The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organised a two-day workshop recently in Kano for state policy makers on financing nutrition in Northern Nigeria.

The purpose of the summit was to bring together the state legislators and high policy makers from various states in the North under one roof to understand the complexity and multi sectorial nature of nutrition and identify opportunities for financing nutrition in the 2017 budget in their respective states.

The programme Officer of CISLAC, Chioma Kanu, however, said the summit drew over 70 leaders from State Houses of Assembly, state and federal ministries. Stakeholders in nutrition and civil society organisations were not left out.

Meanwhile, it was agreed that the communique issued at the end of the summit, that delay in domestication and implementation of the existing national policy guidelines on nutrition such as the National Policy on Food and Nutrition and National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition by states, hampers efforts to address nutrition through a multi sectorial approach by relevant sectors including health, education, Agriculture, Water and sanitation among others.