UNICEF Urge Gombe Lawmakers to Prioritize Child-Focused Budgeting

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed to lawmakers and government key officials in Gombe State to prioritize 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 Chief field office UNICEF  Bauchi field office  Nuzhat Rafique made the appeal at the opening of a five-day sensitization workshop on Program-Based Budgeting (PBB), held in Jos, Plateau State, on Monday, 8th September 2025.

Rafique acknowledged Gombe for making commendable progress in governance, transparency, and infrastructure. 

She emphasized that the true measure of development lies in the well-being of the state’s children especially 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,” Rafique 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, Salihu Baba Alkali, acknowledged 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.

While delivering  goodwill message on behalf of the Gombe State House of Assembly, 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.

Our correspondent reports that 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 at building capacity for results-based budgeting aligned with the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 5 days workshop had 25 participants drawn within the Legislative arms ministries and agencies as well as 4 officials from UNICEF.

The training aims to deepen the knowledge of members of the House on public financial management, Reinforce knowledge of the roles of the members in Accountability effectiveness in the use of public resources for improved service delivery.

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