By Isaac Olufemi Ojo
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has lauded the Lagos State Government for its sustained commitment to child health and nutrition, even as it called for the timely execution of the second round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW).
The Chief of Office, UNICEF Lagos, Celine Lafoucriere, made the commendation on Monday, July 20, 2026, during the official flag-off of the 2026 first round of the MNCHW held at the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area Secretariat.
Addressing dignitaries, including the Wife of the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, Lafoucriere noted that the campaign bears the visible fingerprints of the First Lady, whose consistent leadership and mobilization of resources have kept the initiative running across the years.
She stated that Lagos State currently accounts for about three million children under the age of five whose critical physical and cognitive development requires urgent and continuous health interventions.
“Lagos has about three million children under the age of five. Three million children whose brains are forming, whose bones are growing, whose bodies need the right food and the right care right now – not next year,” Lafoucriere said.
Detailing the scope of the week-long campaign, the UNICEF chief explained that health workers would fan out across communities to administer Vitamin A supplementation to protect children’s sight and boost immunity, alongside deworming tablets to combat nutrient loss from parasites.
She added that infants would be weighed and screened for early malnutrition detection, while pregnant women would receive micronutrient supplements to safeguard maternal and child health.
Highlighting UNICEF’s support for the exercise, Lafoucriere disclosed that the agency provided Vitamin A and micronutrient supplements, supported grassroots mobilization awareness, and deployed field teams to monitor and verify coverage.
She, however, emphasized the vital role of domestic resource mobilization, recalling that Lagos State released 156 million Naira last year through the Child Nutrition Match Fund, which directly procured commodities for vulnerable 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 noted.
Looking ahead, Lafoucriere outlined two critical imperatives for the state government to sustain the momentum: ensuring the second round of the MNCHW is conducted before the end of November 2026 to catch children missed in the current drive, and procuring sufficient quantities of deworming tablets for children aged 12 to 59 months to guarantee total state coverage.
“We cannot run this campaign at half strength,” she warned, while reaffirming UNICEF’s unwavering partnership with the state government for current and future child survival initiatives.
