By Chris Nyamtu
Local Government Council Chairmen in Nasarawa State have reiterated their commitment to the timely release of budgeted funds to tackle malnutrition and anaemia among pregnant women across the state.
The State Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Alhaji Safiyanu Isa, stated this when he played host to leaders of civil society organisations led by Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition (CS-SUNN) in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.
CS-SUNN, alongside leaders of community-based health organisations, embarked on a week-long advocacy visit to eight local government areas as part of efforts to reduce the burden of malnutrition across the state.
The CS-SUNN Team Lead, Mr Shuaibu Musa Kafingana, said the advocacy visits were part of strategies adopted to step up sensitisation at the grassroots and reduce malnutrition in communities across Nasarawa State.
Mr Kafingana said greater attention was being given to preventive measures, including engagement with government ministries, departments and agencies on the need for adequate budgetary allocations and timely release of funds for nutrition programmes.
He called on stakeholders, including community and religious leaders, to actively participate in awareness campaigns against the practice of associating children suffering from wasting, stunting and other conditions linked to malnutrition with witchcraft.
The CS-SUNN Team Lead also urged local government councils to emulate the gesture of the Nasarawa State Government, which released N500 million as a matching grant for nutrition programmes, by contributing substantial funds towards the fight against malnutrition.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Akwanga Local Government Area and State Chairman of ALGON, Mr Safiyanu Isa, described CS-SUNN as a reliable partner whose interventions had continued to inspire hope among households affected by malnutrition in Nasarawa State.
The Chairman, who was represented by the Director of Personnel Management of the Local Government, Mr Yakubu Mohammed, pledged to ensure that funds earmarked for nutrition programmes were released and properly monitored to guarantee judicious utilisation.
He noted that all the 13 local government chairmen in the state were committed to providing adequate budgetary allocations to ensure that no child dies from malnutrition in any part of the state.
The State Coordinator of CS-SUNN, Mr Jonah Aboki, said the organisation had, for over 10 years, engaged communities and households in various activities, including home gardens, food demonstrations and the promotion of locally sourced alternatives to address malnutrition in the state.
Mr Aboki said continuous advocacy remained a result-driven approach to deepening awareness and engaging hard-to-reach households, particularly in understanding the challenges they face in preventing and managing malnutrition.(Radio Nigeria)
