly is fully committed to ensuring that our children are free from malnutrition,” he said.
