The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has raised the alarm that only half of children in Cross River State are being fed appropriately, warning that the state is “missing out on half of its children” despite available food and water resources.

The call was made Thursday during a UNICEF visit to Ediba Primary Health Care Centre in Calabar Municipal and Mayne Avenue Primary Health Centre in Calabar South Local Government Area.

UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Nutrition, Nemat Hajeebhoy, said while malnutrition rates have declined in the state, the progress was not enough.

“The rates of malnutrition overall have come down in Cross River State. However, it’s still not enough and we need to do more,” she said.

Hajeebhoy expressed concern over poor feeding practices and urged urgent action from government and parents.

“Only half of our children in Cross River are fed appropriately. So we are missing out half of our children and there’s no reason Cross River will not have food and water for our children,” she said.

The UNICEF official called on mothers to practice early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and to ensure children receive adequate complementary foods from six months onwards.

She said poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life has long-term consequences on children’s health, learning and productivity, and urged communities to prioritize child feeding.

She thanked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for supporting the programme which she noted has helped to reduce the rate of malnutrition in the state

Hajeebhoy also stressed the importance of birth registration, noting that every child has a right to a birth certificate as a foundation for accessing health, education and social protection services.

The UNICEF team, which also met with health workers at the facility, appealed to the Cross River State Government to strengthen its partnership with the organisation and improve the supply of vaccines, nutrition commodities and other high-impact health supplies.

The delegation discussed ways of improving service delivery through closer collaboration with the Ward Development Committee, WDC, and other stakeholders.

UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe, commended the state government for its collaboration.
“All the credit goes to the government because of a strong collaboration and partnership for our children,” Chiluwe said.

She said UNICEF remains committed to supporting the state to close nutrition gaps and ensure no child is left behind.

The visit comes weeks after Governor Bassey Otu signed the Cross River State Social Investment and Protection Law, which provides a framework for targeting poor and vulnerable residents.