By Funmi Ajumobi
THE United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has said it will remove institutional barriers in the support of government activities for effective service delivery.

Dr. AbdulKareem Lawal, UNICEF B-Field Office Social Policy Specialist, revealed this in a presentation entitled: “Strategic Shifts in the 2009-2012 FGN-UNICEF Programme and the Role of Social Policy” at a two-day mid-year review meeting for Social Policy Advocacy and Communication, SPAC, programme  in Lagos.

He said the focus would be on programmes and projects in child poverty, social security and social protection, social budgeting together with associated macro-economic framework. Other areas include holistic legislative reform for MConvention on the Rights of the Child, CRC, and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW,  as well as concentrating on emerging issues like the impact of urbanisation.

According to Lawal, social policy was important, especially for children because they are mostly deprived of what makes life worth living such as water, food, health, shelter, education, information and access to services.

He emphasised that one in two children suffer from deprivation in at least one of the above amenities and at least one in threechildren suffer deprivation in two or more of the above.

Lawal highlighted that potential social policy interventions for UNICEF will include girls education, conditional cash transfer, scholarship funds for women from rural communities, extra nets for poor household, promoting community based health insurance schemes, community saving schemes for emergency Obstetric Care, working with positive people and school feeding programmes.