Enugu Govt Pledges Commitment To 6 Months Maternity Leave As CS-SUNN Engages More Stakeholders

Enugu State Government has pledged to enact a legislation that will enable working class nursing ladies to embark on a six-month maternity leave with pay.

The commitment is to give a legal teeth to the proposed six months maternity leave with pay as being advocated by the Civil Society-Scaling UP Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN.

The Head of Service, Mr. Kenneth Ugwu, made the disclosure, Wednesday, when he received CS-SUNN officials who were in his office on advocacy engagement.

Ugwu said that in line with their advocacy for a six months paid maternity leave as well as the establishment of creches to enable nursing mothers in public service  give exclusive  breastfeeding to their babies, they not only put the request into consideration but have established creches for the working class ladies.

He also said that they have approved the recruitment of staff that would man the Creches.

The Head of Service equally disclosed that in no distant time, their request for the establishment of Nutrition Departments in all line Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs would be accomplished.  In short, he said that this could be actualised before the end of the year.

“We are committed to ensuring that Nutrition Departments will be established in the MDAs before the end of the year,” he said.

Earlier, the CS-SUNN Programme Manager, Dr. Goodness Chidi Anyanwu, who led the delegation said that the purpose of their visit was to ensure that their commitment to the maternal protection, the implementation of the 6-months paid maternity leave, establishment of creches as well as the establishment of Nutrition Departments in MDAs is maintained.

“We came to follow up on the commitments made on maternal protection through implementation of six months paid maternity leave for working mothers and the establishment of creches.

“We also request an update on the establishment of Nutrition Departments in the MDAs for improved funding and coordination of nutrition programmes in the state,” Anyanwu said.