‎US partners with FG to end hunger, starvation

‎By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

‎‎ABUJA – THE Federal Government has received a major boost in its fight against hunger and child malnutrition, with the United States-backed Operation End Starvation (OES) seeking a direct partnership with the Federal Government to help scale up life-saving nutrition interventions across the country.

‎‎The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this in Abuja when he led a delegation from OES and agencies under the Health Ministry to seek collaboration with the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

‎‎The proposed alliance is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s response to acute child malnutrition, with particular attention to vulnerable children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

‎‎OES Chief Executive Officer, Williams Holdsworth Moore, said the organisation was impressed by Nigeria’s commitment and the capacity of its health leadership, describing the country as a priority site for its global intervention.

‎‎”We have met with the Nigerian health team, and they are one of the best of many we have met,” Moore said.

‎‎He explained that OES, supported by a macro grant from the United States Government and global philanthropists, plans to channel more than one billion dollars annually towards preventing child deaths caused by starvation.

‎‎”We want to move one billion dollars to end starvation in the next two years across Sub-Saharan Africa. The burden is high, but the capacity is also very high,” he said.

‎‎Moore added that the U.S. State Department had approved Nigeria as part of the organisation’s priority outlook, adding that OES wanted to demonstrate successful large-scale investment through direct government partnership within the next two years.

‎‎He explained thatOperation End Starvation, an initiative of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, is a public-private nonprofit focused on ending child malnutrition and starvation-related deaths across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.

‎‎Prof. Pate said Nigeria was already implementing strong frameworks to confront malnutrition, citing the National Community Food Bank Programme, which is being delivered in partnership with the Office of the First Lady.

‎‎He said the programme, recently rolled out across the six geopolitical zones, was already recording positive impact and would be expanded to reach more vulnerable households.

‎‎”Nigeria is working hard to scale down its 6.4 million figure of acute child malnutrition, while also attending to the health of pregnant women and lactating mothers,” Pate said.

‎‎”A lot of good things are already happening in the country.”

‎‎The National Community Food Bank Programme is designed to provide nutritious, locally sourced food to children under six, pregnant women, lactating mothers and other high-risk households through community food banks linked to primary healthcare centres.

‎‎The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu welcomed the delegation and commended the quality of expertise and commitment within Nigeria’s public institutions, saying the country’s health team would justify any support received.

‎‎”It has been a delight working with Prof. Pate, Dr Muyi and others. I also work with the Ministry of Education and others. The manpower we have now in the ministries is so wonderful,” she said.

‎‎The First Lady assured the OES delegation that resources provided through the partnership would be deployed transparently and effectively.

‎‎”I assure you that whatever aid you give us, this health team would put it to good use,” she said.

‎‎She said Nigeria deserved better and that the reforms being undertaken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu were gradually restoring the country’s systems.

‎‎”Nigeria deserves better, and there is nothing we give to her that is too much because if the system works, it will ultimately come back to us,” the First Lady said.

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