Governors in the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform have put into consideration the implementation of 180 days (6 months) maternity leave in a bid to improve the health of nursing mothers and children.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a virtual meeting of Secretaries to State Governments of the APC controlled states which was jointly signed by Alhaji Adamu Fanini (SGS Jigawa state) and his Plateau State counterpart, Prof. Danladi Atu.
The communique of the meeting which held on October 6 was released by the Secretariat of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, in Abuja, on Thursday.
The communique reads in part;
At the end of the (virtual) meeting, the following resolutions were reached: In view of the importance of parental support for children at birth and the health of the nursing parents, the meeting recommends that the APC controlled states should prioritise implementation of 180 days (6 months) maternity leave for women.
The meeting observed the importance of exclusive breastfeeding to the growth and general health of a child and therefore recommends that APC controlled states should encourage and support women to practice six months exclusive breastfeeding for children from birth.
The meeting which held under the auspices of PGF noted that the objective is to identify salient and common initiatives of Maternal and Child Nutrition that can be replicated across all the APC controlled States.
It equally noted the importance of information and how it affects the attitudes of citizens towards issues of nutrition.
It, therefore, urged APC-controlled states to design a special communication strategy to raise public awareness on malnutrition and its consequences.
