United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on lawmakers and key government officials in Gombe State to place children at the heart of the budget planning and implementation process, stressing that child-centered budgeting is essential for sustainable development and social equity.
The call was made by the UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Wafaa Saeed, at the opening of a five-day sensitization workshop on Program-Based Budgeting (PBB), held in Jos, Plateau State, on Monday, 8th September 2025.
Saeed commended Gombe for making commendable progress in governance, transparency, and infrastructure. However, she emphasized that the true measure of development lies in the well-being of the state’s children—particularly in ensuring universal birth registration, education for all girls, improved sanitation, and access to nutrition.
“A truly progressive state should have no local government area where a child is unregistered at birth, no community where girls are out of school, no place where open defecation persists, and no child deprived of their basic rights,” she stated.
She expressed concern over budget implementation gaps, noting that leakages often occur between allocation and actual impact.
“If ₦100,000 is allocated for birth registration, only ₦20,000 might reach those it’s meant for. We must close these gaps. Public funds must reach the people with transparency and integrity,” Saeed stressed.
She also commended Gombe State for establishing the Financial Transparency and Accountability Commission and encouraged lawmakers to make data-driven decisions using household surveys to ensure equitable and evidence-based budgeting.
Declaring the workshop open, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Salihu Baba Alkali, announced that the state is officially shifting from traditional input-based budgeting to Program-Based Budgeting beginning with the 2025 fiscal year.
“This transition is more than a policy change, it’s a transformation in how we govern. Program-Based Budgeting focuses on results. It links government spending directly to measurable outcomes such as reduced malnutrition, improved school enrolment, and greater access to maternal care,” Alkali explained.
He added that hosting the workshop in Jos was a strategic move to ensure full participation and focus by lawmakers and top committee heads, reiterating the administration’s commitment to making the 2025 budget more inclusive, transparent, and performance-driven.
Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Musa Manaja, Chairman of the House Committee on Environment and Water Resources, assured UNICEF and the executive arm of the legislature’s support.
“We are all parents, and if we only secure the future of our own children while ignoring others, we risk sowing instability. UNICEF’s recommendations are timely, and we will work with the executive to ensure that the budget truly reflects the needs of children across our constituencies,” he said.
The workshop, supported by UNICEF and facilitated by the Ministry of Budget & Economic Planning, brought together legislators, senior government officials, consultants, and sector specialists. It aims to build capacity for results-based budgeting aligned with the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
