Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
A global nutrition initiative, the Alive & Thrive (A&T) Nigeria, has organised a one-day engagement to launch a project that would accelerate interventions aimed at reducing malnutrition among children and women in Bauchi State.
In his remarks during the occasion held at Chatwell Hotels, Bauchi yesterday,
The Technical Focal Person (TFP) of A&T, Mr. Asimobi Chidiebere, said yesterday that the initiative would build the capacity of community based organisations (CBS), and strengthen the Primary Health Care (PHC) platforms for efficient and integrated delivery of maternal and young child nutrition services in collaboration with government, the CBOs and other nutrition stakeholders.
Chidiebere told the participants that the recently launched “Accelerating the Scale of Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) Project” came at a time when there is a dire need to accelerate interventions aimed at reducing malnutrition among women and children in the country.
He explained that the project would not only accelerate maternal and young child feeding interventions, but would also greatly impact the nutrition narrative in the country by directly addressing nutrition issues affecting mothers and children at the grassroots.
According to him, the goal of the project is to enhance child health and development outcomes and save lives in the country through a sustainable national program of optimum maternal, infant and young child nutrition.
Chidiebere said: “The objective of this activity is to foster a shared understanding of the sub granted scope of work, and to present the sub grantees to the Bauchi State stakeholders, including the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA) and the Ministry of Health as well as build consensus on its implementation in the local government areas across the three senatorial zones in the state.”
Welcoming the sub-grantees on board, the Director of BSPHCDA, Mr. Sule Madugu, said that the sub-grantees is a nutritional programme initiated by the A&T to optimise the delivery services of the current health system to increase the coverage of key MIYCN intervention in the state.
Madugu said: “We consider it as a tripartite activity between the BSPHCDA, the CBOs that were granted to work and the A&T strategising to lead and sustain the delivery of MIYCN interventions in the state.
“I am optimistic that the CBOs that won this grants and the A&T would not only accelerate maternal and young child feeding interventions but would greatly impact the nutrition narrative in the state by directly addressing nutrition issues affecting mothers and children especially at the community and grassroots level.”
He, therefore challenged the sub-grantees to leverage their engagements with the A$T and deploy and test the NGO’s sustainability Model as a scale mechanism while building local capacities for sustainable MIYCN project.
