The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for sustained investment in child nutrition and healthcare in Lagos State to accelerate efforts at reducing malnutrition and improving the survival and development of children under the age of five.
UNICEF’s Chief of Office, Lagos, Celine Lafoucriere, made the call at the official flag-off of the 2026 first round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) held at the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Secretariat, Lagos.
Lafoucriere lauded the Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, for her consistent support for maternal and child health programmes, describing her leadership as instrumental in ensuring that millions of children across the state continue to benefit from life-saving nutrition and health interventions.
She noted that Lagos is home to about three million children under the age of five, stressing that the state must sustain investments in nutrition and primary healthcare to meet their developmental needs.
According to her, the week-long campaign will see health workers move into communities across the state to administer Vitamin A supplements to boost children’s immunity and protect their eyesight, provide deworming tablets, screen children for malnutrition and offer micronutrient supplements to pregnant women.
“For this round, UNICEF provided Vitamin A and micronutrient supplements. We have also helped ensure communities are aware of the campaign, and our teams will be in the field this week to verify that children are being reached,” she said.
Lafoucriere, however, stressed that government ownership remains critical to the success of child nutrition programmes, noting that UNICEF’s support alone cannot meet the needs of the state’s growing child population.
She lauded the Lagos State Government for releasing ₦156 million through the Child Nutrition Match Fund last year, saying the intervention enabled the procurement of essential nutrition commodities for children.
“When a government spends its own money on this work, it changes what is possible. It means we can do more, reach more children and mothers, and waste less time,” she said.
The UNICEF official called for the successful implementation of the second round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week before the end of November 2026 to ensure children missed during the current exercise are reached.
She also urged the state government to procure sufficient quantities of deworming tablets for children between 12 and 59 months to guarantee full coverage across Lagos.
“We cannot run this campaign at half strength,” she said.
Reiterating UNICEF’s commitment to supporting child survival and nutrition programmes in the state, Lafoucriere said the organisation would continue to partner with the Lagos State Government in expanding access to quality healthcare services for women and children.
“UNICEF will be here, for this round, for the next one, and for the work that happens in between,” she added.
