UNICEF hails Jigawa completion of household survey to improve children’s wellbeing, vulnerable groups

The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has commended the Government of Jigawa State for completing the General Household Survey (GHS), developing key policies and action plans as well as building capacity of government stakeholders.

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Kano, Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah said “this impressive initiative reflects Jigawa State Government’s unwavering commitment to advancing the welfare of children and improving outcomes for the most vulnerable groups in the state’s communities using data to inform decisions”. Mr Farah, who was represented by Michael Banda stated this during the launch and dissemination of the Household Survey held at Banquet Hall Government House, Dutse,

He congratulated Governor Umar Namadi and the people of the state on the conclusion of the Household Survey disaggregated with estimates across the 27 Local Government Areas.

He stressed: “The UNICEF Kano Field Office is proud of the strong partnership we share with the Jigawa State Government across multiple sectors, including Health, Education, Nutrition, WASH, Child Protection, and Social Protection.

“Together, we have achieved significant milestones, such as strengthening systems for measuring child poverty through the recent General Household Survey (GHS), developing key policies and action plans, and building the capacity of the government stakeholders”.

Mr Farah emphasised that the Local Government Chairmen have a pivotal role to play in shaping the discourse and actions needed specially to address child poverty in Jigawa State using evidence generated for multisectoral planning.

“It is a sobering reality that 89.4% of children in the Jigawa State experience monetary poverty, while 85.6% are multi dimensionally poor, facing deprivations in at least three critical areas, including Health, education, nutrition, water sanitation, shelter, access to information, and child protection. These figures highlight the urgent need for collaborative action to reduce child poverty and improve the well-being of Jigawa’s children.

“To strengthen our collective efforts, we kindly seek the support of the government in putting in place measures that will ensure the following:

The utilisation of Local Government data to inform planning and decision-making, the design and implementation of structured social protection interventions targeting poor and vulnerable children and approval of the elaborated social protection policy.

UNICEF also urged the passage of the revised social protection bill into law and increased budgetary allocations for child-specific programming across social sectors using the available data particularly in health, education and social protection.

“Scaling up birth registration for children under five, with a target to increase the current rate by at least 30%. As you deliberate, I am confident that the outcomes of this launch and dissemination will further strengthen our shared resolve to realize the rights of every child in Jigawa State,” Mr Farah stated.