By Chioma Umeha
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched the
2016 State of the World Population Report (SWOP) in Nigeria and appealed for
more investment in girl child to enable them harness their potentials.
Mrs. Beatrice Mutali, Deputy Regional Director,
UNFPA, made the call at the public presentation of the report in Abuja on
Tuesday.
The 2016 SWOP report was titled: “10: How our
future depends on a girl at this decisive age’’.
Mutali said that forced marriage, child labour,
female genital mutilation and other harmful practices undermine girls’ health
and rights, and also threaten the world’s ambitious development agenda.
According to her, the harmful practice starts at
age 10 and it prevents them from realising their full potential at adult stage
and contribution to the development of their communities.
“Without the contribution of this important
segment of the society, the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable
Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals may never be
achieved.’’
Angele Dikongue-Atangana, UN Resident Coordinator
and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, also appealed to the National Assembly
to consider and adopt law to ban child marriage in Nigeria.
Dikongue-Atangana also called for advocacy to
ensure that the law to that effect was passed and implemented.
She added that the partnership between UN system
and other partners was necessary to ensure that the girl child was set free
from the menace of early marriage, threatening their lives.
Mr Eze Duruiheoma, Chairman, National Population
Commission, said the report was a constant reminder that population related
issues constitutes the bedrock of development.
The chairman, who was represented by Alhaji Yusuf
Anka, a commissioner representing Zamfara in the commission, said the theme was
within the context of Nigeria’s quest for development.
“Ten is a pivotal age for girls everywhere, as it
marks the onset of puberty,’’ he said.
He said globally there were about 65 million 10
year old girls, nine out of 10-year-old girls live in developing countries and
one in five lives in a least developed country.
He added that data from the 2006 population and
housing census indicated that Nigeria’s 10-year-old girls was 1,763,122, and by
2016 the teenage girls population would increase to 2,374,900.
The chairman said the conditions of the
10-year-old girls and other teenage girls were not better and the burdens they
carry were not lighter.
He therefore called for effective implementation
of the Child Right Act and its domestication by state governments to improve
the welfare of Nigerian children.
Prof. Oladapo Ladipo, President, Association for
Reproductive and Family Health, said early marriage and childbirth which was
partly responsible for girls dropping out of school must be discouraged.
Ladipo added that government officials must speak
up, join the advocacy and do everything within their powers to discourage and
legislatively ban early marriage.
“Education for girls and boys must be free to
secondary school level with increased focus and support for the girl child,’’
he said.
