The Kaduna State Government says its partnership with the UNFPA toward improving maternal and reproductive health is growing stronger.

Jamilu Ladan, UNFPA State Sub-Implementing Partner Coordinator at the state’s Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), said this in an interview with journalists in Kaduna on Sunday.

Mr Ladan, who is a programme officer at PBC, said that the cordial relationship between UNFPA and the state government on maternal health has been growing stronger and creating a huge impact on the lives of beneficiaries.

He explained that a total of 23 activities on reproductive and maternal health issues were planned for the third quarter of 2023.

He added that 18 of the activities have been delivered as of September 30, representing 78.2 per cent performance.

Of the N52 million programmed for the third quarter, N42 million has been disbursed to the sub-implementing partners, he added.

“As I am talking right now, funds are being utilised and the financial implementation is 100 per cent for quarter three and 75 per cent compared with the annual budget performance.

“Some of the key interventions implemented in quarter three centred around maternal and reproductive health, gender-based violence, as well as the coordination component domiciled at PBC.”

Mr Ladan, however, said that the transition phase affected the delivery of some of the planned activities, adding that not much was done in quarters one and three.

He said that in spite of the challenge, quite a number of activities to improve maternal health were conducted, including surgeries for fistula patients at the Fistula Centre in Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Zaria.

He added that several demand-creation activities and awareness-creation activities were conducted with support from UNFPA.

According to him, demand-creation activities have yielded significant results following the increase in the number of people seeking maternal health-related services in communities, leading to unmet demands.

“We have also procured quite a number of life-saving maternal drugs, particularly for pregnant mothers, for distribution in health facilities.

“We have done part of the distribution, while some of the drugs were stored in storage facilities of the State Primary Health Care Board.”

On coordination, the state IP said that the working synergy among project implementing partners has been very effective.

The Head of Office, UNFPA Kaduna Sub-Office, Loide Amkongo, also said that effective coordination of the interventions would address duplication of efforts and maximise the available resources from the various partners.

(NAN)