By
Chioma Umeha
In line with the holistic analysis of the
Girl-child based on the 1995 UN fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing
conference which seeks among others strategic objective to eliminate all forms
of discrimination against her, a non-governmental organisation, Mercy Corps
Nigeria has tasked media practitioners on girl child abuses reportage in the
country
Speaking at a one day seminar on reporting
Violence Against Women and the Girl Child in Lagos, the Acting Programme
Coordinator of Mercy Corps Nigeria, Magaritta Omojola said in her opening
remark that the media is the watchdog of the society and should propagate the
protection of the girl child through its reportage.
The United Nations gave a holistic analysis on who
a girl child is and defined certain strategic objectives to protect her.
The objective also includes: Eliminate negative
cultural attitudes and practices against girls, promote and protect the rights
of the girl child and increase awareness of her needs and potential?, eliminate
discrimination against girls in education, skills development and training,
eradicate violence against the girl-child, eliminate discrimination against
girls in health and nutrition.
Omojola, while stressing on the role of media to
propagate the rights of the girl child said that her organisation has in the
past three months engaged on skills development and training as well as
sensitising young girls on their rights.
While condemning every form of abuse and neglect, including,
physical and emotional ill treatment against children, especially girls, she
said that her organisation is currently working with 18,000 marginalised girls
in Lagos state.
Omojola explained that the major project of her
organisation is to ensure that marginalised in-school girls improve their
learning outcomes in a supportive environment.
To do this, she said the girls participate in
weekly learning space activities over a nine-month period to receive academic
tutoring as well as employment readiness skills including financial education
and leadership skills.
Noting that Lagos state currently has 8,000 out of
school girls, Omojola added that it is partnering with the Coca Cola Company to
support them.
She also said that the Coca-Cola Company is
partnering with the UK Department for International Development’s Girls
Education Challenge in its Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE)
programme, an initiative to improve learning outcomes and the economic status
of marginalised adolescent girls aged 16 and 19 in the North States.
These include: Kano and Kaduna, the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) and the metropolis of Lagos.
ENGINE is guided by Coca-Cola’s 5by20 initiative
to economically empower five million women in their global value chain by 2020.
ENGINE aims to improve the lives of 18,000
marginalised girls drawn from Lagos and the northern states of Kano, Kaduna and
the FCT by improving the quality and reach of education and ensuring new educational
opportunities translate into real economic and social choices for girls, she
said.
This includes a projected 5,400 marginalised girls
currently enrolled in school and more than 12,600 marginalised girls currently
out of school.
In Lagos state, almost 2,000 girls were supported
with grants of 100,000 Naira, the acting Programme Coordinator said, adding
that the least amount received was up to 40,000 Naira. She further said that
Mercy Corps organised internship programmes following which some of the participant
were employed.
She said: “ENGINE’s Theory of Change states that
when marginalised Nigerian girls complete education and training cycles and are
supported by gatekeepers they will be more skilled employees and have increased
earning power and increased decision-making within the household.
“This Theory of Change will be supported by
ENGINE’s objectives and activities and will contribute to the overall impact of
improved life chances for marginalised girls, while simultaneously providing
further evidence that improved female education contributes to economic growth,
reduced poverty and a range of other social and environmental benefits.”
Speaking on challenges, policies and what media
practitioners can do to stem child rights abuses, the Chairperson, National
Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Lagos State Chapter, Hajia Sekinah
Lawal said ending girl child abuse and related issues is a task for all because
‘it is about our daughters, our wives, our sisters and the likes.’
She however added that journalists play very vital
role as agenda setters, policy influencers and watchdog of the society, hence,
there is the need to encourage Journalists to do more on the issue of girl
child by writing and raising issues around the girl child.
Giving her presentation, titled: “Understanding
Various Forms Of Abuse Against The Girl Child,” Mrs. Yinka Shokunbi, National
Secretary, Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria (NRHJN)? said
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as ‘’a
human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier”.
