CSSUNN COMMENDS KANO STATE GOVERNMENT ON CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMME, CALLS FOR INCREASED FUNDING
The Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CSSUNN) has commended the Kano State Government for its efforts in promoting child nutrition, describing its interventions as commendable, particularly in Nasarawa Local Government Area, which is reported to host one of the largest nutrition centres in Africa.
CSSUNN, an organisation advocating improved nutrition, particularly for growing children, recently visited selected local government areas in Kano State to monitor and assess the implementation of child nutrition programmes in healthcare facilities.
The local government areas visited include Ajingi, Gaya, Kumbotso, and Nasarawa Municipal. The visit was aimed at assessing how the councils provide nutritious food to children in hospitals and healthcare centres to promote a healthy population.
Speaking during the exercise, CSSUNN’s Head of Communications and Media, Madam Lilian Okafo, commended the Kano State Government for creating an enabling environment for the Ministry of Budget and Planning to carry out its responsibilities in collaboration with civil society organisations.
Madam Okafo, however, called on the state government to increase the funds allocated to local government areas to support the provision of nutritious food for young children.
She also commended Kumbotso Local Government Area for developing a strategy that involves security personnel, religious leaders, and traditional rulers in addressing challenges associated with the activities of vendors selling nutritious food.
The organisation reiterated the importance of sustained government support and effective collaboration among relevant stakeholders in strengthening child nutrition programmes and improving the health and well-being of children across Kano State.
Obiageli Azogu, the CSSUNN Steering Committee Lead for Capacity Building, has commended the Kano State Government for its efforts in planning and implementing child nutrition programmes across the state’s 44 Local Government Areas.
Speaking on the importance of the programme, the Chief Executive Officer of CSSUNN, Tanimu Salisu, said providing nutritious food for children was a highly rewarding act, adding that only Allah could fully determine the spiritual rewards associated with such a noble responsibility.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Hajiya Umma Dallatu, assured that the Kano State Government would continue to make every effort to support child nutrition programmes through the state’s Local Government Areas.
She further stated that the government would strengthen monitoring and follow-up mechanisms to ensure that the programmes were effectively implemented and that the intended benefits reached the children they were designed to support.
The initiative underscores the importance of collaboration between government institutions and relevant stakeholders in promoting adequate nutrition and improving the well-being of children across Kano State.