Date: 2019-07-06

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called on Kwara Government to make comprehensive plan on the protection of children's rights and welfare.

Dr Zakari Adam, Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Kaduna, made the call in Ilorin at opening of the 2019 Mid-Year Review and Planning Meeting of the Kwara State Government, UNICEF and other stakeholders.

Adam said that part of UNICEF's objectives was to cooperate with respective governments in ensuring concrete intervention plans on children rights were fulfilled by countries, states and individuals.

He explained that the international organisation was in the state in order to carry out a complete planning review of what had been done so far on children's intervention programmes and what would be executed within the following months of the year.

According to him, UNICEF expected a comprehensive plan with regards to children's rights and solicited the involvement of government as well as all stakeholders in ensuring that the health and well being of children in the state were achieved.

The UNICEF chief also advised the government on the need for data for effective planning and analysis about children.

Adam said that the availability of data would facilitate involvement of other stakeholders such as other UN agencies, civil society organisations, public institutions and those at the grassroots.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Alhaji AbdulAzeez Oyelowo, commended UNICEF for returning to the state and assured of government's support toward achieving the goals of the organisation in the state.

Oyelowo said that Kwara was one of the beneficiaries of the UNICEF programme years back, but the organisation left when indices indicated things had improved in the state.

He,however, said that the situation had deteriorated in the area of intervention programmes in various sectors that involve the welfare of children in the state.

The permanent secretary reiterated the determination of the present administration to pay its counterpart funds so as to assist the global organization in its intervention programmes for children and women.

Dr Stanley Garuba, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, explained that the global body usually set parameters to ascertain how it had fared in various areas of its intervention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the stakeholders at the meetings included officials of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, media and Ministry of Planning and Economic Development among others.