According to the UN Women/ United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, only 3 per cent of adolescent girls complete their secondary education in the Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at the Planning/Review Meeting with Media Partners in Jos, Plateau State, the Deputy Programme Manager, UN Women, Peter Mancha, said in the North West and North East regions that only about 20per cent of women are literate gotten from statistics.
Mancha blamed high rate of poverty and ignorance as being responsible for this ugly development, as some parents of these drop-out girls do not understand the value of education.
He also identified culture and traditions that have restricted women from going to school, adding that such obnoxious culture should be jettisoned by various communities to promote girl-child education.
The Deputy Programme Manager urged the parents to look beyond the immediate benefits they derive by not sending their children especially the girl child, noting women and girls should be encouraged and supported to be literate for socio-economic development of the region.
Commenting on the programme tagged “Promoting Women Engagement in Peace and Security in Northern Nigeria, which is a project being funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, Mancha explained that a baseline survey has been carried out in the three pilot States of Adamawa, Gombe and Plateau where the project is being implemented.
He further disclosed that key stakeholders such as implementing partners, wives of Governors, traditional and religious leaders, civil society groups, the media, women’s groups and gender equality advocates have been mobilised for the implementation of the 3-year programme[2014—2017].
According to him, “The EU funded project “Promoting Women Engagement in Peace and Security in Northern Nigeria” is being implemented by UN Women to support Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen women’s leadership, advance gender equality and improve protection for women and children in conflict settings.
“The overall objective of the project is to ensure the practical implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325[2000] in three Northern States of Nigeria and to document its benefits to the management, mitigation and resolution of conflict on a demonstration basis.
“Over a period of three years, the project will aim to meet three specific and inter-locked objectives such as strengthening women’s role in conflict prevention, peace-making and peace-building, mitigating the impact of conflict upon women and girls as well as establishing a conducive environment for effective implementation and monitoring of gender equality commitments in Nigeria.”