UNICEF Advocates Six Months Maternity Leave for Katsina Workers

Francis Sardauna in Katsina 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has advocated the implementation of six months paid maternity leave for government employees in Katsina State.

The UNICEF Chief, Kano Field Office, Mr. Rahama Farah, advocated the implementation of the maternity leave during the flag-off of the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week in Katsina.

The 2023 World Breastfeeding Week with the theme: ‘Enabling breastfeeding-making a difference for working parents’, was organised by UNICEF in collaboration with Katsina State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

Farah, represented by the UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mr. Oluniyi Oyedokun, described breastfeeding as a necessary and crucial act for the health and well-being of children and mothers.

He explained that the implementation of the six-month maternity leave for government employees would enable working parents to raise healthy and happy children in the state.

Farah also advocated for the government to prioritise the needs of working parents by providing lactation rooms in all ministries, departments and agencies and implement breastfeeding breaks for them.

He stressed that supporting working parents through breastfeeding-friendly policies improve employer-employee relations, loyalty, higher job productivity and a positive impact on gender equality and work-life balance.

He therefore urged the government to provide adequate resources for the prevention of malnutrition through promotion, protection and support for Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition.

Farah said: “UNICEF requests the Katsina State Government to extend paid maternity leave for government employees from the current three months to six months, emphasising the importance of breastfeeding.”

Earlier, the wife of the state governor, Zulaihat Radda, advocated four months maternity leave for nursing mothers on the payroll of the state government.

She said ministries, departments and agencies of the state government should pay for the maternity leave to support and sustain the nursing mothers while on leave to ensure exclusive breastfeeding.

Radda said: “All mothers should be supported to initiate breastfeeding after birth, especially within the first hour after delivery, with complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.”

The governor’s wife charged the government, community and religious leaders to include women in system transformation in order to ensure breastfeeding-friendly communities and workplaces.

She vowed to use her pet project, Safe Space Humanitarian Initiative, to champion children’s health and create a better future for them.