By Idris Khalid Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Bauchi State Government hav...
Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Bauchi State Government have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening healthcare delivery, improving health systems and reducing preventable maternal and neonatal deaths in the state through sustained collaboration and targeted development interventions.
The commitment was reiterated during a two-day visit by a delegation from Global Affairs Canada to Bauchi State to assess the progress and impact of development programmes being implemented in partnership with UNICEF and the state government.
Speaking at the end of the visit yesterday, UNICEF Health Specialist at the Bauchi Field Office, Dr. David Audu, identified inadequate human resources, limited capacity-building opportunities and poor conditions of some healthcare facilities as major challenges confronting the state's health sector.
He, however, said the Bauchi state government was aware of the gaps and was working with development partners to address them.
Audu said the delegation had the opportunity to witness some of the challenges affecting healthcare delivery, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, where some facilities require rehabilitation and improved infrastructure.
"You accompanied us and saw some of the hard-to-reach communities we visited. Some of these communities have enormous needs, while certain healthcare facilities are in poor condition and require rehabilitation and improvements," he said.
He commended healthcare workers for their dedication, noting that many continued to provide services despite heavy workloads and large numbers of patients.
Audu said the visit also enabled the delegation to interact with community members, healthcare providers and beneficiaries of various capacity-building programmes, including those trained on the Safe Birth and Vital Care (SBVC) bundle, as well as adolescents participating in health clubs.
He expressed satisfaction with the progress recorded under the partnership, saying the interventions were gradually achieving their objectives of improving health outcomes and building sustainable local capacity.
According to him, while the previous visit focused mainly on reviewing activities implemented in 2025, the latest engagement examined programmes being implemented in 2026, particularly adolescent and gender-related interventions.
He said UNICEF would engage the state government after the visit to present observations, develop action points and agree on the next steps towards strengthening healthcare delivery and consolidating achievements ahead of 2027.
Earlier, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, represented by Dr. Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ado, said the partnership with Global Affairs Canada had recorded significant progress in strengthening gender-responsive health governance, empowering women and girls and improving healthcare delivery.
She disclosed that the programme had mobilised 6,460 women through Mama2Mama support groups, enabling them to serve as community advocates for improved healthcare practices.
Rafique said the intervention had also contributed to an 18.6 per cent increase in women's participation in decisions concerning contraceptive use, antenatal care and institutional delivery, including skilled birth attendance.
On health workforce development, she revealed that 398 health workers had been trained in Essential Newborn Care, the management of Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH), Health Logistics Management Information Systems (HLMIS) and District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2).
She explained that the training was designed to improve healthcare quality, strengthen medical commodity management and enhance the use of routine health data for evidence-based decision-making.
On nutrition, Rafique said the partnership supported Vitamin A supplementation in the first half of 2026, reaching 1,626,825 children aged between six and 23 months with two doses.
She added that the programme supported the operationalisation of 102 Adolescent and Young People's Health Clubs across 11 local government areas, reaching 208,920 adolescents and young people in 2025 with information and services covering sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention and nutrition.
The UNICEF official further disclosed that 1,058 women and adolescent girls had benefited from practical skills training in reusable sanitary pad production to improve menstrual health and hygiene.
She said school-based demonstration farms established in 10 schools had also equipped 192 adolescent girls with agricultural skills, nutrition knowledge and climate-smart livelihood opportunities through the cultivation and utilisation of biofortified and nutrient-dense crops.
On nutrition financing, Rafique said sustained engagement and advocacy with government institutions had helped mobilise hundreds of millions of naira from local and state governments for nutrition commodities in 2025.
She described the development as an important step towards strengthening domestic financing, government ownership and the sustainability of nutrition interventions.
She said UNICEF would continue to work with the state government, development partners, civil society organisations and communities to strengthen health governance, improve access to essential maternal, newborn and child healthcare services and expand high-impact interventions for children, adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Rafique also identified women's empowerment, gender equality, increased domestic resource mobilisation for health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene as key priorities of the partnership.
She added that UNICEF was supporting the state in improving sanitation and hygiene practices through the Clean Nigeria Campaign, with the objective of helping Bauchi achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
On disease prevention, she said the organisation was providing technical and financial support to strengthen emergency preparedness and responses to outbreaks, including cholera, vaccine-preventable diseases and Lassa fever.
Speaking on Canada's development priorities, Chloé Simard, Senior Analyst with Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa and leader of the delegation, said investment in healthcare was essential to economic growth, sustainable development and improved community well-being.
She described Nigeria as a priority country under Canada's Africa Strategy, which provides the framework for its engagement and cooperation with African countries.
Simard emphasised the importance of stronger collaboration between development partners and state governments, noting that government ownership was crucial to ensuring the sustainability of development investments.
"We are also keen to see stronger collaboration among development partners and state governments because we believe that state ownership is crucial to ensuring the sustainability of development investments," she said.
She reaffirmed Canada's commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes and promoting community well-being in Bauchi.
Similarly, Rasmata Barry, Senior Development Officer with Global Affairs Canada in Abuja, said the visit provided an opportunity to engage stakeholders, understand progress and assess the impact of development interventions on the ground.
Barry identified gender equality as a major component of Canada's development investments, explaining that the delegation included a gender specialist to provide technical guidance and ensure gender considerations were integrated into development programmes.
She also stressed the importance of environmental sustainability, noting that climate change concerns must be incorporated into development interventions.
According to her, the assessment would help identify strategic areas where development partners could channel investments to achieve meaningful and sustainable results.
Responding, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sani Muhammad Dambam, said the state government would carefully consider and work towards implementing recommendations arising from the delegation's assessment.
He said Governor Bala Mohammed remained committed to improving the health and well-being of residents through sustained investments, reforms and strategic interventions in the health sector.
He said the administration had prioritised healthcare delivery through various reforms and initiatives designed to address the healthcare needs of the people and strengthen the state's health system.
He further explained that the government had embarked on the rehabilitation, upgrading and improvement of healthcare facilities across the three levels of healthcare delivery including primary, secondary and tertiary.
Dambam added that the state government had continued to support development partners, organisations and other stakeholders working to improve healthcare services and the overall well-being of residents.
He noted that Bauchi State had also demonstrated its commitment to various health programmes through counterpart funding and other financial contributions, including support for ongoing healthcare projects, completion grants and family planning interventions
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, appreciated Global Affairs Canada for the visit and acknowledged the contributions of development partners to the growth of the state's health sector.
He expressed the board's readiness to consider constructive recommendations from the assessment and strengthen collaboration with relevant stakeholders to improve healthcare services for residents.
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