UNICEF, Kebbi tackle early marriage, empower, train 400 adolescent girls – By Aliyu Usman

UNICEF, Kebbi tackle early marriage, empower, train 400 adolescent girls

  

By Aliyu Usman,  Birnin Kebbi 

 

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the Kebbi Ministry of Women Affairs and NANA Foundation has empowered and trained 400 out-of-school adolescent girls on skills acquisition and literacy.

 

Speaking during the graduation ceremony held in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday, Dr Suwaiba Salihu, the Permanent Secretary, Women Affairs, said: “Today we came to honour what we can describe as gigantic work.”

 

The programme, supported by UNICEF, is part of efforts to promote girls’ participation and empowerment and ultimately reduce child marriage.

 

The programme tagged: ‘Empowering Out-of-School Adolescent Girls through Leading the Global Agenda to End Child Marriage by 2030’.

 

While expressing gratitude to UNICEF and NANA foundation for the remarkable achievement, the permanent secretary urged the fund to sustain the programme to further facilitate more opportunities for the adolescent girls.

 

In his speech, the UNICEF representative, Dr Michael Juma, Field Officer, Sokoto, represented by Mr Pius Uwamanua, Child Protection Specialist, said the project has to do with the protection and promotion of girl child.

 

Juma assured the commitment of UNICEF to supporting Kebbi to ensure that girls were well empowered and supported to stand on their feet.

 

“This transformative initiative has reached over 1,500 adolescent girls with comprehensive case management services, including vocational and livelihood support.

 

“A Bold Step Toward Girl Empowerment with generous support from UNICEF, NANA Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative had successfully trained and graduated 400 vulnerable out-of-school adolescent girls across three LGAs.

 

“They were Gwandu, Argungu and Maiyama in Kebbi State, in various vocational skills.

 

“This achievement is part of a broader intervention that identified and registered 1,674 vulnerable out-of-school girls, grouped into 50 safe spaces across the LGA.

 

“Each group was mentored by a trained female community mentor. These safe spaces served as nurturing platforms for learning, mentorship, healing, and empowerment,” he stated.

 

According to Juma, services provided included; comprehensive sensitisation on child protection and the dangers of child marriage and psychosocial support and counseling.

 

Others were; birth certificate registration for all the 1,674 girls and literacy and numeracy education, certified by the State Agency for Mass Education.

 

On her part, the Coordinator, NANA Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative, Dr Fatima Adamu, revealed that the graduands were those vulnerable to child marriage and were really in need, selected from three local government areas of Kebbi.

 

“We selected them based on merit, first of all, they have to be out of school and they need help, while, some of these graduands are orphans or from very poor family background.

 

“The objective is to provide protection to the vulnerable girls against emotional, sexual or physical abuse and they are the ones in need of help.

 

“This is because, once they are violated they don’t have the means to go and fight for justice.

 

“So, this programme is like prevention, look after yourself, earn an income, because what we learnt is that many of these boys that are violating these girls are using money to persuade and attract them,,” she said.

 

The executive director assured that the NGO is ready to stand for the vulnerable girls in case of violation and abuse of their dignity.

 

Adamu said,  “We are ready to go any length to protect their interest using legal means, no matter the position of the violator.”

 

She listed some of the skills learnt by the graduates to include; sewing, Knitting, make-up, fashion and design, livestock farming and poultry among others.

 

“We didn’t pick the trades for them, we asked them to choose what is marketable in their respective environments because we want them to earn money to stand on their feet,” Adamu said.