UNICEF Tasks Imo Govt, Stakeholders On Child Nutrition

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged Imo State Government and stakeholders to increase investments in child nutrition.

UNICEF’s Chief of Enugu Field Field Office, Mrs Juliet Chiluwe , said this at a stakeholders meeting on resource mobilisation and Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) for improved maternal and child nutrition, in Owerri, on Thursday.

Chiluwe, represented by UNICEF’s Nutrition Officer , Mrs Ngozi Onuorah, charged the state government to own the shift to MMS through policy making and implementation, as well as funding.

She urged the state to commit to the child nutrition fund, to scale up MMS for pregnant women in the state and to ensure adequate implementation of maternal and child health programs.

She added that UNICEF and its support partners would provide funding support, if the government could make a pledge to the course .

“ Nutrition is an investment in human capital and every naira invested in it contributes to healthier children.

“ Let us invest in nutrition today to ensure the health, support and prosperity of Imo children tomorrow”, she said.

Speaking, the Imo Commissioner for health, Mrs Chioma Egu, assured stakeholders that the ministry would provide necessary policy direction and coordination to ensure that MMS reaches all pregnant women in the state.

Egu, represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Kennedy Adinnu, restated the government’s commitment to health as an investment rather than an expenditure.

She appealed to the stakeholders to make a concrete commitment to MMS with immediate follow-up.

Also speaking, the ministry’s Nutrition Officer, Mr Etienne Obidah, noted that the state has remained stagnant in its maternal and child health.

He called for holistic action that would not only be seen in figures, but felt by communities across the state.