DAILY RENDEZVOUS

Daily Rendezvous UNICEF and WHO warn that further attacks and disruptions of health and nutrition services in Sudan could cost over 10 000 young lives by the end of 2023  6 months of conflict in Sudan leave millions of children at risk of cholera, dengue, measles, malaria and other diseases without sufficient containment capacities Since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan on 15 April 2023, UNICEF, WHO and partners have been supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and state ministries of health in Sudan to maintain vital services across the country but are increasingly challenged by the limitations in safety and security, access and resourcing. The agencies warn that further health system disruptions will result in unacceptably high numbers of preventable deaths among children and vulnerable populations. Urgent action is needed now to preserve Sudan’s health systems, especially at community and primary health care levels. Six months into the conflict, health workers...

Daily Rendezvous  President Touray discussed areas of existing and new cooperation with the envoys with regards to the four strategic objectives of the present administration after accrediting them to ECO-WAS The accredited envoys were H.E. Ms. Annika HAHN-ENGLUND, Ambassador of Sweden to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Ms. Cristian MUNDUATE, Country Representative UNICEF to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ms Joanna Tarnawska, Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni-potentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Annett GUNTHER, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Wouter PLOMP, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and H.E. Amedi CAMARA, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. President Touray discussed areas of existing and new cooperation with the envoys with regards to the four strategic objectives o...

Daily Rendezvous  As global crises continue to threaten the health and nutrition of millions of babies and children, the vital importance of breastfeeding as the best possible start in life is more critical than ever. This World Breastfeeding Week, under its theme Step up for breastfeeding: Educate and Support, UNICEF and WHO are calling on governments to allocate increased resources to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding policies and programmes, especially for the most vulnerable families living in emergency settings. During emergencies, including those in Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel, breastfeeding guarantees a safe, nutritious and accessible food source for babies and young children. It offers a powerful line of defense against disease and all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting. Breastfeeding also acts as a baby’s first vaccine, protecting them from common childhood illnesses. Yet the emotional distress, physical ...

Daily Rendezvous  WHO and UNICEF sound the alarm as new data shows global vaccination coverage continued to decline in 2021, with 25 million infants missing out on lifesaving vaccines   The largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in approximately 30 years has been recorded in official data published today by WHO and UNICEF. The percentage of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) – a marker for immunization coverage within and across countries – fell 5 percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 81 per cent. As a result, 25 million children missed out on one or more doses of DTP through routine immunization services in 2021 alone. This is 2 million more than those who missed out in 2020 and 6 million more than in 2019, highlighting the growing number of children at risk from devastating but preventable diseases. The decline was due to many factors including an increased number of children living ...

Daily Rendezvous US$351 million is urgently needed by the UN and partners to intervene  and save lives in North-East Nigeria as underlined by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in partnership with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) at a Joint Advocacy Event on Food Security and Nutrition in North-East Nigeria in Abuja on 8 April 2022.  The initiative aimed to raise awareness and advocate for urgent resource mobilization from both the international community and the Nigerian Government. The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Matthias Schmale called to leverage the resilience of local communities and partners and to work to move beyond emergency assistance and help people grow their own food, build livelihoods and strengthen their resilience.  He stated that 4.1 million people in...

Daily Rendezvous At a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs, funding shortfall, COVID-19, and climate shocks, the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) is allocating $23.8 million to 75 eligible humanitarian partners, including national non-governmental organisations, to help them address critical humanitarian needs and ensure that essential assistance reaches people affected by conflict, food insecurity, inclement weather  and disease outbreaks in north-east Nigeria. According to Trond Jensen, Head of Office for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Nigeria, "It is my sincere hope that this next round of funding allocated to partners will support remote education activities, reduce protection risks, improve shelters, and ensure food assistance is provided to communities." Forty per cent of the fund for each sector will be allocated to the humanitarian response in Adamawa and Yobe, and 60 percent to response in Borno, t...

Daily Rendezvous Voice of Disability Initiative (VDI) says the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has excebated pre-existing inequalities and systemic barriers facing women and vulnerable groups in Nigeria and that there is an urgent need for governmnent at all levels to device and implement plans and strategies to empower women and the physically challenged persons in the country. Voice of Disability said the Covid-19 pandemic has deepen the social and economic distress faced by people with disability including the demand for social distancing which has drastically compounded the already distressed and challenged life of people living with disability and government must act fast to make their lives better. This is contained in a press statement issued by the Chief Executive Officer of the Voice of Disability, Edeh Catherine, at an event marking the International Women's Day, in Yola, Adamawa state. Edeh maintained that the federal government need to scale up its...

Daily Rendezvous The Adamawa state governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has flagged off the reconstruction and renovation of eighty (80) blocks of about one hundred and fifty eight (158) classrooms in Fufore and Guyuk local governments of Adamawa state. Fintiri said the renovation and construction of the schools by UNICEF is in consistence with the state governments policy thrust of revamping the education sector in the state after it has suffered decades of neglect and that the project fits into his government's agenda of making equal opportunities in education available to all. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri made the remarks at the flag off ceremony of the construction in Fufore local government, in Adamawa state. Fintiri said, the Adamawa state government is ready to partner with relevant donor bodies in order to make basic education affordable and a reality for Adamawa common man and in order to afford every child in the state the opportunity to compete with h...