The Government of Canada has announced a three million dollars assistance to the Bauchi State Government to enhance women’s engagement in health service delivery
The Head, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office, Mr Tushar Rane disclosed this when a UNICEF and Global Affairs Canada joint team visited Gov. Bala Mohammed, on Tuesday in Bauchi.
He said the purpose of the financial support was to empower women by enabling them to participate in the delivery of healthcare services and enjoy its benefits.
“UNICEF is implementing this project through the MoU partnership and the Government of Canada has advanced all the resources for this project to UNICEF.
“We are working through the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and other partners in the MoU, and we are working in all the 323 wards of the state empowering women for their engagements in health service delivery,” he said.
Earlier, Mrs Djifa Ahado, Head of Development and Cooperation, Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, described its collaboration with the state government as one of the greatest collaborations ever.
“We hope to continue seeing that collaboration. We hope to see that the government continues with the result of the different projects that we have here,” she said.
Responding, Mohammed expressed gratitude to Global Affairs Canada for its viable interventions in the state.
He listed the intervention to include the Youth Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment in Northern Nigeria being implemented with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
According to him, the programme is being implemented in Bauchi, Dass, Toro, Ganjuwa, Warji, Katagum and Jama’are Local Government Areas of the state.
“The projects are directly supporting and targeting a population of over 16,000 mainly constituting women and youth on small-scale businesses and small entrepreneurs.
“The overreaching goal of the project is to enhance business performance in the agricultural value chain to improve the overall business environment and develop a culture of savings for women and youth in the state,” he said
He assured the government’s resolve towards meeting its obligations in all arrangements made with its partners.