We celebrate this day not because all is well with the Nigerian girl child, but because we recall the strength within our children. We call to mind our daughters that are still away, stripped off their childhood, years after their abduction from their secondary school in Borno State. We celebrate the strength within the few that found their way out of captivity within the deep forests, still able to face the world, uncertain of what lies ahead.
We celebrate the strength within our daughters, against all the odds that the Nigerian society daily presents to them. We recall the brilliance and eloquence that lies within the Nigerian girl who has been kept away from obtaining education because she is seen as the lesser sex; the beauty within that child that is daily molested and sexually abused by friends and relatives she trusted; the tenacity within the girl child that is daily utilised for domestic services in the home of her “madam”, caring for other children her age or even younger who are perceived to be “privileged”, while they explore the world to their full potentials; the audacity within that child that faces all forms of hazard walking several miles to her school each day just to obtain an education; the calmness within our daughters who are forced into genital mutilation and early marriages and teenage childbirth in the name of tradition; the girl that awakes in a strange land having being trafficked for all forms of exploitation. We celebrate the person within the Nigerian girl child that is and that will become.
FIDA Nigeria, as an organization with a mandate to enhance, promote, protect and preserve the rights and welfare of children in Nigeria, calls for collective efforts from all – parents, guardians, traditional institutions, religious leaders, Faith Based Organisations, Community Based Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, International Institutions and their agencies, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission, and all other key stakeholders – to join hands with the Nigerian government to improve the plight of the Nigerian girl child.
We urge the Federal Government of Nigeria and its States Governments to intensify efforts aimed at improving the lives of the Nigerian girl child. We make this call cognisant of the fact that the government has primary responsibility in securing the rights of the child. We demand programmes to support the girl child’s social, intellectual and spiritual development, as a key actor in the sustainable development agenda. The Federal Government must ensure full implementation of the Child’s Rights Act, the Violence Against Person’s (Prohibition) Act (VAPP Act), 2015 and all laws that support the full development of the girl child.
We look ahead to 2030 hopeful that by the time we assess our performance in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we would have achieved 50:50 parity for the girl child and a country packaged to exploit the full potential of the girl child.
Our work continues until we achieve our goals.
HAPPY CELEBRATIONS!
Signed by:
MS INIME AGUMA
NATIONAL PRESIDENT/COUNTRY VICE PRESIDENT
FIDA NIGERIA
No comments:
Post a Comment