Civil Society-Scaling UP Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), has urged the Enugu State House of Assembly to partner with them in ensuring the promotion of nutrition in the state.
The non-governmental organisation also urged the assembly to support legislation that would ensure that working class nursing mothers get six months maternity leave for adequate care and well being of the babies.
The Programme Manager, Dr. Goodness Anyanwu, made the appeal when some members paid advocacy visit to the assembly for the support of six months maternity leave on Tuesday.
He also urged them to go to their respective constituencies to sensitise the people on the need for exclusive breast feeding which she said would make for healthy children and a healthy society.
“We want to beg you to use your good office to see how we can promote nutrition in Enugu state and to also support the legislation for six months maternity leave.
“You can take the advocacy to your respective constituencies, sensitising women on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding so that women will key into it,” she said.
She equally urged the legislators to ensure that the state increased the counterpart funding for child nutrition fund.
To ensure that exclusive breastfeeding takes place in the state, Anyanwu called on the house members to advocate that nutrition departments were created in the ministries as well as create creches in ministries and departments where working mothers could conveniently breastfeed their babies.
She also implored that the Committee for Food and Nutrition should be created in the local governments across the state so that nutrition matters could be internalised.
Responding, the Deputy Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Ezenta Ezeani, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the CS-SUNN members for the visit and promised to assist in anyway they could as lawmakers to ensure that malnutrition was rooted out, if not minimised in the state.
“Once it is in line with the pursuit of the well being of humanity, we shall support it. Whatever we can do to achieve the success of promoting nutrition in the state, we shall do,” he said.
