UNICEF Partners Delta in Renewed Fight against Malnutrition

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has restated its commitment and support for the Delta State Government in the renewed effort to flatten the curve for malnutrition in the state, particularly through supplementary and improved dietary provisions for adolescents in the state.

The UNICEF zonal Chief of Field Office (Rivers), Dr. Tushar Rane, gave the assurance in virtual remarks at a one-day meeting in Asaba with stakeholders for Scale-Up of Adolescent Nutrition Programme for six local government areas of Delta State, organised by UNICEF.

While lauding the state government for putting in place necessary policy instruments for a scale-up of the adolescent nutritional status of the state because of their importance to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he commended the initiative to increase the initial three local government areas to six under the pilot programme.

The gains of the pilot programme should be replicated in the additional three local government areas, Rane charged, stressing that addressing the often overlooked adolescent nutrition challenges in the society generally would go a long way in the efforts to solve the many problems triggered by pervasive poor feeding among the critical segment of the population.

UNICEF will continue to support the Delta State Government to ensure that the programme it started in 2018 in the state was scaled up to and extended to other local government areas to prevent acute malnutrition among the adolescents particularly the girl-child, the UNICEF chief stated. Moreover, the organisation’s Nutrition Expert and Programme Coordinator, Mrs. Ngozi S. Onuora, noted that the UNICEF pilot programme in three local government areas of Isoko South, Ika North-East and Ethiope West had outstanding impact on numerous adolescents who were placed on Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation offered through various channels including schools.