THEMED: BUILDING ALLIANCE FOR ADVOCACY
By Tayo Joseph, Lagos
The wife of the President Her Excellency Mrs. Aisha Buhari has called upon wives of the state Governors to champion the cause of advocacy and commit to support Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Child, Adolescent Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) programmes in their various states.
Mrs. Buhari was speaking at the one day RMNCAH+N stakeholders meeting held in Abuja, which had wives of governors in Nigeria in attendance, Her Excellency asked the Governors Wives Forum to dedicate a section of their meeting agenda to updating themselves on advocacy activities in each of their states.
The wife of the President noted that although Nigeria is one of the countries with the worst health outcomes for women and children globally, significant progress has been made over the years, but a lot still needs to be done, this she hopes to achieve by creating a strong coalition with the wives of Governors that will create awareness on the importance of improving RMNCAH+N, promoting advocacy for better service delivery and increased utilization of RMNCAH+N services.
She further called on developmental partners, international agencies, the private sector, government and all stakeholders to provide support to the all the activities of the just established Governors wives coalition in the states and the FCT
Earlier the Minister of health Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole had decried the fact that less than 10% of Nigerian women have skilled birth attendants which is important in reducing maternal mortality, he thanked Mrs Buhari for her dedication through her non governmental organization Future Assured in helping them to deliver on their mandate concerning health to Nigerians.
The representative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Paul Basinga said some of their cardinal points are to ensure young people survive and thrive, ensure women and newborns remain healthy during pregnancy and childbirth, stating that Investing in women has a ripple effect
It would be recalled that two years ago Mrs Buhari committed herself to championing the cause of improving the Health and well being of women and children in Nigeria.
