UNICEF In Collaboration With UKAid To Enroll 1Million Nigerian Girls In School

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has planned to enroll one million Nigerian girls into school by 2020 in association with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). 

Mr Geoffery Njoku, UNICEF Communications Specialist, said in Abuja on Tuesday in a statement to commemorate the Day of the African Child.

The theme of the day’s celebration is “25 Years after the Adoption of the African Children’s Charter: Accelerating our Collective Efforts to End Child Marriage in Africa”.

According to him, child marriage is on the increase in Nigeria.

“Child marriage is increasing in Nigeria and the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS 4) 2011 shows that there is a five percent increase in the number of girls married before age 15,” he said.

The statement noted that the Girls’ Education Project funded by DFID project is aimed at improving the quality of education and helping in training and deploying female teachers to schools.

It pointed out that the predominance of male teachers has discouraged parents from sending their female children to school.

It added that child marriage has eroded the rights of the child to education among other human rights and contributed to female children’s poor health conditions.