Cross River State Government has unveiled strategic plan 8! Partnership with the United Nations Fund and Population Agency (UNFPA) to achieve Global Program for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Strategic Partnership was sealed during a two-day 2020 end of the Year review and 2021 annual work plan event held in Calabar.
Declaring the meeting open, the State Commissioner for International Development Cooperation, *Inyang Asibong*,called on all partners to assess the extent of UNFPA’s program implementation and results achieved in relations to the planned intervention in 2020 associated with COVID-19 pandemic.
Asibong said the partnership will also unveil a 2021 strategy which would serve as post-COVID-19 recovery plan across board.
She added that “The strategic plan should be in tandem with the State Government’s priority and the UNFPA key agenda on 2030 principles to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, focusing on women, adolescents and youth,advising that the strategic plan should ensure everyone is carried along with premium concentration on reaching vulnerable people in the hinterlands as a key priority”.
In his opening remarks, the Head of Office, UNFPA, *Dr Polycarpe Takou*, called on all partners to use the experience they have gotten over the year, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to agree on high impact activities to be implemented in 2021.
He also assured the state partners of continuous support to ensure no one is left behind, and that; “The strategic plan should focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Services, Gender Based Violence (GBV), prevention and response, risk communication and community engagement, and provision of life-saving supplies and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The State Commissioner for Health, *Dr. Betta Edu*, and the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA), *Dr. Janet Ekpenyong*, also added their voices to the strategy development and implementations.