Monday, 13 July 2015

Addressing the challenges of girl child education in Nigeria


During the recently celebrated event to mark the international day of the girl child, the United Nations focused, on its attempt to end violence against the girl child. Speaking on the theme; “Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence, the united Nation’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon  called on all governments of the world to take action to end all forms of violence against girls in all parts of the world. “Together, we must create a world where violence against women and girls is never tolerated and girls are always empowered to reach their full potential, “the UN leader stated.
The celebration of the Girl child’s day began, following the UN resolution on December 19, 2011, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
The UN message for that day went further: “To take efforts to end all forms of violence against girls and women to the next level, it is important that we focus on adolescent girls and move beyond awareness-raising to investments in and support for this critical group that will shape the present and the future. Building on the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, we must look at the opportunities initiatives such as Education for All and the global movement to end child marriage provide to empower adolescent girls and must ensure that they are protected from harm, are supported by family and friends, and are able to act in their own interest. It is time to consolidate good practice and focus on actions and results, paving the way for a more gender-equitable post-2015 development agenda and review of progress against the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”. In Nigeria, the day was marked by various groups making pationate calls to government on the plight of girls and children in the country.
One of such calls was to ensure a safe return in the shortest time, of over 200 hundred girls abducted by the terror groups in the country; the Boko Haram.
One of the leaders of the bring back our girls campaign; Michele Kelemen said : Her organization, Watchlist on Children and Armed
Conflict, is calling on the Nigerian government to ensure the release of the detained children and do more to stop self-defense militias from recruiting underage fighters.
Indeed young girls and children in general have come face to face with stiff violence in the hands of the Boko Harm terror group, whose name means that Western education is forbidden.
Large numbers of children have been kidnapped by the group in the North Eastern part of the country where the problem is most prevalent. While the Federal Government says it’s doing its best, stake holders have also expressed displeasure over government’s inability to ensure a complete turnaround of the problem.
In another report by UNESCO, it was revealed that Nigeria has about the highest number of children out of school in the world. Many of these are from northern Nigeria, where terrorism has added to the problem of poverty and made matters worse for the people.
In a previous report, during the international day of the African child; the Minister of women affairs and Social Development, Hajiya
Zainab Maina assured that despite the challenges, the federal government was committed to the implementation of strategic programmes geared towards achieving a child friendly and quality education for children, especially the girl-child.
She said Government at all levels was putting security measures in place to ensure adequate protection of children in their schools to forestall future occurrence of the Chibok incidence.
Certainly governments all over the world understand that the best form of empowerment for children can be achieved through the provision of education and infrastructure for development. Even the United Nations did not exempt this in its target for the 2014 international day of the girl child. The UN itself did tells of various ways to ensure an improved society for the girl child.
 “Governments, the UN system, civil society, and public and private institutions are called on to join forces and reaffirm their
commitment to end the scourge of violence against adolescent girls and to promote their empowerment by:
Investing in adolescent girls to equip them with skills, confidence, and life options: through family, schools, technical and vocational
education and training, and health, social and economic support systems;     Making infrastructure, services, and technology accessible to girls and effective in meeting their needs for safety, connectivity and mobility;
    Facilitating adolescent girls engagement in civic, economic and political life;     Continuing to advocate for making violence against girls and women visible and unacceptable both in private and public domains;     Strengthening data measurement and the evidence base in relation to the empowerment of; and violence against adolescent girls”.
The Nigerian government should listen to the call of the stake holders both bin the country and across the world on the plight of the girl child and do its best to ensure the safe development of girls in the Nigerian society. Similarly ethnic groups and cultures violating the fundamental rights of youg girls in the country should pay heed to the voice of fellow Nigerians and bring about an end to the menace bedeviling the plight of future mothers across the country.
-ABDULRAHAMAN HARUNA MUSA
KUW/U14/SLG/2030

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