The United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) has extended hands of partnership to the media executives in Kaduna state to help raise awareness on the rights of the children, and to curb the menance of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
UNICEF, during a one day roundtable meeting with the media gurus in Zaria yesterday, urged government at all levels to increase investment in education, considering the number of out-of-school children.
At the one day meeting, the Social and Behavioral Change Specialist, UNICEF, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed disclosed that part of the priority of the country programme of UNICEF was to reduce out-of-school children to the barest minimum.
“The target and end result of this meeting is to ensure that every Nigerian kid is enrolled in school and the meeting also wants to ensure that those that are in the schools are retained.
While adding that UNICEF’s plan was to ensure that out-of-school children were completely reduced in its next country programme.
He appealed to the participants to propagate the gospel of reducing out- of-school children to the key stakeholders in the sector.
On the birth registration, Mohammed further explained that the UNICEF support was to ensure sustainability of birth registration of children and to overcome challenges malnutrition in the country.
The Social and Behavioral Change Specialist assure of continual partnership with the government, technically to complement funding for education and health.
“In the area of funding gaps, UNICEF would continue to advocate the betterment of children in these areas across Nigeria,’’ Mohammed emphasised.
In his remarks, the Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA) Kaduna State Office, Alhaji Hamisu Abubakar, explained that the media has a critical role to play in enhancing child’s rights initiatives, promoting education and reducing out-of-school children.
Meanwhile, the gathering commended UNICEF for the interface which was aiming at bolstering the future of the Nigerian child.
