By Rakiya A.Muhammad
The African Health Budget Network, AHBN, in collaboration with the African Epidemiology Network, AFENET, has launched Communities of Practice (CoP) on Immunisation Budget Tracking, Accountability, and Sustainability in Sokoto State.
Members include state officials, civil society activists, academics, journalists, people with disabilities, traditional and religious leaders, and community-based organisations.
“CoP will support the state government in accelerating progress in improving immunisation coverage, particularly in reaching zero-dose children, by influencing budgetary allocation, releases, and utilisation using advocacy to demand accountability and transparency,” Mallam Umar Kadi, the focal person for AHBN Sokoto State, disclosed at the event.
He revealed that they are currently executing the Zero-Dose Learning Hub in Nigeria and have also successfully established Communities of Practice (CoP) in Bauchi, Borno, and Kano.
“AHBN is implementing the Nigeria Zero-Dose Learning Hub project in consortium with AFENET, the lead partner, to support the setting up and coordination of a zero-dose (ZD) learning hub in Nigeria to provide a system and robust monitoring and learning for the identify-reach-monitor-
To deliver this, they would collaborate with the government, local academic institutions, and civil society organisations, the Zero-Dose Immunization Programmer (ZIP) partners and other collaborators implementing immunization and health initiatives.
“We will maximize the use of data and evidence to identify and reach zero-dose children, use learning approaches, test interventions for reaching zero-dose children, document, and communicate those results,” he stated.
