Shell signs gas supply deal with GPAL, GACN - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and its joint partners have signed a gas supply and aggregation agreement that will support the 140 Megawatts Aba Integrated Power Project in Abia State. The agreement, signed on Friday in Abuja, was between SPDC, Geometric Power Aba Limited (GPAL); and Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN), reports NaijaAgroNet.

By the agreement, NaijaAgroNet gathered that SPDC will supply gas from the SPDC joint venture gas plant in Imo River traversing Abia and Rivers States to the power producer, Geometric Power Aba Limited (GPAL) via a gas pipeline network which is already installed.

“This is a further demonstration of our commitment to supporting Nigeria’s industrialisation through gas,” said the Managing Director of SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor.

Okunbor, who was represented by SPDC’s General Manager, Business and Government Relations, Bashir Bello, noted: “For more than 50 years, Shell has been in the forefront of the campaign to develop and monetise Nigeria's huge gas resources and it is good to see more players joining the fray to grow the gas market and help improve lives and the earnings in Nigeria.”

Speaking at the agreement-signing ceremony, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, described the Aba Independent Power Project as a potential catalyst for opening up the Aba market for economic growth.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Fiscal Strategy, Dr. Tim Okon, the minister said the government was determined to ensure commercial sustainability of any such project with the potential to grow the gas market.

Chief Executive Officer of GAPL, Prof. Bath Nnaji said the project was structured to incentivise gas suppliers to invest in gas production for the domestic market, adding: “We are confident that the structure will serve as a model for other gas-to-power-projects in Nigeria.”

The Managing Director of GACN, Morgan Okwoche, who signed on behalf of the company described the project as the foremost private off-grid gas supply and aggregation agreement that would enhance industrial growth and economic development.

Those who witnessed the signing ceremony included the General Manager Petroleum Engineering of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Muazu Awaisu, who represented the Group Managing Director of NNPC; and the General Manager Gas Portfolio of SPDC, Yemi Famori.

The SPDC JV owns the 650MW Afam VI power plant in Afam, River State which in 2017 supplied 15% of Nigeria’s grid-connected electricity.

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L-R: Manager, Upstream and Commercial Negotiation, Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited, Pius-Milverton Ogunjiofor; Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Geometric Power, Bart Nnaji; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Limited, Morgan Okwoche; General Manager, Gas Portfolio, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Yemi Famori; and SPDC’s General Manager Business and Government Relations, Bashir Bello; at the signing of the Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreement for the Aba Integrated Power Project in Abuja, at weekend.

Farmers grappling with drought, urgently need seed - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

A new drought response plan will help estimated 1.4 million of the most vulnerable drought-affected people in Afghanistan during the coming winter season and into April next year, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced today on the sidelines of the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Around 10.6 million people, or close to half of the country’s rural population, are severely food insecure. This level of hunger has many causes, including years of civil unrest, but it has been made worse by a damaging drought triggered by low snowfall last winter followed by rainfall of up to 70 per cent less than normal in some places. Many families have resorted to desperate coping measures including skipping meals, selling off their livestock or moving to makeshift displacement camps.

FAO is working with partner organizations to provide vulnerable farmers in 22 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces – particularly households headed by women or people with disabilities – with urgently-needed wheat seeds and fertilizers in time for the winter planting season, when much-needed rains are forecast to finally arrive.

Livestock protection measures, including concentrated livestock feed, fodder crop seed, and animal health services are also being provided. Livestock are a key source of food and livelihoods for the majority of rural Afghans; keeping livestock healthy through the harsh winter is therefore essential for rural food security, preserves breeding stocks and sustains rural livelihoods for the coming years.

FAO’s drought response plan is also intended to help people stay at their places of origin and reduce drought-induced displacements.

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Merck marks International Day for elimination of violence against women - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Philanthropic arm of Merck Germany, the Merck Foundation, has marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and commencement of the “16 Days of Activism" that precedes Human Rights Day on December 10 each year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Through their “Merck more than a Mother” campaign, NaijaAgroNet gathered that Merck Foundation planned to empower infertile women against all sorts of discrimination, abuse and psychological and physical violence due to their inability to bear children.

“Together with our partners and our ambassadors, we can create a culture shift to sensitize all communities to respect women whether they are mothers or not. Women are more than Mothers, this is what we stand for. No for violence against women and #NoForInfertilityStigma. 

"Merck Foundation marks the International Day for Elimination of Domestic Violence against Women today and every day as part of our daily activities to empower infertile women through access to information, health, change of mindset and economic empowerment so that they can be independent and stronger” emphasizes Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck more than a Mother.

Watch the story of Merck Foundation CEO visit to Jackline Mwende, the victim of infertility Stigma. She was abused and accused of being unable to bear a child. Although she was not the one with the infertility problem – it was her husband. Yet he refused to get treated and abused her. He chopped off both her hands trying to kill her. Merck Foundation empowered and helped her to start her new life, new home and a new supermarket to lead a good life. She became the “Merck more than a Mother” heroine.

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Kano achieves 67% milestone on 2018 health programme - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Kano State government has achieved about 67 per cent of the milestones set in the 2018 health system programme, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by the Chief Press Secretary to the Kano State Governor, Abba Anwar quoted the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kabiru Ibrahim Getso, as disclosing this at the technical session with donor agencies including Bill Melinda Gates and Dangote Foundations.

Dr Getso revealed that, "Of the 6 agreed 2018 milestones for the health programme, 4 have been completed, which represents 67 per cent.”

He also said that “As a priority for the health programme and 100 per cent Routine Immunisation Funds for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 2018 deposited into the respective accounts, all funds for RI have been released to respective accounts."

According to Getso, another priority of the government was in reintroducing and scaling up of Missed Opportunity for Vaccination (MOV), tracking in secondary health facilities.

"MOV training conducted across all SHFs. While additional 5,122 children have been immunised through MOV between July and September, 2018," he said.

Further, he said, the priority of finalising roll-out of the enhanced community engagement (CE) strategy across all 44 local governments for Routine Immunisation.

"Community Engagement strategy rolled out 96 per cent of Mai Unguwas in the state now line-list new-born and track unimmunised children in their settlements," he said.

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Unlocking Africa’s earth observation potential @1st GMES Africa - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The first Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) Forum of the GMES and Africa has kicked off in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, with some 400 delegates, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The delegates, NaijaAgroNet gathered were drawn from Africa, Europe and other parts of the world have gathered to discuss new and innovative Earth Observation technologies supporting Africa’s socio-economic development.

Organized jointly by the African Union Commission and the government of Gabon, the Forum is the first gathering of all stakeholders involved in the GMES and Africa programme. The programme was jointly launched in 2016 by the African Union and the European Union to strengthen Africa's capacity for the optimal exploitation of Earth Observation systems, data and technologies.

Africa has significant aptitude to utilize the opportunities provided by Earth Observation, through satellites and other applications that improve environmental management, agricultural productivity, climate change mitigation, food security, health, and disaster risk reduction, among many of its developmental priorities. Limited investments and a fragmented approach has constrained the continent’s ability to mobilize funding, develop local capacities, and provide the necessary infrastructure for a robust Earth Observation industry.

The African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, H.E Professor Sarah Anyang Agbor said the Forum will evoke the aspirations envisioned by the people of Africa in Agenda 2063 for a prosperous continent with the means to harness its resources to drive its own development on a sustainable basis. She pointed out the pressing imperative for Africa to invest in technological innovation and harness its existing human capital for better health, education and infrastructure systems.

The Head of the European Union delegation to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tomé-et-Principe and CEEAC, H.E. Ambassador Helmut Rudolf KULITZ, stated that "GMES and Africa and its predecessor programmes represent more than 15 years of fruitful cooperation with Africa on Earth Observation and a European contribution of more than €100 million.

The 1st GMES and Africa Forum is centred on the theme “Unlocking the Potential of Earth Observation as a Key Driver of Africa’s Sustainable Development”, a reference to the existing imbalance between the continent’s potential and the actual benefits it derives from Earth Observation dividend. The theme addresses the means of harnessing opportunities offered by Earth Observation to leverage Africa’s socio-economic development.

‘By putting end users at the heart of product and service development, GMES and Africa has become a vision for the sustainable and efficient management of natural resources and security in Africa’, remarked Guy Bertrand Mapangou, Gabon’s Minister of Digital Economy, Communication and Post Office, who is also the government spokesperson.

Forum delegates comprise African end users of Earth Observation services, policy makers, scientists, businesses and academia, who will use the five-day conference to discuss the challenges undermining the growth and expansion of the sector in Africa. They will devise strategies for closer communication, collaboration and engagement among industry experts and users of Earth Observation services. They will further explore the building of stronger partnerships and the deeper involvement of players especially from the private sector and academic institutions.

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) is a flagship programme of the African Union under the African Space Policy and Strategy. It prescribes a pathway for the continent to be globally competitive in space activities, including Earth Observation, and to develop a viable continental space programme. With continent-wide coverage, the programme is implemented through grants to African institutions under the banners of regional consortia. 13 consortia representing a total of 72 African institutions have been awarded grants through open competitive bidding to implement projects in water, natural resources, marine and coastal areas management.

GMES and Africa is supported by the European Union through its Pan-African Programme. It is also supported by the European Commission (EC) "COPERNICUS" Earth Monitoring Programme, which provides satellite data and products from the services through the satellite EUMETCAST system of EUMETSAT. Today, more than 300 users in Africa can directly receive Sentinel 3 data and Global Land products. A collaboration arrangement was also signed in June 2018 between the AUC and the EC for Copernicus information and data exchange with Africa. GMES and Africa Programme is another example of the long-standing partnership between the European Union and the African Union.

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NaijaAgroNet goes blue to commemorate Rights of Child - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

In commemoration of the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which also is known as World Children’s Day (WCD) on 20 November, the management of NaijaAgroNet has resolved to mark it with our website going blue.

Editor of NaijaAgroNet, Remmy Nweke in a press statement, said this is part of the World Children’s Day commemoration, and call by the United Nations Children Fund in this regards with hashtag #GoBlue.

“This #GoBlue campaign, he also would see staff and NaijaAgroNet going blue,” he said.

The award-winning NaijaAgroNet, he said, is a member of DigitalSENSE Africa Media Group and focuses on agriculture and role of Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Development (ICT4SD) in achieving 21st century agro-businesses to deliver value, prompt and concise information, towards connecting agriculture, water, sanitation, youths, children and women, environment and ICT to bring about ZERO hunger and food security in our society.

He further explained that by going blue would have its website going blue from masthead to the background.

This, will last between, midday of Monday, 19 November to midday Wednesday November 21, 2018.

NaijaAgroNet  recalls that UNICEF will present a petition for global signing by millions of people, which will be active for one year. 

The visual signatures, NaijaAgroNet  gathered, will be handed over to world leaders at the UN on 20 November 2019 at the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – calling for re-commitments and new, stronger commitments to child rights.

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One man's meal, 163 children’s death per month - NaijaAgroNet

ExclusiveFeature@NaijaAgroNet:

Arrival of every child in a family is always joyful. REMMY NWEKE in this report postulates that one man’s meal that costs N3.5m of tax-payers money, could actually save 163 children from death monthly, if nation’s resources are prioritized.

Malnutrition @FCT:

Still reminiscing on what one saw at the recent site visit to Kwalu Primary Health Care (PHC) Centre within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, with a good number of malnourished children not less than 50 in that centre and considering that, this PHC may not be very far away from where the Federal Government is feeding one man monthly with the sum of N3.5 million, while over 2000 children under 5 die daily as a result of malnutrition, becomes unthinkable.

Frankly, travelling from Lagos to FCT, Abuja, about 11 hours 42 minutes by road and some 756.8 kilometres (km) via Sagamu-Benin Expressway, one would simply not envisage that there are some malnourished children near the seat of power in the most populous black nation, Nigeria.

The N3.5m gab and CMAM:

Recall that the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, a fortnight ago revealed to the Nigerian media that the whooping sum of N3.5m is used monthly to feed the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

So, penultimate Wednesday, November 7, precisely, the Information Minister since inception of the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led Federal Government, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told media including leading Internet TV, OakTv in a viral video that the government was spending N3.5 million monthly to feed Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the Shi’ia sect leader who has been in detention since December 2015. The paradox in the above is the revelation of using N3.5m to feed a one-man detainee and just nearby community of Kwali there are some 50 malnourished children and some 2,000 die nationwide daily.

According to the 2017 Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) sighted by NaijaAgroNet, experts at the UNICEF in collaboration with the Federal Government alluded that it would cost N21,350 only about $61 to cure a child suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the non-emergency states of the country. On the other hand, it will cost N36,750 only, about $105, to cure a child suffering from SAM in emergency states like the North East (NE) geopolitical zone of Nigeria, consisting of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.

What is SAM?

Experts at National Institutes of Health defined Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) as extremely low weight-for-height, and estimated to affect between 500,000 and 1,000,000 million children under age five in Nigeria every year, thus contributing to as many as 100,000 deaths per year. They also underlined the causes of malnutrition in Nigeria to include poverty, inadequate food production, inadequate food intake, ignorance and uneven distribution of food, poor food preservation techniques, improper preparation of foods, food restrictions and taboos, and poor sanitation.

Arithmetically, what this entails, according to NaijaAgroNet findings is that at the non-emergency states, N3.5m would be able to feed and obviously cure some 163.93 children monthly at the rate of N21,350, which amounts to N3,499,905.5. And for children suffering from SAM in the six aforementioned emergency states, at least 95.23 children will be saved at the cost of N36,750 with a round up figure of N3,499,702.5 every month. Per-adventure N3.5m is shared among 30 days on average of a month, will indicate N116,666 is spent daily. This figure when matched with N21,350 will save about 5.4 children on daily average.

This figure when juxtaposed with the number of months since Malam Ibrahim El-Zakzaky was arrested and detained by the state in December 2015, following initial clampdown on his members by soldiers despite court ruling to release him; indicates that he has spent 34 months in detention till October 30. When 34 months is multiplied by N3.5m leaves NaijaAgroNet correspondent with N119,000,000 (One Hundred and Nineteen Million Naira).

How to save 3,328 SAM children in North East:

Conversely, dividing N119,000,000 with the cost of N36,750 anticipated to save children suffering from Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM), Nigeria should have saved some 3,238 children in the six emergency states of North East, while the same amount could have saved some 5,573 in some 30 states including FCT that are categories as non-emergency states within the period under review of 34 months.

A communiqué issued from a recent 3-day media training cum field visit from October 29th to November 1st, 2018 in Abuja on the theme “The Journalists’ Role in Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in Allocation and Use of Health/Nutrition Funds in Nigeria” hosted by Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) under the Partnership for Improving Nigeria Nutrition Systems (PINNS) project, decried the daily 145 maternal death as a result of malnutrition, recognising nutrition as multi sectoral issue admonishing all hands to be on deck so as to tackle the menace.

At the training, Mr. Dare Oguntade took on “The Nigerian Malnutrition Situation with Focus on PINNS project”; Communications Officer at CSSUNN, Lilian Ajah-mong, highlighted challenges in nutrition reporting; Project Manager at CSSUNN, Mr. Sunday Okoronkwo harped on ‘Nutrition Funding’ and Akin Jimoh of DevCom, facilitated ‘Communicating Nutrition Stories for Change.’

The communique endorsed by Mr. Salihu Mohammed Alkali and Mrs Priscilla Dennis on behalf of participants, pointed out that the first 1000 days of life from the time of conception to a child’s second birth day is not prioritized yet, adding that governments at all levels, have not been making adequate budgetary allocation, approval, timely release and cash backing.

Wake-up for stakeholders:

They also lamented that where budgets are allocated and released, implementation tend to focus more on the curative measures than preventive, citing an instance that a malnourished child when immunized does not absorb or utilize the immunization. Noting though there is low reportage of nutrition-related issues in Nigeria, experts reportedly attributed 53 per cent of deaths from child killer diseases as directly related to malnutrition.

This, they said, underscored the fact that most mothers at the Primary Health Care (PHC) centres, especially at Kwali, were not practicing Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF), decrying lack of men involvement and support towards EBF.

They agreed that stakeholders including but not limited to the government, media, CSOs, care givers, donor agencies need to place emphasis on preventive than curative measures, stressing that government and policymakers, for instance, should be held accountable for their commitments on issues bordering on nutrition especially for children and mothers of child-bearing age, while media practitioners were urged to be consistent in their reportage on nutrition and holding government accountable by getting enough information aimed at addressing nutrition issues, in order to place nutrition at the front burner and influence policy decisions thereof for improved nutrition interventions.

Mainstreaming nutrition:

Advocacy for policies to mainstream nutrition into agriculture as well as sensitizing women on the need to exclusively breastfeed their children in the first six (6) months of life, without addition of water was brought to fore, even as mothers were encouraged to continue to breastfeed their children for two years in addition to adequate complementary feeding.

Participants, according to the Mr. Alkali and Mrs. Dennis were encouraged to explore key components of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so as to bring to the fore requisite solutions to the plights of women, children and other vulnerable groups within the Nigerian society. They insisted that government should scale up and sustain existing interventions on nutrition, while media should intensify campaign towards behavioral change, especially for men to support EBF for a better family life eventually.

Purdah:

Purdah, according to online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is the practice in certain Muslim and Hindu societies of screening women from men or strangers, especially by means of a curtain and often described as “a state of seclusion or secrecy.”

Hannatu Musa, a mother, says Purdah has not been helpful as they women are kept at home and rely heavily on what their husbands bring home which may not necessarily be nutritional mix and varies at various stages of growth, both for mother and child.

Also, a mother of 10-month girl twins, 20-year-old Habibat Abubakar, told NaijaAgroNet that though married to a driver, she treks from Kwaku PHC before they were referred to Kwali, which is a distance and said she was encouraged to visit the hospital by her community leaders. Her twins, she said were underweight at birth and before they were brought to PHC Kwali. As said by her, she breastfeeds her twins, but grandmother gives water afterwards, within the first 1000 days of life.

From Kwaku to Kwali, she said, is about 1:30 minutes trek to receive medicare, but added that she has been coming to PHC weekly and every medicare is free except when she has to take transport, confirming she attended antenatal too.

For Marawiya Isiaka, a mother of 2-year old baby who did not know her age, but could be below 25, told NaijaAgroNet, that her husband cares less about them and she has been coming to PHC Kwali without requisite attention for over a week. This was also brought to the attention of the chief nutritionist supervising the Kwali PHC and she immediately received medicare. The supervisor argued that her case like any other one beyond the PHC are referred to the General Hospital, but in the case of Mrs Isiaka before the visit could end, she was seen attended to with a smile.

Wrap-up:

As the election year approaches, its crucial for stakeholders to ensure that nutrition becomes a political agenda, to include the prioritization of health related issues based on importance of food security and nutritional health; one highlight also will be ensuring that government votes at least 50 per cent of what they spend on managing crisis like the one associated to the Malam Ibrahim El-Zakzaky’s detention as revealed, some 3,238 children in the emergency states of North East, and some 5,573 in some 30 states including FCT from non-emergency states should have been saved from death in 34 months, with an average vote of N3.5 monthly.

The underlined causes of malnutrition in Nigeria comprising poverty, inadequate food production, inadequate food intake, ignorance and uneven distribution of food, poor food preservation techniques, improper preparation of foods, food restrictions and taboos, and poor sanitation, cannot be wished away.

Still imagine a Nigerian society, if 163 children could be saved from Severe Acute Malnutrition per month in non-emergency states, at the cost of N21,350 per child per month and at least 95.23 children at the cost of N36,750 from emergency states saved respectively, of course, the story will change including reduction drastically in the numbers of children at risk of death daily.

And by reversing this trend of one man's meal costing Nigeria 163 children’s death per month, we should have been positioned to see the importance of quality of life in our children improve significantly, having in mind what Caryn Elaine Johnson alias Whoopi Goldberg, a black literary icon and actress said, “... when our children are happy, then we are better as human beings.”

The time to start thinking in that direction is now.

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Pix: Lai Mohammed flanked by two children's pictures from PHC Kwali, FCT.

UNICEF assembles key players over sanitation markets in West, Central Africa - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

In an effort to support 250 million people globally to abandon open defecation and 60 million to gain access to at least basic sanitation services by 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is convening industry, financial institutions, governments and development partners from the 13th to 15 November in Abuja to discuss shaping healthy sanitation markets in the West and Central Africa Region.

One of the key approaches in the UNICEF global strategy for water, sanitation and hygiene is to build sustainable markets for goods and services where supply meets demand. “There is a need for governments and development partners to work in partnership with global and local businesses to ensure that appropriate solutions are available and affordable to those who need them,” says UNICEF’s Supply Director, Etleva Kadilli.

This consultation is an important signal that solutions are urgently needed to achieve targets set In the Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, 2.4 billion people worldwide do not use improved sanitation.[1] As a key custodian of SDG 6.2, UNICEF works to achieve equitable access to adequate sanitation and hygiene for all and to end open defecation by 2030.

Open defecation is a life-threatening practice, as contact with human waste can lead to diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio and diarrhea. Inadequate or non-existent sanitation causes tremendous harm. Every day, 700 children under five die from diarrhea-related diseases.

Sanitation in West and Central Africa (Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana)

The level of open defecation in West and Central Africa accounts for 14 per cent of the global open defecation rate. In Nigeria alone, 46.5 million people practice open defecation, making it the second highest ranked country in the world. Between 2008 and 2017, the creation of sanitation demand through Community Approaches for Total Sanitation[2] in West and Central Africa has led to an increase of almost 25 million people living in open defecation-free communities.

“Despite this recent success, the current rate of progress is insufficient to eliminate open defecation by 2030,” says Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “While UNICEF will continue to rely on proven strategies, new accelerators are needed to support local markets to deliver sustainable sanitation solutions at scale. Following the rise in demand for toilets, we will work with countries to enhance the engagement of the private sector to provide adequate and affordable sanitation products and services, including in isolated, often underserved rural areas.”

In the first of a series of regional sanitation industry consultations, the event in Abuja will convene product manufacturers, service providers, government officials, financial institutions and development partners to share information, discuss market challenges, communicate perspectives and identify strategic steps to strengthen local markets in West and Central Africa and specifically in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Similar consultations in other regions such as Eastern & Southern Africa, Southern Asia and Eastern Asia and the Pacific are also in the pipeline. UNICEF is a key market influencer for solutions that improve the lives of children and their families. As the world’s leading organization for children and the largest procurement agency in the United Nations, UNICEF has a long history of influencing markets and driving product innovation that has increased children’s access to essential commodities.

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Inclusion of DRC Grand Inga 3 dam sparks energy protest - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Human rights activists from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and civil society organisations including International Rivers and WoMin will picket at the Department of Energy in Pretoria this coming Friday 16 November against the inclusion of the Grand Inga 3 hydroelectric dam in the updated draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Of concern to South Africans is the impact that Grand Inga will have on local electricity prices. Studies show that, if South Africa goes ahead with procuring this hydro-electric power from the DRC, the cost of electricity will increase by R400 million per annum.

Another concern is the lack of transparency and inadequate involvement of local, already marginalised Congolese communities. It is estimated that over 30 000 people will be displaced if the project goes ahead.

The picketers will hand over a petition signed by over 10,000 community members from Inga in the DRC against the construction of the dam in which South Africa is heavily invested: in 2014, the government under Jacob Zuma signed a treaty in which it pledged to buy 2500MW of Congolese hydropower per year once the dam comes online in 2030.

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Improve nutrition funding in Nigeria says CS-SUNN - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS—SUNN), has urged the three tiers of government in the country to make certain adequate budgetary allocations on nutrition activities, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A communiqué issued at end of a 3-day workshop , the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) called on government to ensure adequate and prompt release of the nutrition budgets in order to facilitate necessary provisions for the treatment of drugs for the handling of malnutrition issues ravaging children under 5 years old.

The workshop with the theme; "the journalists' role in ensuring transparency and accountability in allocation and use of health/ nutrition funds in Nigeria", was aimed at building the capacity of media practitioners in reporting issues of nutrition

Endorsed by Salihu Mohammed Alkali and Priscilla Dennis, chairman and secretary of the Communique Committee, respectively, described as unacceptable, the record of over 2000 of children under 5 dying daily as a result of cases of malnutrition.

Participants also decried the daily 145 maternal death as a result of malnutrition, recognising nutrition as multi sectoral issue admonishing all hands on deck to be able to tackle the menace.

Participants noted that preventing malnutrition is better and more cost effective than curing the problem, regretting that any malnourished child will be resistant to immunisation.

They further urged media to promptly and adequately report malnutrition cases in order to effectively tackle the problem.

The workshop was organised by CS-- SUNN in collaboration with Partnership for Improving Nigeria Nutrition Systems, PINNS.

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