The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has called on the Zamfara state government to consider an increase in the 2025 budget on health and education, saying the proposed health and education allocations are low in the state.
In a goodwill message during the Zamfara State 2025 Budget stakeholders town hall meeting held on Saturday in Gusau, the state capital, UNICEF chief of field office, Sokoto office. Michael Juma, represented by UNICEF social policy specialist Mr. Isah Ibrahim, described the current Zamfara budget implementation as one of the best in the country.
The Zamfara State annual town hall meeting with the stakeholders aimed to generate citizens input organised by the State Ministry of Budget and Planning in collaboration with Unicef.
UNICEF has advocated the Zamfara State Government for the increased health and education sector budgetary allocation from 7 and 12 per cent in the current year approved budget to 15 and 20 per cent of the proposed 2025 budget to meet the health and education needs of children in the state.
“Equally, Unicef appealed to the Zamfara State Governor for the inclusion of health workers and schools teachers recruitment in the next fiscal year budget as many health workers and teachers are retiring without filling their vacuum.”
According to him, Zambia is one of the States where children are experiencing multiple and overlapping deprivation of their fundamental basic rights
“Increase allocation to education should be given priority to the high number of out-of-school children in the state, where six out of ten children are out of school, according to the MICs six survey released by NBS in 2021,” he added.
UNICEF also called for the establishment of additional girls’ focal primary schools to enable more girls to achieve their potential and become the product of society.
He thanked Governor Dauda Lawal for releasing Unicef counterpart funding worth N1.1 billion during this current year
Also speaking, Zamfara state coordinator of the Child Protection Network and executive director of the Voluntary Aid Initiative (VAI), Musa Umar Aboki, appealed for the establishment of a peace commission in the state.
According to him, peace is the bedrock of any development; without peace and security, there would be no rapid and effective sustainable development.
Aboki appreciated the state government under Gov. Dauda Lawal for initiating policies and programmes targeting children in the state.
He also appealed for stakeholders, including traditional rulers, religious leaders, and community leaders, to support NGO’s in the child development programme in the state.
The Child Protection Network is a platform that has membership from NGOs, CSOs, and CBOs working for child protection, development, and survival in the state.
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