Amby Uneze in Owerri
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on local government council executives in Imo State to set aside a percentage of their monthly allocations to fund child nutrition.
The appeal was made at a stakeholders’ meeting in Owerri on resource mobilisation and Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) for improved maternal and child nutrition. The meeting, which brought together council executives, health ministry officials and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), was organised by UNICEF and the Imo State Government with the Gates Foundation, leveraging the Child Nutrition Fund.
UNICEF’s Chief of Enugu Field Office, Mrs. Juliet Chiluwe, represented by Nutrition Officer Mrs. Ngozi Onuorah, urged the state government to take ownership of the shift to MMS through policy, implementation and funding.
She asked the state to commit to the Child Nutrition Fund, scale up MMS for pregnant women and ensure effective implementation of maternal and child health programmes. She added that UNICEF and its partners would provide funding support if the government made a firm pledge.
“Nutrition is an investment in human capital, and every naira invested in it contributes to healthier children,” she said. “Let us invest in nutrition today to ensure the health, support and prosperity of Imo children tomorrow.”
Commissioner for Health, Mrs. Chioma Egu, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Kennedy Adinnu, assured stakeholders that the ministry would provide the policy direction and coordination needed to ensure MMS reaches all pregnant women in the state. She reiterated the government’s view of health as an investment rather than an expenditure, and urged stakeholders to make concrete commitments to MMS with immediate follow-up.
The ministry’s Nutrition Officer, Mr. Etienne Obidah, noted that Imo has made little progress in maternal and child health. He called for comprehensive action whose impact would be felt in communities, not just reflected in statistics.
In a presentation on sustaining nutrition investment in Imo State, titled “Scaling Up and Institutionalising Resource Mobilisation for Nutrition,” UNICEF consultant Dr. David Okelue Ugwunta stressed the importance of local government councils pooling resources to improve child nutrition in their areas.