By Onwa Ekor
The Cross River government has charged members of the Social Mobilization and Technical Committee (SOMTEC) to take their assignment seriously, noting that the state will not compromise on the wellbeing of mothers and children, especially within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life spanning from conception to two years of age.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Orientation, Mr. Anthony Okon, gave the charge at a SOMTEC coordination meeting held at the conference room of the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, Calabar.
Okon, who was represented by the State Director of Information, Rekpene Uket, said cross-fertilisation of ideas among line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) anchoring UNICEF activities will have greater impact and attract more programmes targeted at improving the lives of beneficiaries.
He expressed satisfaction with the level of sensitisation carried out by the team in promoting basic household practices to enhance hygiene and prevent prevalent diseases.
In her presentation, UNICEF Focal Person, State Planning Commission, Dr. Obono Ofem, said implementation in 2025 began with advocacy meetings, needs assessment and formulation of coordination mechanisms.
She explained that in 2026, the team conducted a stakeholders’ review and validation of the State Monitoring and Evaluation Policy and carried out a mid-year internal State Development Plan and budget review with planning officers of relevant MDAs in attendance.
Ofem added that budget consultation forums were held across the three senatorial districts, attracting over 500 participants, as well as capacity building for 40 budget and planning officers on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), supported by UNICEF.
According to her, participants were trained on budget preparation, resource allocation, expenditure prioritisation, performance indicators, monitoring and evaluation, alignment of planning and budgeting processes, resource mobilisation and leveraging funding opportunities.
One of the resource persons at the meeting, Mr. Ntamu Agaji, gave an account of interventions in five Community Action Plan (CAP) completed communities in Odukpani local government area, in line with project targets, and informed the house of the positive results that have helped improved the living conditions of women and children in the area.
Earlier in his welcome address, SOMTEC Programme Officer, Mr. Nakanda Iyadim, said the technical committee remains focused on the first 1,000 days of a child, with basic household practices covering antenatal care, immunisation, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) to prevent childhood diseases, as well as birth registration of every child.
He said the role of SOMTEC is to create awareness and secure buy-in from stakeholders across the state, especially those at the community level.
“Everybody across the state is a stakeholder and must imbibe the consciousness of taking responsibility for pregnant women and children. Birth registration is also vital because that is the identity of every child, so we are campaigning to ensure every child born in Cross River is duly registered,” Iyadim said.
The interactive meeting featured reports from various UNICEF-focused MDAs on successes recorded in pursuit of project targets across the state.
