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By Rasheedat Oladotun-Iliyas
The European Union (EU), UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have urged the Kwara State Government to strengthen domestic financing and institutionalise successful health interventions to ensure that recent gains in maternal, newborn, adolescent and youth health are sustained.
The call came during a high-level advocacy visit by representatives of the EU, UNICEF, UNFPA, the German Embassy and other development partners to the state to assess the progress and impact of EU-supported interventions.
The delegation also used the visit to engage government officials, health workers and communities on the implementation of programmes designed to improve access to quality healthcare.
The Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation, Massimo Deluca, said the visit was intended to assess achievements recorded after about a year of programme implementation and determine how far the state had progressed towards agreed targets.
He said Kwara had been identified as a strategic state for EU interventions, particularly in maternal and adolescent health, stressing that the partnership was focused on measurable outcomes rather than financial assistance alone.
“We are here not only out of generosity, but we are here to measure results,” Deluca said.
According to him, the EU was considering expanding its support but needed a clearer understanding of the level of government investment in the health sector.
“We would also like to understand how much Kwara is investing and delivering to the health sector,” he said.
Deluca said EU assistance was designed to complement government efforts, adding that continued engagement with the state would be necessary to monitor progress and ensure that agreed objectives were achieved.
The UNICEF MNCH Manager, Martin Axel, commended the state for demonstrating what he described as strong leadership, ownership and accountability in implementing the interventions.
Axel said Kwara’s approach had also provided useful lessons for other states implementing similar programmes.
He identified community midwifery as one of the notable achievements of the partnership, saying UNICEF was supporting the approach through its safer birth bundle care programme.
According to him, the initiative equips health facilities with the capacity to prevent and manage avoidable complications that can lead to maternal and newborn deaths.
He said linking community-level interventions with primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare would help strengthen the continuum of care and improve health outcomes for women, newborns, children and adolescents.
For UNFPA, Dr Koessan Kuawu said the results recorded so far demonstrated what could be achieved when government ownership was combined with development-partner support.
Kuawu said the interventions had yielded tangible outcomes despite the relatively short implementation period.
He listed the training of healthcare workers, completion and equipping of 150 health facilities and efforts to extend services to hard-to-reach communities among the gains recorded.
He also acknowledged the state’s contribution to the procurement of family planning and maternal health commodities, saying such domestic investment was critical to the continuity of services.
Kuawu, however, said the long-term success of the intervention would depend on the state’s ability to finance, institutionalise and expand initiatives that had demonstrated positive results.
“We want to reaffirm our commitment that we will be alongside the Kwara State to achieve this,” he said.
The Head of Cooperation, German Embassy in Abuja, Dr Karim Jansen, said the visit demonstrated the shared interest of development partners in supporting Nigeria’s development priorities.
Jansen said the delegation would also witness the commissioning of a solar mini-grid project, which he described as an example of how international partnerships could deliver practical benefits to communities and stimulate local economic activity.
He said the delegation would visit selected health facilities and interact with frontline workers and community members to obtain firsthand information about the impact of EU-supported programmes.
The Cluster Coordinator, Just Transition Inclusion, Jochen Rudolph, said investment in renewable energy could also support Kwara’s broader socioeconomic development.
Rudolph said the delegation was interested in the state’s progress in the energy sector, including the deployment of photovoltaic systems and opportunities in waste-to-energy and hydropower.
He linked energy access to healthcare delivery, noting that reliable electricity was essential for health facilities to function effectively.
Responding, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, represented by his Deputy, Kayode Alabi, said the state appreciated its partnership with the EU and other development organisations.
He said the visit provided an opportunity for the government and its partners to jointly assess the impact of investments, listen to beneficiaries and implementers, identify successful approaches and address areas requiring improvement.
The governor particularly cited the EU-SARAH initiative and its contribution to strengthening maternal, newborn, adolescent and youth health services across the state.
He said improving health outcomes required more than the availability of facilities, stressing the importance of accessible and trusted services, adequately supported health workers, quality care and interventions responsive to the needs of women, young people and communities.
AbdulRazaq also emphasised the need for sustainability, saying the government would continue working with its partners to improve coordination, strengthen evidence-based decision-making and increase its financial commitment to effective interventions.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said the government was pursuing a health-system strengthening strategy that covered the entire continuum of care.
She said efforts were underway to improve health infrastructure across the state’s 193 wards, while strengthening primary and secondary healthcare and expanding tertiary services.
According to the commissioner, Kwara had expanded its tertiary healthcare capacity from one level of institutional provision to three tertiary health institutions within two years.
El-Imam said the government was also strengthening referral linkages between communities, primary healthcare centres and higher-level facilities to reduce delays in accessing emergency care and prevent complications associated with maternal illness and deaths.
She disclosed that the state had released counterpart funds for the procurement of family planning commodities, describing the move as part of efforts to ensure continuous availability of essential supplies.
On adolescent health, the commissioner said the government was expanding adolescent- and youth-friendly services and building the capacity of healthcare providers to offer young people confidential, respectful and appropriate care.
She said the EU-funded initiative, implemented by UNICEF and UNFPA, had complemented government priorities by focusing on service quality, health-worker capacity, community engagement, health-system strengthening and the use of data to guide decisions.
El-Imam added that a statewide assessment of emergency maternal and child health services had helped the government identify critical gaps and areas requiring further intervention.
