The new Chief of UNICEF‘s Kano Field Office, Mr Shafeeq Ur-Rehman, has reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with the Jigawa State Government to advance child welfare, social protection and human development.

Ur-Rehman gave the assurance on Friday during a courtesy visit to Governor Umar Namadi at the Government House in Dutse, accompanied by members of his management team.

Welcoming the UNICEF delegation, Governor Namadi congratulated Ur-Rehman on his appointment and called for deeper collaboration to improve the welfare of children, women and vulnerable households across the state.
He acknowledged UNICEF’s longstanding contributions to Jigawa’s development, describing the partnership as one that has grown over more than three decades into a trusted collaboration focused on improving the lives of children and women.

“For more than three decades, UNICEF has been an integral part of Jigawa State’s development journey. Since the creation of the state in 1991, this relationship has matured from programme assistance into a durable development partnership,” the governor said.

Namadi said the collaboration has recorded significant achievements in health and nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, social protection and public policy.
He noted that the partnership aligns with the state’s Greater Jigawa Vision and his administration’s 12-Point Agenda, which prioritises inclusive development and improved human capital.

The governor said discussions during the visit built on the outcomes of the recent North-West High-Level Policy Dialogue on reducing multidimensional poverty through innovative financing and expanded social protection systems.
According to him, Jigawa’s priorities include reducing multidimensional poverty, strengthening child-sensitive social protection, improving child nutrition, expanding access to education, enhancing primary healthcare and immunisation, and increasing access to safe water and sanitation.

Namadi highlighted progress recorded by the state, including reductions in moderate and severe malnutrition captured in the 2023–2024 National Demographic and Health Survey.
He said the state’s home-grown MASAKI Nutrition Programme increased the number of children recovering from moderate acute malnutrition from about 19,000 in 2024 to more than 43,000 in 2025.

The governor also cited Jigawa’s Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, attained in 2023, and the impact of the state’s Back-to-School Initiative, which has returned hundreds of thousands of children to classrooms.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to sustaining these gains through stronger coordination with development partners.

“We will continue to work with UNICEF and other partners to develop the institutional coordination and financial arrangements needed for the phased introduction of the Universal Child Grant,” he said.
Earlier, Ur-Rehman commended Governor Namadi for his leadership, noting that several initiatives pioneered by Jigawa have become models for other states.

He specifically praised the state’s achievement as Nigeria’s first Open Defecation Free state and its MASAKI community-led nutrition programme, which is now being replicated elsewhere.

The UNICEF official also acknowledged the state’s consistent counterpart funding for nutrition programmes and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to ensuring Jigawa’s child development priorities are reflected in the next Government of Nigeria-UNICEF Country Programme (2028–2032).

By Dahiru Suleiman, Dutse.