The United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, is calling on the Cross River State Government and local councils to strengthen funding and service delivery to tackle maternal and child malnutrition.
At a stakeholder engagement in Calabar, Unicef and nutrition experts identified poor feeding practices, gaps in essential services and weak implementation at community level, as areas requiring coordinated action, particularly during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
The first 1,000 days, from conception to a child’s second birthday, are critical to growth and development. But ensuring adequate nutrition during this period requires more than food availability.
Maternal health, breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, access to healthcare and safe sanitation all influence a child’s nutritional outcomes.
To address these concerns, Unicef is supporting a nutrition programme across nine local government areas in Cross River State, to improve caregivers’ knowledge, strengthen community-level interventions and secure greater government ownership of nutrition activities.
The Cross River State Government says it is strengthening its response through nutrition departments in ministries, departments and agencies, the recruitment of nutrition officers, breastfeeding support and increased budgetary attention.
At the grassroots, local government councils are expected to help translate these commitments into services for families. Their representatives have however raised concerns about monitoring the delivery of support, reaching underserved communities and shortages of personnel in primary healthcare facilities.
Unicef is urging Cross River State to increase its investment in nutrition through a matching-fund arrangement that would provide essential supplements for pregnant women and children.
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Editor: Terverr Tyav
