CS-SUNN extols Lagos government on nutrition budget lines
The Lagos State government has approved nutrition budget lines across 10 key line ministries in the state’s 2020 budget. The approval followed a recent directive from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget (MEPB) Mrs. Abiola Laidi to nutrition line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to create line budgets for nutrition in their various MDAs.
Prior to this approval, the Lagos State government had recorded zero budgetary allocation for nutrition during some of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition (SCFN) meetings, where the SCFN assessed the state’s performance on the extent to which the implementation of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions or strategies are in line with the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition (NMSPAN), using an appraisal tool. The appraisal tool, developed with support from the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) and owned by the Federal Government, is designed to help the National and State Committees on Food and Nutrition (N/SCFN) identify, assess and apply data generated during their meetings for better decision-making that will ultimately translate to improving nutrition outcomes at the National and State levels.
CS-SUNN team led by Executive Secretary, Beatrice Eluaka in a recent visit to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget Lagos State, Mrs. Abiola Laidi, praised the state government for approving nutrition budget lines across all the relevant line ministries. “Lagos State now has budget lines in all the nutrition line ministries. It is not just enough to have the budget line. There is the need for the budget lines to have cash backing and to ensure timely releases to facilitate the full implementation of the State Multi-sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition,” Eluaka said.
Eluaka also called for improved and greater collaborations among the nutrition line ministries and also for the approval of the State Multi-sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition currently before the State Executive Council.
The Permanent Secretary MEPB, Mrs. Laidi who welcomed CS-SUNN team commended the alliance’s support towards improving nutrition outcomes for Lagos state. She is also committed to the implementation of the PINNS work plan as presented by CS-SUNN’s Project Manager, Sunday Okoronkwo.
On the recent approval of nutrition budget lines across key line ministries, Mrs. Laidi said “It is not just enough to have nutrition budget lines in these ministries. Execution and implementation of what is in the budget is what is important.”
The State Nutrition Officer, Mrs. Braheem said: “We have been partners with CS-SUNN since 2018. They have helped the committee to do a lot, especially domestication of our nutrition policy, training of members to know their roles and responsibilities. They drove in us the zeal to create budget lines in all ministries.”
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