PMNCH board meets in Abuja
18 OCTOBER 2012 | ABUJA, NIGERIA
18 OCTOBER 2012 | ABUJA, NIGERIA - Abuja, Nigeria – The 13th meeting of the PMNCH board opened on 18 October in Abuja, with introductory remarks by Nigerian Senate President David Mark and federal Minister of Health C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu followed by a keynote address on Nigeria’s profile in maternal, newborn and child health by Prof. Emmanuel Otolorin, country director of JHPIEGO.
The board meeting, 18-19 October, addresses key issues such as the development of a youth strategy for PMNCH focusing on early adolescent health, PMNCH’s role in the development of a harmonized financing framework responding to the recommendations of the independent Expert Review Group report, and the engagement of PMNCH in the post-2015 goal-setting process. (Link here for board agenda and papers).
The meeting was attended by more than 60 board members and observers, including from Nigeria’s private sector. The meeting was preceded by an interactive session on 17 October with senior parliamentarians in Nigeria, hosted by the Senate President, and including the chairs of Nigeria’s health, education, agriculture and MDG committees.
Other side events preceding the board meeting included a panel discussion on child marriage and adolescent health in Nigeria, hosted by the Ministry of Health with support from the MacArthur Foundation, as well as dedicated meetings of PMNCH’s own constituency groups.
The PMNCH board events in Abuja followed an implementation meeting of the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children on 14-15 October, followed by the launch on 16 October of Nigeria’s new initiative to accelerate progress towards MDGs 4 and 5, Saving A Million Lives, attended by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.