- …says 75.5 per cent of Katsina children live in multidimensional poverty
From Agaju Madugba, Katsina
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the Katsina State government to be more child-sensitive in its budgeting and planning, arguing that doing so will break cycles of poverty, build resilience and secure lasting peace and prosperity.
Speaking in Katsina on Tuesday, Chief of UNICEF Field Office Kano, Rahama Mohammed Farah, regretted that the government’s approved social sector budget has continued to decline, from 38.57 per cent in 2016 to 12.98 per cent in 2020.
Farah spoke at a media dialogue on child-sensitive budgeting and planning at the Federal Teaching Hospital.
He said that UNICEF was worried against the backdrop of unflattering statistics skewed against Katsina’s 4.5 million children.
According to the UNICEF Chief, “one in six children in Katsina State die before celebrating their fifth birthday, a stark reminder of the urgent need to strengthen child survival interventions.
“Only 41 per cent of children are fully immunised, leaving the majority vulnerable to preventable and life-threatening diseases.
“Three in four children (75.5%) in Katsina are multidimensionally poor, lacking access to essential services such as health, education and adequate nutrition.
“Over 6 in 10 children (61.2%) live in monetary poverty, severely limiting household capacity to meet their basic needs.
“One-third of children (33.3%) are out of school at the primary level, undermining the state’s future human capital and economic growth.
“Only 23.4 per cent of children aged 6–23 months receive the minimum acceptable diet, a major barrier to healthy growth and brain development.
“More than half (51.3%) of children under five are stunted, indicating chronic malnutrition with long-term consequences on health, learning, and productivity.
“If we need to do something about these alarming social indicators, the budget situation needs to be reversed.
“Children represent over half of Katsina’s population and investing in children, in their health, nutrition, education, protection and participation, is not charity; it is the most strategic investment Katsina State can make.”