The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reaffirmed its commitment to support girl-child education in Kano state.
The UNICEF Chief Field Officer, Kano, Mr Maulid Warfa, gave the assurance in Kano on Wednesday at a mentoring workshop for 100 selected girls from Junior and senior secondary schools.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by Kano state Universal Basic Education Board/High-Level Women Advocates in collaboration with UNICEF.
NAN also reports that the event was part of the activities to commemorate the 2020 International Women’s Day which was celebrated in the March 8.
He said UNICEF would give the Kano state government all the needed support to ensure effective implementation of a girl-child education project in the state.
He said unless girls are given the opportunity to access education, they would not be able to achieve their dreams in life.
“If girls are educated many problems will be addressed. Educated women will not allow their children to miss routine immunization.
“Educated women will also take good care of their children,” the UNICEF official said.
Warfa stressed the need for the state governments to continue to give priority attention to education in order to address the fundamental social problems bedevilling the society.
The workshop with the theme: “I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights,” was aimed at mentoring the girls by women professionals to increase access and reduce challenges to their education.
In her remarks, the state chairperson of the High-Level Women Advocates (HILWA), Prof. Aisha Abdul-Ismail, said the association was working in six Local Government Areas on advocacy visit to enlighten parents, especially at the rural areas on the importance of girl-child education.
“We have started seeing the result of what we are doing because the number of girls in schools have started increasing,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that women professionals from various fields including engineers, doctors and lawyers among others spoke on their various field of studies at the event.