The chief of Field Services and Coordination for the United Nations Children’s Fund in Nigeria, Annefrida Kisesa-Mkusa, is worried that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved in the country until issues concerning children are addressed.
Kisesa-Mkusa who spoke at UNICEF’s annual review meeting in Yola, Adamawa state, noted that Nigeria accounts for eleven per cent of the total population of children in the world and thirty percent in Africa.
It is a statistic the underscores the need for stronger collaboration between government and development partners
The forum is designed to enable participants evaluate UNICEF’s performance in the past year and define goals for 2020. It is also believed that fresh partnerships are needed to resolve issues relating to children.
Data presented to participants by Steely Garuba, UNICEF’s planning and monitoring specialist shows fresh strategies are needed to reduce infant
mortality and increase school enrolment by children in the three states
The Fund says that it aims to focus next year, on a number of key areas for the three states ranging from reducing infant and maternal mortality rates
to implementing health nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene
It also hopes to improve access to quality education and gender equality with an emphasis on increasing primary school enrollment and retention,
particularly of girls and children from marginalised and vulnerable groups.
