At the behest of Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress Party’s intervention to alleviate challenges faced by internally displaced persons in north-east Nigeria, and in a continued effort to empower safe motherhood, decrease maternal and infant mortality rates, and to assist those in need, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa Founder, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has donated safe delivery kits (Mama Kits) to expectant mothers at Internally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPs) at Damare and St Josephs Catholic Mission in Adamawa State, Nigeria on the 11th of February 2015.

Due to insurgency fuelled by Boko Haram, Nigerian currently hosts hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons across the country. Concerned by the plight of pregnant internally displaced persons, and the increased risks faced by their newborns, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa donated safe motherhood kits (popularly known as ‘Mama Kits’) — a crucial intervention tool which contains essential items used by midwives to assist in the safe delivery of babies.

The Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, led by Hajiya Aisha Buhari, the wife of APC Presidential Candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), and the Wellbeing Foundation Africa medical team and advocacy counsellors, encouraged the expectant mothers and advised them to “Trust in the Almighty God” because they “are not forgotten, and their newborns have a right to be born in a well-equipped environment, with skilled and respectful medical care, despite the challenges of displacement.”

Mr. Jesse Cheto, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa Advocacy Manager, additionally called upon Nigeria’s Primary Health Care Development Agency to ensure that not only are IDP Camps served by adequate numbers of midwives under the Midwives Service Scheme of that agency, but that all pregnant IDPs were issued with health record books for themselves and their newborns.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa believes that the provision of Mama Kits to displaced expectant mothers, along with the WBFA IMNCH Personal Health Record©, will motivate these mothers to seek appropriate care during pregnancy and delivery, and encourage pregnant women to give birth at health facilities where mothers are more likely to have access to skilled health workers as well as family planning services and support.

While the Wellbeing Foundation Africa donated clean birth kits to hundreds on the 11th of February, the foundation pledged to make additional donations to more refugees. Speaking to the pregnant IDPs, Mrs. Toyin Saraki urged them to be sure to keep the safe delivery kits until their time of delivery. She also expressed concern regarding their environment and wellbeing, stating that the Wellbeing Foundation Africa will continue to push for government to provide better living conditions for the refugees – especially mothers and pregnant women.