Biim High Africa advocates SDGs education for Nigerian girls

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Biim High Africa, has again stressed the need for the government and other stakeholders to educate the girl-child, as spelt out in the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Biim High made this known on Wednesday, at an event organised to commemorate the fourth Annual International Day of the Girl Child, at the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Speaking with the media after the event, the Head of the NGO, Mrs Moriam Afolabi-Rufai, said that it was important to let the girl child know the reasons to pursue her goals and also educate others about the key things that could work for sustainable development.

“The programme is to celebrate the International Girls’ Day. We are taking the advocacy beyond the day. I realised that most times, people only focus on the day and they stop advocating after the day,” she said.

“I realised that we should take it to the next day so that the conversation could continue. It is about talking to the teenage girls and those in the university to make them understand the sustainable development goals.

“The SDG has 17 goals and we are making them to understand what the goals are and how they can key themselves into those goals and make them realistic by year 2030,” she added.

Moriam revealed that the theme of the event; “Teen Girls: Understand The Sustainable Development Goals,” was chosen because of this year’s theme of the International Day for Girls, which focuses on Adolescent Girls and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including gender equality to be achieved by Year 2030.

She stated that her NGO decided to organise the programme because if the girl child “understands her goals, she would be able to explain it to others.”

“If the girls understand where they are going, they can explain to their brothers, sisters and others,” she further noted.