The Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) with the support of UNICEF, is executing a project in Gombe State aimed at influencing stakeholders to increase Investment in Nutrition for Scaling Up of Quality Nutrition Services.
To this end, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media are being trained to build their capacity on advocacy and budget tracking.
According to Dare Isaac Oguntade, CS-SUNN’s Project Manager, the target of the project which is a partnership between his organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is to see a situation where there is an increase in total release of funding and effective utilisation of funds from $2m to $3m within the next one year.
He said the training is on advocacy and budget tracking. He added, “that is what they will be doing for us to know it is implemented.
“They will be monitoring that throughout the year, and hoping that will help in tracking and securing more releases in funding as well as help in actualising legislation for six months maternity leave from the current three months.
Mr Dare also emphasised the importance of the role the media will play in achieving success at the end of the project.
He said, “the role of the media is very important as they spread the news on the need for behavioural change especially towards improving exclusive breastfeeding for it to be practiced, not just extending the period of maternity leave”.
In her presentation, Mrs Ronas Musa, the Gombe State Nutrition Officer, decried the prevalence of malnutrition in the state despite government’s interventions.
She said, the state has 27 CMAM sites in Dukku, Gombe, Nafada, Kwami, Akko, Yamaltu-Deba, Funakaye and Kaltungo LGSs where treatment of acute malnutrition takes place.
While appealing for more funding of nutrition programmes by the State Government, she called for improvement in approach to tackling malnutrition through counselling, Infant Young Child Feeding (IYCF), increased funding as well as emphasis be made on complementary feeding ahead of purchasing Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
