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From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has commended the United Nations Children Fund, (UNICEF), for their sustained and untiring commitment to the development of Benue State.
The Governor gave this commendation in Makurdi during the stakeholders’ meeting on the dissemination of the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, (MICS), and National Immunization Coverage Survey, (NICS), reports.
Ortom said UNICEF’s commitments which are visible in health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, social protection and nutrition, have impacted enormously towards improving the living conditions and life expectancy of the vulnerable people in the most remote parts of the state.
Speaking through the Permanent Secretary, State Planning Commission, Mr Stephen Abagi, the Governor said even at the twilight of his administration, his government remains people-oriented and is dedicated to causes that will advance the well-being of the people.
UNICEF Planning and Monitoring Specialist, Enugu Field Office, Mrs Maureen Zubie-Okolo, said MICS is designed to collect statistically robust and internationally comparable data on child mortality, health, nutrition, education, child and social protection, women’s health care and empowerment, water, sanitation and hygiene, while NICS assesses vaccination coverage provided through the health systems.
Mrs Zubie-Okolo, who noted that the current MICS-NICS data is critical for effective budgeting and decision-making, said the data from the survey paint a mixed picture of the situation for children and women in Nigeria explaining that even as good progress has been made, disparities still exist.
Quoting the report, she noted that while child mortality has decreased from 1 in 8 children dying before the fifth birthday to 1 in 10 children since the last round of MICS five years ago (2016/ 2017), significant progress has also been noticed in exclusive breastfeeding and birth registration rates.
While the exclusive breastfeeding rates doubled from 17 per cent to 34 per cent, 57 per cent of Nigerian children under the age of five have their birth registered with civil authorities, compared to 47 per cent In 2016.
The reports also said child marriage (women married before age 18) has dropped from 44 per cent to 30 per cent since 2016.
UNICEF encouraged the Benue state government and all relevant stakeholders to fully utilize the survey findings and generate data to plan and advocate for the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all children, women and men of the state as enshrined in national policies and global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She pledged UNICEF’s continued partnership with relevant stakeholders to further strengthen the statistical system of Nigeria to advance the development agenda and work towards a better Nigeria.
The Director General, Benue State Planning Commission, Mr Sam Unom, represented by the Director, Technical Cooperation, Mrs Dagih Iember said the commission is delighted in partnering with UNICEF for this dissemination of the MICS-NICS report saying the Ortom-led administration is committed to establishing and strengthening institutions for utmost productivity.
