The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Abbas Tajudeen, condemned the growing spate of child labour and sexual assault on children.
Hon Abbas expressed the concern via a statement issued to commemorate the 2023 International Day of the Girl Child, with the theme: ‘Invest in Girls’ rights: Our leadership, Our well-being,’ on Wednesday.
While frowning at the high rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria, the Speaker said it would benefit the nation’s governments at all levels to make education free and compulsory for children, especially at the elementary level.
He averred that as the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child today, all stakeholders have a role to play in their education, growth and welfare.
While noting that the responsibility starts with the parents, especially with the moral upbringing of the girl child, Speaker Abbas added that society must collectively ensure their safety and education.
The Speaker specifically stated that the educational, religious and traditional institutions, as well as the government, have their complementary roles in the protection, nurturing and mental development of the girl child and all children alike.
The Speaker restated the readiness of the 10th House to give legislative backing to any programme or policy designed towards the wellbeing of not just the girl child but all children across the country.
On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
According to the UN, the International Day of the Girl Child focuses on the need to address the challenges being faced by girl-child and promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, nearly 1 in 5 girls are still not completing lower-secondary, and nearly 4 in 10 girls are not completing upper secondary school today.
And in certain regions, the numbers are even more dismal. Around 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online.
Globally, girls aged 5-14 spend 160 million more hours every day on unpaid care and domestic work than boys of the same age. This unequal distribution in unpaid work intensifies in adolescence with serious implications for girls’ well-being.
Adolescent girls continue to account for 3 in 4 new HIV infections among adolescents.
Meeting adolescent girls’ demands for family planning with modern methods has been slow, increasing from 55% to 60% since 2012. This means that 4 in 10 adolescent girls aged 15-19 who want to avoid pregnancy are not using a modern method, and teenage pregnancy is a leading cause of mortality for adolescent girls.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the next decade. And now, over the next ten years, up to 10 million more girls worldwide will be at risk of marrying as children because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly 1 in 4 married/partnered adolescent girls aged 15-19 have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime.
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