The Federal Capital Territory Administration has asked the six Area Councils to take greater ownership of nutrition programmes, in order to ensure that policies and interventions gets to the grassroots.
The charge was made during the second quarter meeting and capacity-building programme for the Area Council Committees on Food and Nutrition, organised by the Economic Planning, Revenue Generation and Public-Private Partnership, EPRGPPP, Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Mandate Secretary of the Secretariat, Arc. Ubokutom Nyah, while declaring the meeting open, said nutrition security was critical to human capital development and economic prosperity.
Nyah, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Uba Bala, stressed that while policies and strategic frameworks were developed at the Secretariat level, their success was ultimately determined by what happened in wards, villages and households.
He therefore charged the leadership of the six Area Council and nutrition focal officers, to take greater ownership of nutrition programmes, strengthen inter-sectoral coordination and ensure that available resources reached those most in need.
The Director, Food and Nutrition Department, EPRGPPP Secretariat, Princess Celina Gaza-Oluwafemi, said the training was designed to strengthen participants’ understanding of nutrition and equip them with the skills needed to implement interventions at the grassroots.
She said the sessions covered basic nutrition concepts, the nutrition situation in the FCT, causes and burden of malnutrition, priority interventions and the first 1,000 days of life, as well as relevant policies, governance structures and the roles of Area Council Committees on Food and Nutrition.
Gaza-Oluwafemi said the participants were also trained on monitoring and evaluation, reporting, accountability, multisectoral coordination, the Child Nutrition Fund match mechanism and development of practical work plans.
She urged the participants to translate the knowledge gained into practical action in their respective Area Councils, stressing that they were closest to the communities where nutrition interventions were implemented.
The Acting Executive Secretary, FCT Primary Health Care Board, FCT-PHCB, Dr Dan Gadzama, said the Area Council Committees on Food and Nutrition had a strategic role to play in addressing nutrition-related challenges across the Territory.
Gadzama noted that nutrition was particularly critical to the health and wellbeing of children and pregnant women, adding that although policies were developed at the national level, their implementation largely took place at the Area Council level.
He described the committees as essential to translating government policies and interventions into meaningful outcomes at the grassroots, while commending the EPRGPPP, UNICEF, Area Council leadership and participants for their commitment to improving nutrition outcomes.
Also speaking, the UNICEF representative under the United States Department of State MCH Umbrella Grant, Dr Chizoba Steve-Edemba, commended the FCT Administration and participants from the six Area Councils for their commitment to improving nutrition outcomes.
Steve-Edemba said the Area Council Committees on Food and Nutrition were closest to beneficiaries and therefore had a critical role to play in driving nutrition interventions, strengthening coordination and ensuring that collective goals were achieved.
She said the capacity-building programme would help participants better understand their roles within the nutrition governance structure and equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to drive food and nutrition programmes in their respective Area Councils.
The workshop brought together vice chairmen from the six Area Councils, who committed to prioritising and implementing nutrition policies in their respective councils.
The programme ended with the inauguration of an Aid Diversion Committee for each Area Council to promote transparency and accountability in the management of nutrition resources and commodities.
