500,000 Oyo children lack basic amenities, says UNICEF

Urges govt to prioritise children’s well-being successful budgeting
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that fractional a cardinal children lacked entree to basal services, specified arsenic water, nutrition, health, and acquisition successful Oyo State.

It, therefore, urged the authorities authorities to prioritise children’s well-being successful fund readying and implementation. The UNICEF Chief of Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, disclosed this during an engagement with accounting officers successful the UNICEF Line and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and different applicable stakeholders, organised by the Oyo State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning successful collaboration with UNICEF, held astatine the Ibadan Business School, Old Bodija, Ibadan.

She stressed the request for children’s rights and just chances successful the state, conscionable arsenic she called for intensified efforts to marque definite fund disbursements efficaciously scope children successful need.

“Our relation arsenic UNICEF is to guarantee we enactment a amended knowing of what children are for successful a country. Oyo State is simply a precedence authorities for UNICEF and we person a long-standing narration with the authorities arsenic a absorption state.

“UNICEF is present to enactment the Oyo State authorities to make their fund readying and implementation successful enactment of children’s entree to basal societal services.”

She said that the authorities authorities had agelong collaborated with UNICEF connected economical planning, budgeting, and implementation, adding that the authorities has witnessed affirmative results from the collaboration.

She further said: “We inactive person fractional a cardinal children successful the authorities who are deprived and request to beryllium lifted retired of poverty. We volition beryllium determination until the children are lifted retired of poverty.”

The state’s Head of Service, Olubunmi Oni, who declared the lawsuit open, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Service Matters, Paul Oyekunle, reiterated the authorities government’s committedness to children’s rights and well-being.

“The medication of Governor SeyiMakinde has been an advocator for children’s emancipation. The authorities authorities volition proceed to prosecute policies that volition assistance children successful the authorities for a sustainable aboriginal for them,” she said.

In his remarks, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Dr Sunday Ojelabi, gave the assurance that the authorities authorities would guarantee it pays its counterpart fund, adding that the medication places overmuch value connected the well-being of the children.