The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised concerns over major leadership, governance and management shortcomings affecting the delivery of maternal and child healthcare services in Kwara, Sokoto and Adamawa states.

The gaps were revealed through baseline assessments carried out by Development Governance International (DGI) Consult on behalf of UNICEF, highlighting weaknesses across critical areas of healthcare leadership and service management in the three pilot states.

Findings presented to health stakeholders in Ilorin, Sokoto and Yola showed that key challenges include limited technical capacity in planning and implementation, lack of clearly defined responsibilities for Technical Working Groups, and poor domestication of the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategic framework.

The report also identified fragmented supervision systems, weak use of data in decision-making—especially at the facility level—and persistent shortages as well as uneven distribution of healthcare workers.

The assessment is part of a broader UNICEF-supported programme aimed at strengthening leadership, governance and management capacity for RMNCAH+N and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) services in the affected states.

Speaking at the validation workshop in Ilorin, Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Imam, represented by Permanent Secretary Dr. Taoheed Abdullahi, described the findings as a timely reality check, stressing the need to improve governance and leadership structures despite progress already recorded in maternal and child healthcare delivery.

In Sokoto, UNICEF representative Dr. Danjuma Nehmiah expressed confidence that addressing the identified gaps would lead to significant improvements in healthcare services, noting that strategic plans would be developed in partnership with DGI to strengthen governance in the sector.

Similarly, Adamawa State’s Acting Commissioner for Health and Permanent Secretary, Zirra Mathias Bubabi, welcomed the intervention, saying the state is prepared to implement practical measures that will address systemic weaknesses and improve health outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also described the initiative as timely and important, noting that it presents an opportunity to align efforts, identify service gaps and implement evidence-based solutions that will accelerate progress in key health areas.

Chief Executive Officer of DGI, Dr. Gafar Alawode, said the assessment would serve as a roadmap for targeted interventions, with plans to improve coordination, strengthen operational planning, digitise resource tracking and institutionalise data-driven decision-making to achieve sustainable improvements in maternal and child healthcare services.