By Justina Auta

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has called for united action from all stakeholders to acelerate gender equality as the world marks the International Women’s Day (IWD).

The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay, made the call in a statement on Sunday  in commemoration of the 2021 IWD celebration with the theme; “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”

The IWD is celebrated globally every March 8 in recognition of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and also a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

Azoulay said the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated all the divisions in the world, particularly those due to gender inequalities, hence it was necessary to unite and mobilise towards addressing the challenges.

“In the face of these ongoing injustices, in the face of this twenty-first-century “shame”, as put by Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, it is high time for united action.

“For it is above all in the minds of people that the defences of equality must be constructed in order to break down prejudices and stereotypes.”

The statement also noted educational inequalities, which the COVID-19 had worsened, as exemplified by the 767 million women and girls who were deprived of their studies at the peak of the pandemic.

“Today, in addition to the 132 million who were already out of school before the crisis, 11 million of them may never return. ”

The statement disclosed that UNESCO and the Global Coalition for Education had launched the Girls Back to School campaign and published an accompanying guide to more than 50 African Union countries to support girls’ return to school.

It also highlighted some of UNESCO’S mandate, which included supporting women’s right to education, promoting women artists, journalists and researchers, as well as encouraging men’s engagement to the cause. (NAN)

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The President, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr David Alabi, has advised youths to shun alcoholism, banditry and kidnapping that disturb the peace, economy and security of the country.

Alabi gave the advice on Saturday in Abuja when he received an award from the Northern Youth Initiative for Peace and Good Governance.

He said that ALGON was deeply pained by the way youths were involved in alcoholism, banditry and kidnapping.

Alabi urged youths engaging in such bad behaviours to retrace their steps.

He pledged that ALGON would work closely with the youth in the development of the grassroots.

Receiving the award, Alabi described the award and honour as a motivation for further service and dedicated the award to all Nigerian youths.

Alabi thanked the Northern youths for the honour and urged them to continue to develop programmes that would unite Nigerians.

The National President of the group, Alhaji Umar Faruk, said the award was meant to appreciate the distinctive qualities which Alabi had exhibited tirelessly in the course of leading ALGON.

He said the youths association, covering the 19 northern states, had incorporated the award in its programme for the promotion of good leadership and development. (NAN)

By Cecilia Ologunagba

Prof. Nasir Sambo,  Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), says he has achieved six out of 10  Presidential Action Points given to him in August 2019, when he assumed duty.

Speaking at the Informal Engagement with Health Correspondents in Kaduna, on Saturday, said he was able to stabilise the NHIS, and implement the presidential mandate given to him, with the support of the management and staff.

The executive secretary told the Correspondents that before his assumption of office, the NHIS faced a lot of challenges that affected its progress.

He cited a lot of crises in the scheme, ranging from internal disharmony, weak programmatic foundation, poor regulatory/ lack of cohesion between stakeholders low level of coverage by NHIS, among others., as some of the challenges.

According to him, the challenges made President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute an Independent Fact-Finding Panel (IFFP) to unravel root causes of the problems in the NHIS before appointing him.

Sambo said between August 2019 and August 2020, he was able to make some remarkable progress in achieving the Presidential Action Plans, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have been able to develop a 10-year Strategic Plan, drawn up a proper Job Description for the executive secretary NHIS; and cleared backlog of all NHIS unaudited accounts from 2010 to date.

“I have established a Financial Management System to bring NHIS in line with the new policy on Government owned enterprises and other applicable extant financial management policies.

“I have de-seconded all staff ab initio seconded to NHIS; these staff were at the centre of the crises then and I was able to resolve them, placed them correctly, as well as investigated the role played by Labour unions in the crises,’’ he said.

Sambo said the review of the enabling Act and statutes of the NHIS was ongoing and that the Senate had passed it, noting that the review would help the scheme to expand its coverage to more Nigerians.

“Except that Act is amended, we will not be able to cover more Nigerians, because the provision in the Act did not make health insurance mandatory and it also gave room to cover only the formal sector,’’ he said.

In addition, to the review of the Act, the executive secretary said he was carrying out a detailed Human Resource (HR) Audit and addressing all outstanding Human Resources issues.

“ I am also revising the current structure and operational procedures of the NHIS, and  working on building institutional and human capacity of the NHIS on procurement processes,’’ he also said.

Sambo attributed the successes recorded so far to the rebranding agenda of value reorientation; transparency and accountability, and accelerating the drive of Universal Health Coverage (UCH).

He further said that the NHIS had played a key role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including supporting some front line workers with equipment.

“NHIS is actively involved in the development and implementation of the Health Sector Response to COVID-19 coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Health.

“The scheme has provided logistics support to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and setting up of NHIS COVID-19 committee.

“It sent notifications to health care facilities and Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) to continue operations, while complying with necessary precautions; timely advance payments to health care facilities, to ensure uninterrupted access to health care services by enrollees.

“It also facilitated the seamless redistribution of enrollees from health care facilities designated as COVID-19 treatment centres to alternative facilities.

“The scheme also distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to NHIS staff, selected organisations and health care facilities,’’ Sambo said. (NAN)

By Ismaila Chafe

The Presidency has again reassured Nigerians on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine administered on President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday.

The president’s spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, gave the assurance in a statement in Abuja on Saturday evening while reacting to press enquiries.

The statement read in part: ”In response to press enquiries, I like to assure all citizens, and to dispel fears and misconceptions about the safety of the vaccine administered on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, earlier this morning.

”After he got his jab, the President felt normal and went about doing his job.

”If there are side effects that follow, we will be open about that but so far there is nothing like a side effect, serious or mild on the President. He is carrying on as normal.

”We hope this will help to send a strong message to the people, especially those grappling with hesitancy about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian leader used the opportunity to appeal to all eligible Nigerians to get the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination “so that we can be protected from the virus.”

Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday, delivered under the international Covax scheme. (NAN)

By Abujah Racheal

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Vaccine Taskforce has recommended compensation for citizens who suffer side effects or injury from the COVID-19 vaccination.

Prof. Stanley Okolo, the Director-General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO),  disclosed this at the  5th Regional Steering Committee meeting of the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement (REDISSE) project on Saturday in Abuja.

Okolo said that the recommendation was one of the resolutions adopted by the taskforce and presented to the ECOWAS Ministerial Coordinating Committee to encourage citizens to receive the vaccine.

He explained during the REDISSE virtual meeting that the issue of indemnity was being taken up by the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, the global initiative aimed at equitable access to the vaccine, led by Vaccine Alliance, World Health Organisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, among others.

The WAHO chief said “normally,  vaccine development takes five years or even seven, or eight years. Now therefore, we have to think of how to share the indemnity in terms of if any problem develops. 

“That is one of the issues now being taken up by COVAX, the global body set up by WHO, GAVI,  to look at how they indemnify some of the companies regarding the vaccines they supplied.

“It is not so much as indemnify but making sure there are reasoned claims against the companies. 

“In addition, member countries,  whether in Africa, West Africa, Europe or Asia, have to think about the supplementary or residual indemnity for their people and that’s one of the things the ECOWAS Vaccines Taskforce is discussing.

“We have already shared the issue with the 5th Ministerial Coordinating Committee and one of the resolutions is that member countries should watch out for any significant side effects or injury.

“We haven’t seen that yet in countries that are vaccinated widely, but member states should look to compensate affected citizens.”

Okolo explained that the objective of the Regional Steering Committee meeting was to assess the implementation of the REDISSE project, evaluate progress achieved toward meeting the objectives, and make recommendations for enhanced implementation for greater results.

According to him, the implementation of the recommendations of the last Regional Steering Committee meeting held in Lome on Nov. 2, 2019 will be assessed. 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some participants attended the meeting virtually due to the current surge of COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Ebola outbreak in Guinea.

The meeting took the form of a short presentation of the Technical Committee’s report, followed by discussions, summaries and recommendations, chaired by the WAHO director general. (NAN)

By Justina Auta

Japan and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have agreed to empower Nigerian women and girls in marginalised communities.

This is contained in a statement jointly signed by Atsuyuki Oike, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO and UNESCO’s Director of the Bureau of Strategic Planning, Jean-Yves Le Saux.

Saux signed the project agreement letter administratively in Paris in observance of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) protocol.

It said the project would strengthen efforts at tackling the disruption of learning for children and surge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in Bauchi, Gombe, and Delta states.

“The project is set to promote the empowerment of women and girls in marginalised communities for resilience strengthening and self-actualisation through education, along with effective advocacy for eliminating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and reducing the spread of COVID-19.

“This will ultimately contribute to peace, stability, and inclusive development in Bauchi, Gombe, and Delta states of Nigeria,”

According to the statement, the project is expected to be accomplished through the combined effects of sports and psychosocial rehabilitation, community media empowerment, and second-chance education opportunities.

It explained that the project would complement another ongoing UNESCO project in Nigeria aimed at reducing the surge in gender-based violence, and countering violent extremism as well as hate speech.

“UNESCO is in the forefront of promoting youth and adult literacy through evidence-based advocacy and fostering partnerships with focus on the non-formal education,” it added.

While noting that Japan and UNESCO had other collaborative engagement centered on sustainable development, the statement said “this project” would focus on the promotion of peace, stability, and inclusive development. (NAN)

By Ayinde Olaide

The Bauchi State Government has renovated 20 Primary Healthcare Centres in Toro Local Government Area of the state.

Gov. Bala Mohammed, stated this in Toro on Saturday, during the projects inspection visit to Magama Gumau Primary HealthCare Centre, one of the centres recently renovated in the area.

The renovation was carried out in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP) and the World Bank assisted projects.

Mohammed, who lamented the deterioration of the state’s healthcare facilities, said he had vowed to revive the sector, hence his pronouncement of a state of emergency on the sector.

The governor promised to work with the people in order to bring initiatives that would benefit all and sundry.

“This maternity was renovated by NSHIP, UNICEF and the World Bank assisted project, in conjunction with our own Primary HealthCare Development Agency.

“We have 20 of such clinics and maternities in Toro local government that are being renovated. We are doing this because our health sector has deteriorated and we have done a total of 190 in the state.

“We promise to work for the people of Bauchi and to bring initiatives that will use little resources to do so much,” Mohammed said. (NAN)