By Mahmoud Dogara (Bauchi State Correspondent)
The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office in collaboration with five state governments, has conducted it's 2020 End of year Review and 2021 planning meeting in order to discuss achievements, key challenges and actions required to address the challenges in different sectors of the North-East zone
The meeting which is in partnership with state governments of Bauchi, Taraba, Gombe, Plateau and Adamawa is also to develop and discuss draft activities for 2020-2021 work plan.
In his opening remarks, the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Mr Bhanu Pathak, who was represented by the UNICEF WASH Specialist, Mr Amos Kudzala, at the commencement of the meeting that held at the Haziba Event Center in Bauchi on Monday, said that the essence of the meeting is to take stock of what it has done during the year in terms of success stories as well as challenges and gaps with the aim of planning for the following year.
"This meeting is covering all the five states under the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office which include Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba and plateau. In this meeting, we will look at our achievements for example in the area of education, health, Child protection, Sanitation and Hygiene and see where we need improvements. There can be no success achieved if there is no adequate planning and that is what we have come here to do today"
"At the end of the meeting, the modalities that will be used to address the challenges highlighted is that we will brainstorm and discussing the way forward, how we can handle those challenges. When we are planning for the 2020 and 2021 work plan, we include all these issues raised during the meeting" he said
In his address during the meeting, the Bauchi state Commissioner for Budget and economic planning, Aminu Gamawa, said that the meeting was timely as the Northeast and North-West regions are bedeviled by challenges which include issues of out-of-school children, Maternal and infant mortality, insecurity amongst other challenges.
The Commissioner who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Yahuza Adamu Haruna, called on the participants from the five states to take the review meeting seriously to change the negative narrative in the regions. NNL.
