By Ijeoma Popoola

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says President Bola Tinubu‘s Renewed Hope Agenda presents a unique opportunity to place children’s well-being at the heart of national development.

The outgoing UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms Cristian Munduate, made the remark at the presentation of the UNICEF Nigeria 2024 Annual Report, in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by UNICEF in partnership with the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Diamond Award for Media Excellence.

Munduate said Nigerian Government made significant strides to advance children’s rights in 2024.

UNICEF, in collaboration with development partners, private sector and civil society, strategically supported these efforts.

“This strong partnership led to notable achievements including acceleration of birth registration, with 10.1 million children under the age of five receiving birth certificates,” Munduate said.

The representative said UNICEF also played a key role in supporting the government’s procurement of life-saving vaccines for over 59 million children and adolescents.

She noted that about one million malnourished children received critical treatment across northern states.

Munduate, however, said that in spite of the achievements, challenges remained.

According to her, millions of children are still out of school, while poverty and malnutrition continued to rise.

“Conflict and economic instability disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, leaving 4.5 million children in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,” she said.

Munduate said that addressing the issues would require sustained investment in essential services, ensuring that every child would have the opportunity to survive and thrive.

The representative said that UNICEF would remain committed in tackling the challenges.

“Key priorities include eradicating polio, reducing the number of zero-dose children, accelerating birth registration, ensuring more children return to school, combating malnutrition, and ending open defecation,” she said.

She said the achievements of UNICEF in Nigeria in 2024 showed the power of collective action.

“These achievements will not have been possible without the unwavering commitment of the Government of Nigeria – at federal and state levels – alongside development partners, the private sector and civil society,” she said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma