The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is supporting the Kaduna state government to implement the national policy on Maternal, Infant and Young Child nutrition (MIYCN) policy.
Mrs Chinwe Ezeife, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna, made this known during a one day validation engagement meeting for adaptation of MIYCN policy.
She stated that UNICEF has a manadate for the health and nutritional wellbeing of women and children and is highly interested in the domestication of the Maternal, Infant and Child Nutrition in the state.
“UNICEF is providing both technical and funding support to see that this policy document is domesticated with the context of Kaduna state in perspective to guide implementation of all aspects of maternal, infant and young child nutrition up to the global Standard,” she said.
Earlier, Dr. Hajara Niima-Kera, director, public health, Kaduna state ministry of health, stated that validation of policy is a standard procedure employed when developing any policy in the state.
She explained that the essence of having the policy is to provide a strong policy backing and legal guidance for the state on all issues related to maternal, infant and young child nutrition in the state.
“It is something we hope will last for the next five years and would serve a framework to any administration which they can build on and refer to when planning for any intervention that has to do with women, infant and children.
“We are hoping that by the time this policy comes through, families will be better equipped with correct knowledge of when, what and how to feed women and children as everybody needs adequate nutrition.
The facilitator of the meeting, Dr Zainab Muhammad-Idris, said that the MICYN policy would provide guidelines for effective delivery of nutrition, curative, and preventive interventions.
According to her, the goal of the policy is to ensure adequate nutrition for the survival, optimal growth and development of every child, adolescent girls and women.
She explained that the validation engagement had gone well as all relevant stakeholders had participated actively by making sure all information in the document were correct. (NAN)
