The Australian High Commission has donated birthing and neonatal kits to the Internally Displaced Persons camp at New Kuchingoro, Abuja to address maternal health needs among the displaced women.
The mission said it had provided over N19.5m to organisations working to assist the IDP community in the past year.
Speaking while handing over the kits and inaugurating a borehole at the camp on Friday, the Australian High Commissioner, Jonathan Richardson, said the mission donated the kits to address the difficulties being faced by pregnant women in the camp.
This he added, was done in support of the work of a group, Global Rights Advocates and their partners.
“The beginning of life is the most fragile even in the best and safest of circumstances and we recognise the importance of these birthing and neonatal kits for maternal and infant mortality. This is increasingly important given that over 60,000 births took place among the IDP community this year alone,” Richardson stated.
According to him, the Australian High Commission in Nigeria administers a Direct Aid Programme which provides support to a range of sectors including education, agriculture, health, good governance, water and sanitation.
He stated that the programme maintains a particular focus on helping the most vulnerable members of society including women, children and persons living with disabilities, adding that in 2014, Direct Aid support given in Nigeria totalled over N110m.
In addition, he said that the Australian Government had provided support worth N20.5m to the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Centre for Qu’ranic Studies at Bayero University Kano for two projects addressing the underlying causes of radicalisation and extremism at the root of the crisis in Nigeria.
The High Commissioner said his country recognised that the violent insurgency across Northern Nigeria and the resulting displacement of innocent men, women and children represented unique challenges to governance and administration in Nigeria and is committed to working with all stakeholders to proffer solutions to address the issues which had forced IDPs to flee their homes.
