The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Katsina State Government, has empowered 800 out-of-school adolescent girls across Katsina, Daura, Mani, and Batagarawa Local Government Areas.
This project, aimed at enhancing the educational and economic prospects of these girls, is set to continue through January 2025.
Acting Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics in the Department of Girl Child Education and Child Development, Zainab Abdulkarim, provided details of the project during the department’s fourth-quarter progress report presentation in Katsina.
Ms. Abdulkarim highlighted the program’s emphasis on education and skills acquisition, conducted through safe space activities designed to reintegrate the girls into formal schooling.
“The Ministry of Women Affairs coordinates and monitors the conduct of the exercise in Katsina, Daura, Mani, and Batagarawa Local Government Areas,” she said. “About 800 female children were selected for the training programme, which is still ongoing until January 2025. No fewer than 200 female out-of-school children selected from the four local government areas were provided with all the necessary reading and writing materials, as well as hygienic kits.”
To extend the program’s impact, 32 mentors—eight from each local government area—were trained to provide step-down training to the female children, ranging in age from 10 to 19. “We trained eight mentors from each local government area, making 32 mentors for the step-down training to the female children of ages 10 to 19 years,” Ms. Abdulkarim added.
The initiative also engaged about 50 community stakeholders and 50 parents of the participants, promoting local support for the program and encouraging parents to allow their daughters to benefit from the training. “The aim is to allow their children to attend in their local government areas,” she explained.
As part of broader child protection efforts, approximately 70 service providers received training in the Child Protection Information Management System. These efforts, primarily funded by UNICEF, focus on equipping vulnerable children with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions that benefit themselves and their communities.
“These initiatives aim to significantly improve the lives of vulnerable community members, especially children, by empowering them to make better personal and community decisions,” said Ms. Abdulkarim.
The progress review meeting, which gathered stakeholders from various ministries, departments, and agencies, was organized by the Katsina State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, with support from UNICEF’s Kano Field Office. These agencies also presented their fourth-quarter progress reports on social protection, reflecting a united effort to enhance child protection and social welfare across Katsina State.
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