Follow Us on Google
Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
As the Osun Economic and Investment Summit enters the third and last day, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended Governor Adegboyega Oyetola for effectively utilising the funds released to the state by the agency for development programmes.
The agency also congratulated the government on the huge achievements recorded across all sectors of the economy, adding that the government’s developmental programmes are not only pro-people but also child-friendly.
UNICEF Field Officer, Tushar Rene, who spoke during plenary IX and the development partners’ roundtable meeting with Mr. Governor yesterday, pledged the agency’s continued support for the state, particularly in the development of education, child and maternal health.
Rene, who described the summit as both impressive and successful, maintained that the Oyetola administration has, by the summit, put Osun on the path of greatness as development partners across the globe have been given a good reason to immediately direct resources and necessary attention for rapid socio-economic development in the state.
“On behalf of UNICEF, I wish to commend this government for effectively utilising funds obtained from this agency.
“This is the first state to approve the social protection policy and law, the 332 primary healthcare centres across the state and so on. We congratulate the governor for the job particularly in education, child and maternal health.
“As we pledge our continued support for the state, we want to urge the government to consolidate on the gains from the various programmes and scale of initiatives.
“I must confess that this summit is impressive and I have no doubt that it will produce desired results as it looks good enough to immediately draw the world’s attention and that of investors and key development partners across the globe,” Rene said.
The agency advised the government on the need to put in place the end user monitoring of social sector intervention, use of data for decision making and child-friendly budgeting.
Earlier, Governor Oyetola thanked the partners for their support, adding that the meeting was arranged with a view to deepening “existing collaboration, forge new alliances and unlock possibilities that will enhance the quality of life of our people and overall development in the state.”
While reiterating the commitment of the administration to fully realising its development agenda, Governor Oyetola called for continued support from key development partners in moving the state to greater heights.
