Nutrition: NGO supports 1,089 pregnant women in Jigawa
NAN-HG-13
Grant
By Muhammad Nasir Bashir
Dutse, March 21, 2017 (NAN) The Child Development Grant Programme (CHDP), an NGO, has supported more than 1,098 expectant mothers in Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa with N40 million nutritional needs in February.
The Information Officer in charge of the local government council, Alhaji Ali Safiyanu, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse.
Safiyanu quoted CGDP’s Programme Coordinator in the area, Malam Abdullahi Muhammad, as disclosing this during a steering committee meeting on Tuesday in Buji.
He quoted the coordinator as saying that the women were being paid N3,500 before, but the NGO increased it to N4,000 due to the rise in the cost of food items.
NAN reports that the programme is supported by the British Department for International Development (DFID) to control malnutrition, maternal and infant mortality rate at the grassroots.
NAN also reports that programme is being implemented in three selected local government areas of the state; namely Buji, Gagarawa and Kirikassamma.
The registered women had been receiving the monthly stipend under the programme to improve their nutritional intake.
It provides unconditional monthly cash transfers of N4,000 to screened pregnant women, through the pregnancy period and until the child reaches the age of two.
The cash assistance is to assist the beneficiaries feed well; cater for their pregnancy and the child after birth in order to reduce the rate of maternal mortality.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Alhaji Hashimu Ahmad, commended the NGO for the gesture, noting that it will go a long way in enhancing healthcare delivery in the area.
Ahmad also commended the NGO for extending the programme from 2018 to 2019, when it would hand it over to the governments of Jigawa and Zamfara for sustainability. (NAN)
MNB/IFY/MST
Edited by Ifeyinwa Omowole/Muhammad Suleiman Tola