The Canadian Government under Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has released the sum of $3 million as part of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Bauchi state government.
The disclosure was made by the Chief of Field Office, United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Dr Tushar Rane during a joint courtesy visit with the GAC delegation to Bauchi state Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir at the Government House, Bauchi.
Tushar Rane stated that the focus of the MoU was about empowering women by giving them the abilities and capacities to participate in the delivery of healthcare services and to enjoy the benefits of health services in the state.
According to him, “UNICEF is implementing this project through the MoU partnership and the government of Canada has advanced all the resources for this project to UNICEF.”
The UNICEF chief added that “We are working through the Bauchi State Primary HealthCare Development Agency(BSPHCDA) and other partners in the MoU and we are working in all the 323 wards of the state empowering women for their engagement in health service delivery,”.
Rane said the $3 Million is meant to strengthen the implementation of some of the ongoing interventions of GAC and other partners in healthcare services that were captured in an MoU signed by both parties.
According to him, “We are working through the BSPHCDA and other partners in the MoU, and we are working in all the 323 wards of the state empowering women for their engagements in health service delivery.”
Speaking earlier, the Counselor, Head of Development and Cooperation, Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, Mrs Djifa Ahado said that the collaboration with the Bauchi state government has been one of the greatest collaborations ever in the country.
According to her, “We hope to continue seeing that collaboration. We hope to see that the government continues with the result of the different projects that we have here.”
Though she lamented the persistent maternal, newborn and child mortality and morbidity rate in the state, Ahado expressed her hope that concerted efforts should be intensified in reversing the trend.
She particularly stressed the need for the state government to strengthen its road network to make healthcare services accessible to people in the core rural areas.
She also disclosed that because of the successes recorded in some of the interventions in the state, GAC intends to make Bauchi State a reference point and model to be studied by other states in Nigeria.
Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir expressed his gratitude to Global Affairs Canada for the numerous interventions in the state.
He revealed that one of the interventions included youth entrepreneurship and women empowerment in Northern Nigeria, which he said was implemented with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in seven Local Government Areas in Bauchi state.
He listed the benefitting LGAs to include Bauchi, Dass, Toro, Ganjuwa, Warji, Katagum and Jama’are.
Bala Mohammed further said that “the projects are directly supporting and targeting a population of over 16,000 mainly constituting women and youth on small scale businesses and small entrepreneurs.”
According to him, “The overreaching goal of the project is to enhance business performance in Agricultural value chains in order to improve the overall business environment and develop a culture of savings for women and youth in the state.”
The Governor further said that the state will jealously guard the ranking and not take it for granted saying that the state government has developed a robust sustainability framework to ensure that gains recorded from donor partners do not wither away as interventions exit.
He then assured of the state government’s resolve towards meeting its obligations in all arrangements made with its partners.
