The Annual Results Conference of the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, with US$ 232 million financing from the International Development Association and Global Financing Facility, aims at increasing utilization of quality, cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls and children under five years of age in selected areas. This is a long-term engagement of the World Bank in Nigeria, for improving nutrition outcome in the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Budget and National Planning, Engr.Nebeolisa Anako, stated this, yesterday in Abuja while declaring open the conference on Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2022-2023.
He explained that food and nutrition security were critical issues affecting the health, well-being, and economic development of individuals and nations. Engr. Anako noted that Nigeria, like many other countries were facing significant challenges in ensuring the availability, accessibility, and affordability of nutritious food for its citizens, pointed out that the recent occurrences of COVID-19 pandemic, insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, the war in Ukraine, effects of climate change, and others had further exacerbated these challenges, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to strengthen food and nutrition security.
He stressed further that “The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is strategically disposed to change the narrative in the nutrition landscape. Part of our approach is to ensure that successive government continues to prioritise nutrition in the nation’s development agenda. Part of our efforts in this regard is the purposeful championing by the Ministry towards implementing the presidential directive on the establishment of Nutrition Departments, and creation of budget line for Nutrition in all relevant line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). This is aimed at creating more financing route for nutrition”.
Speaking earlier, in his keynote address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Engr. Olufunsho Adebiyi, said that the “Federal Ministry of Health has the overall responsibility for the development of policies, guidelines, strategies, and plan to provide direction on well-structured implementation at all levels of the healthcare system by government, partners and all stakeholders to reach populations at grassroots towards prevention and management of the triple burden of malnutrition, which consists: Undernutrition, Micronutrient deficiency- the ‘silent killer’ and on the other hand, over nutrition, for the reduction of Maternal, Infant child morbidity and mortality in Nigeria”.
In a good will message, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women affairs, Mrs Monilola Udoh pointed out that women and children constitute a sizeable proportion of the Nigerian population and that nutrition plays an important role in their lives as a major contributor to their survival, proper development and the general wellbeing.
Mrs Udoh however expressed that gender inequality and unfriendly social norms, household food insecurity, adequate care and feeding practices, poor water and sanitation facilities as well as other food system issues contribute to poor nutrition status of many women,adolescent girls and children in Nigeria.
In a welcome statement, ANRiN supervising and Social Development Director, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Sanjo Faniran, explained that the Ministry attached a lot of importance to the Annual Results Conference which he said, showcased the results achieved in the ANRiN project across the federal implementing entities and the 12 ANRiN implementing states.
This year,s Conference with the theme “Boosting the Gains of Accelerating Nutrition Results: Leveraging Lessons from Innovative Approaches” which the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is the convener, was jointly hosted by Ministry of Health and National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
Mary Henshaw
Principal Information Officer
For: Director Information(BNP)
