No fewer than 10 local government areas of Gombe State are facing severe food security issues, according to the 2024/2025 Gombe State General Household Survey and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).

Alhaji Ibrahim Dule, Statistician General of the state, stated this on Tuesday at a three-day capacity building workshop for local council officials, on Tuesday in Gombe.

The exercise organised by the Gombe Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), aims to combat multidimensional poverty amongst children in 11 LGAs of the state.

Dule was represented by Musa Umar, the overseeing Director, Economic and Social Statistics, Gombe State Bureau of Statistics.

Reviewing the survey conducted with the support of the UNICEF, Dule said the survey showed that 65 per cent of households in the state have access to drinking water, and 51.5 per cent of households have access to improved sanitation with urban centres having 64.9 per cent while rural areas 43 per cent.

Dule said the survey indicated that 50.5 per cent of households have access to electricity with urban residents having 74.3 per cent and rural dwellings 35.4 per cent.

“10 LGAs have severe food security issues which is a great cause of concern and should be looked into critically,” he said

Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, expressed concern over the high level of child poverty in the state.

Rafique highlighted that the 2024/2025 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in the state showed that seven out of 10 children in the state experienced multidimensional poverty.

She said that many children were being deprived of basic life necessities in view of the challenges.

Rafique said the progress of Gombe State and Nigeria at large depended on how well multidimensional poverty amongst children was tackled.

She said tackling child poverty remained key to ensuring that children in the state are better protected to grow well and contribute to the development of the state and country.

According to Rafique, UNICEF is supporting the state to expand social protection programmes, improve healthcare access, and tackle severe child food poverty.

The UN agency, she said, would support the training, planning and budgeting exercises at the LGA levels towards tackling child poverty in the state.

“According to the data collected by the household survey, there are seven out of 10 children suffering from some forms of multidimensional poverty.

“This is a high level of multidimensional poverty that we see in Gombe and other states as well.

“We don’t want any child to suffer any form of multidimensional poverty but 70 per cent of children are involved which is why UNICEF is involved.

“Some of the LGAs with high levels of deprivation are Dukku, Balanga and Nafada.

“We want to concentrate on the most deprived LGAs but also within LGAs, the most deprived areas where children are suffering the most, reaching the poorest of the poor,” she said

Also, Jalo Ali, Permanent Secretary, Gombe State Ministry of Finance, overseeing the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, urged the participants to leverage the training to enhance their capacities.

Represented by Musa Babaji, Director, Administration and Finance, Ministry of Finance, Ali tasked the participants to have a cross-sector thinking about the theme of the workshop, noting that poverty facing children in the state was multi dimensional.

“It (child poverty) involves so many things, because it is called multidimensional, therefore there is a need for cross-sector thinking.

“Such thinking is focused on solutions that are measurable, practicable and people oriented to achieve the purpose of this workshop,” he said.

About 66 officials drawn from the 11 LGAs in the state are participating in the workshop. (NAN)