Bauchi is one of three states in the country set to benefit from a 15 million Canadian dollar initiative aimed at improving the health and nutrition status of women, adolescents, and children.
The initiative, funded by the Canadian government through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is to be implemented over five years in Bauchi, Kaduna, and Kebbi States.
The disclosure was made on Monday during a two-day engagement with Bauchi State stakeholders on the initiative, held in Bauchi. The objective was to provide an overview of the initiative and agree on coordination structures, collaboration, and strategy for the project.
Other objectives included identifying strategic alignment with other ongoing initiatives, engaging with the state to develop workplans for 2025, and agreeing on the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and supply plan.
In her presentation at the workshop, UNICEF Health Specialist from the Country Office in Abuja, Dr Fatima Cheshi, stated that the programme interventions are focused on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH).
According to her, the target population groups are primarily adolescents and women of reproductive age, while the platforms for intervention include healthcare facilities and the community (including families).
Fatima Cheshi added that the key intervention areas include:
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Coordination and Governance – Supporting the functionality of state and LGA-level coordination platforms, meetings, domestication of policies/strategies, routine data management, monitoring and supervision, as well as periodic review meetings.
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Service Delivery of High-Impact Interventions – Maternal and adolescent health (adolescent-friendly antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), and family planning (FP) services), safe motherhood and quality of care (QoC), Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPCDSR), and mentorship of primary healthcare (PHC) and secondary healthcare facilities by obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) specialists.
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Newborn Care – Basic newborn care at the PHC level (operationalisation of newborn corners) and comprehensive newborn care at secondary health facilities (operationalisation of the Level 2 newborn unit, mentorship of PHC and secondary healthcare facilities by neonatologists).
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Capacity Building – Strengthening state and LGA institutions to coordinate, adopt, and implement policies and strategies, and use data (LHMIS, CHMIS) for decision-making. Training healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, midwives) in emergency neonatal and maternal care (CeMONC, BEMONC, ENCC), community-based healthcare workers (CHEWs and JCHEWs) in community newborn care and modified BEMONC, and facilitating maternal, newborn, and child healthcare supply chain management.
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Commodities and Supplies – Ensuring adequate supplies for maternal, adolescent, newborn, and child healthcare.
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Knowledge Management, Communication, and Visibility – Conducting field visits, media coverage, and human-interest story collection from implementation sites. High-quality short videos and/or photo story production, dissemination through social media and websites, and organising dissemination workplans to achieve the initiative’s objectives.