April 18, (THEWILL) – Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has appealed to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to establish a field office in the state to coordinate its programmes and strengthen its partnership with the government to better deliver on its mandate.
Governor Diri made the appeal in Yenagoa, on Wednesday, while taking delivery of six brand new water ambulances donated by UNICEF to boost immunisation coverage and primary care delivery services in riverine communities of the state.
The Governor, who was represented at the ceremony by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said the creation of a UNICEF field office in the state would make for better coordination and implementation of the organisation’s policies and programmes in Bayelsa.
A statement by the Deputy Governor’s media aide, Mr. Doubara Atasi, quoted the Governor as decrying the present arrangement whereby the UN agency’s programmes are being coordinated in the state through the Rivers State UNICEF field office.
While expressing gratitude to UNICEF and the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI) for their partnership with the government to improve primary healthcare indices and indicators, Governor Diri called for greater collaboration to achieve more success.
The Bayelsa helmsman particularly thanked UNICEF for donating the boat ambulances as well as renovating some primary healthcare centres in the state.
Governor Diri, who disclosed that the government would soon unfold the state’s nutrition policy, promised the UNICEF Country Representative, Ms. Cristian Munuate, and her team that the state would make judicious use of the ambulances to realise the purpose for which they were donated.
“Bayelsa is 70 percent riverine. So, for us to make effective supervision for effective healthcare delivery to the people, boats were required, and today you have delivered six water ambulances.
“So, we are very grateful to UNICEF for the six water ambulances to boost our healthcare delivery system.
“We also want to thank you for renovating six health centres in our state. It will be unfair if we do not acknowledge that kind gesture of yours.
“But there is an appeal I want to make here. We have been having issues with the UNICEF Rivers State field office, so we don’t mind, even if it is just one cubicle you create for us as the UNICEF Bayelsa State office, we will be very happy if you can do that for us,” he said.
In her remarks, the UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, applauded the Bayelsa State Government for prioritising healthcare delivery services in the state, especially in the primary healthcare sector.
Munduate noted that the six water ambulances donated by UNICEF and its partners were meant to close up existing gaps in the health sector, as Bayelsa still had about 20,000 children yet to be reached for immunisation.
She, however, pointed out that from the statistics available, Bayelsa achieved a 20 percent increase in routine immunisation in the last couple of years, stressing there was still room for improvement to achieve 100 percent coverage.
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of the Bayelsa Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Williams Appah, said the formal handover of the ambulances marks a significant milestone in the primary healthcare delivery system and assured that the facilities would be put to best use.
Also speaking, the Senior Country Representative of the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI), Jessica Crawford, described the ceremony as a dream come true for both GAVI and UNICEF.
She appreciated the dedication and commitment shown by the state government and expressed the hope that with the provision of the ambulances, there would be an improvement in immunisation coverage and overall primary healthcare delivery in Bayelsa.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
