By Abbas Nazil
The European Union and Kwara State Government are assessing the progress of EU-backed health programmes while preparing to deepen cooperation on renewable energy and other development priorities in the state.
The review was conducted during a two-day visit by an EU delegation led by Massimo De Luca, Head of Partnerships at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
The delegation met senior officials of the state government to examine the impact of ongoing interventions and discuss areas requiring additional cooperation.
Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi represented Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the meeting.
Representatives of the German Embassy, UNICEF and UNFPA also took part in the engagement.
De Luca said the mission provided an opportunity to assess what the partnership had delivered for communities and determine how the cooperation could be strengthened.
At the centre of the discussions was the EU-funded Strengthening Access to Reproductive and Adolescent Health programme, EU-SARAH.
The four-year programme is implemented by UNICEF and UNFPA alongside Nigerian government institutions in Adamawa, Kwara and Sokoto states.
In Kwara, the programme focuses on strengthening health services, improving workforce capacity, supporting family planning, increasing the use of data and promoting community engagement.
Women, children and adolescents are among the key groups targeted by the interventions.
De Luca said increased EU support should be accompanied by stronger domestic investment and government ownership.
He said the EU was interested in understanding how much the Kwara Government was investing in the health sector as external support continued to grow.
Alabi said Kwara valued its partnership with the EU and other development partners.
He said accessible and reliable health services remained important to improving health outcomes across the state.
The deputy governor said the government would continue working with development partners to improve coordination, strengthen evidence-based decision-making and increase its contribution to healthcare.
Karin Jansen, Head of Development Cooperation at the German Embassy, said the mission demonstrated a shared commitment to Nigeria’s development priorities.
She also drew attention to the role of renewable energy in strengthening health services and supporting sustainable development.
Jansen said reliable clean energy was an important component of the wider partnership and expressed interest in understanding the state’s priorities and how development partners could complement existing efforts.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said EU-SARAH had helped Kwara identify gaps in its health system and direct resources towards priority areas.
She said the programme had supported improvements in health infrastructure, referral systems, family planning and services for adolescents and young people.
According to her, the state had also provided counterpart funding for family planning commodities as part of efforts to sustain healthcare interventions.
The EU delegation is expected to visit health facilities and communities during the mission.
The visits will enable members of the delegation to interact with frontline health workers and beneficiaries while assessing the results of EU-supported interventions.
The mission will also examine opportunities for additional cooperation between the state government and development partners.
As part of the renewable energy component of the visit, the delegation is scheduled to attend the commissioning of an EU-Germany co-funded solar mini-grid in Kwara.
The project forms part of Team Europe’s wider investment in renewable energy and is expected to support cleaner energy access alongside the partnership’s health and sustainable development objectives.
