Kaduna State

A delegation of nutrition partners; CS-SUNN, Save the Children International and Alive & Thrive led by UNICEF Kaduna Field Office Nutrition Specialist, Madam Chinwe Ezeife paid an advocacy visit to the Kaduna State National Youth Service Corps Coordinator. The key objectives of the visit were to solicit support in sensitizing the NYSC members on key Nutrition practices and to advocate for creating a Nutrition Community Development Service (CDS) group in the NYSC program structure.

Receiving the delegation, the state coordinator for NYSC, Walida Siddique advised that advocacy be scaled up to the NYSC Headquarters as approval for the establishment of Nutrition CDs came from the National. She further suggested the following:

·         Use NYSC radio programs such as OBS for nutrition promotion among corps members.

·         NYSC Orientation Seminars or lectures to promote and encourage Corps members to become nutrition advocates using the National Orientation Agency slot at the camp.

·         Partners should make available key Nutrition messages to NYSC Local Government Inspectors (LGIs) for sensitization of corps members during weekly CDS meetings at the LGA.

The next steps for partners at the end of the meeting include supporting a one – day Nutrition Orientation Meeting with NYSC 23 Local Government Inspectors (LGIs) on or before June 13th, 2019 and leading a high-level partners advocacy for Nutrition CDS creation at the national level to the NYSC Headquarters and secure directive for replication at the state level.

UNICEF is supporting nutrition intervention in 10 LGAs. However, other Partners will need to quickly meet to explore how to mobilize resources for LGA intervention scale of up to 23 LGAs before the 13th of June, another NYSC Orientation Camp badge is scheduled to kick off on the 18th and it is another avenue to quickly explore on, come up with tentative messages that will be delivered using the NOA time on their time table.