WFP’s Princess Zeid commends health staff at Sagnarigu

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By
Albert Futukpor, GNA

Kpalsi (N/R), Jan 28,
GNA – Health staff at the Saint Lucy Polyclinic at Kpalsi, and Kalpohin Health
Centre in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region have been commended
for their knowledgeable, compassion and dedication to duty.

Princess Sarah Zeid
of Jordan, who is also World Food Programme (WFP) Special Advisor on Mother and
Child Health and Nutrition, commended the staff of both facilities, and said
such qualities were essential to ensure the well-being of mothers and children
in the area.

She was speaking
after she and Mr Paul Kiernan, a WFP Executive Board Member and Permanent
Representative of Ireland to the Rome-based agencies visited the two facilities
on Tuesday to abreast themselves of WFP’s innovative private-sector centred
nutrition programme under which high-quality specialised nutritious foods
produced in Ghana, are used to prevent stunting and micronutrient deficiencies.

Princess Zeid and Mr
Kiernan were accompanied on the field visit by Ms Noemi Renzetti, Partnerships
Officer, WFP Nutrition Division, Mr Peter Musoko, WFP Deputy Regional Director
for West and Central Africa, Mr George Fominyen, West and Central Africa,
Regional Communication Officer, Ms Rukia Yacoub, WFP Ghana Representative and
Country Director and Ms Vera Boohene, WFP Ghana Partnerships and Communications
Officer.

The visit was also
to find out how the WFP-assisted nutrition programme successfully involved
local private sector agro-processing firms and to understand what kind of
support could be provided to enable them establish effective, sustainable,
market-driven nutrition value chains capable of producing international rated,
quality, affordable specialised nutritious foods for Ghana and other West
African countries.

The WFP-assisted
nutrition programme provides a platform for comprehensive services in a single
location; ante-natal and post-natal care, vaccinations, screenings, social and
behaviour change communication, nutrition counselling, registration, using
WFP’s SCOPE tool to effectively manage beneficiaries, and access to the
retailers to redeem their entitlements using an e-voucher system.

Princess Zeid also
commended WFP’s partners on the nutrition programme for their efforts to
provide the nutritious foods to energize the children to grow well.

She described her
experience with mothers during the visit to the two facilities saying “In
speaking with the mothers, they asked questions to gain more knowledge about
the welfare of their children, which was wonderful.”

She said “Mothers
expect to have healthy pregnancies, to be able to care for their children,
raise healthy children, who are safe and educated and to have a future ahead of
them.”

She called for more
action to ensure the well-being of mothers and their babies, saying “To reach
the Sustainable Development Goals, we have to prioritize and focus on the
health and well-being of women and girls, who bear the greatest responsibility
often for raising families and communities.”

Staff at the two
health facilities took turns to explain their operations to the visiting team,
saying the WFP-assisted nutrition programme at the facilities had helped to
among others improve attendance by mothers to the facilities, which was
ensuring the well-being of mothers and their babies.

The visiting team
later paid a courtesy call on the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed,
to brief him about their mission in the region.

Mr Saeed Expressed
appreciation to the WFP for its support for mother and child health initiatives
and human rights in the region, and called for more support in the area of
nutrition to improve cognitive development of children.

GNA