International Day of the Girl: Malala Fund Hosts Workshop on Advocacy, Girls’ Education, School Safety

• Malala Fund Champions continue to call on the government to publicly support the mainstreaming and implementation of the Safe School Declaration
• This is as a result of the growing security threats to education in Nigeria by criminal elements across the country
• Malala Fund is also advocating for resources and policy changes needed to give all girls quality education

FCT, Abuja - Forty young Nigerian women between the ages of 18 and 23 have benefited from a three-day intensive workshop on advocacy, girls' education, and school safety, organised by Malala Fund.

The workshop aimed at enhancing girls’ advocacy capacity on socio-cultural issues affecting girls in Nigeria, held in Abuja on Saturday, October 9 to Monday, October 11, in commemoration of the 2021 International Day of the Girl.

With the theme, Advocating for Safer Schools for Girls, the workshop featured crash courses in creative writing, storytelling, media campaigning, social influencing, school safety, and other skills for impact-driven advocacy for the girl-child.

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Legit.ng gathered that a key moment of the workshop was the creation and presentation of the girls’ safe school declaration by the participants to Nigeria's vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and other government officials.

The girls’-led declaration contains concerns and demand for safer schools for girls across Nigeria, ahead of the Safe School Declaration Conference in Abuja, 25 - 27 October.

Responding to girls’ demands for safer schools, Osinbajo reiterated the Nigerian government’s commitment to delivering free, safe and quality basic education.

The vice president who was represented by Dr. Fatima Waziri, Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said:

“Government is here to support the girl child in every way it can. COVID-19 reinforced many gaps in education and made it difficult for many children, especially girls, to access healthcare and education.”

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Crystal Ikanih-Musa, Malala Fund Country Representative, at the opening session of the workshop, said:

“Empowering girls to learn and lead is at the core of our work. We believe that when girls learn, they thrive and communities develop. This is why we have organised this workshop to interact with girl advocates, hear their concerns, and amplify their voices as well as upskill them to do more for their communities.”

Damilola Agbaosi, a participant said:

“The workshop has exposed me to new ideas and tools for advocacy. I am more confident about helping other girls achieve their dreams. With these new skills, I will tell better stories about girls’ education rights, gender-based violence, and safety for girls.”

Malala Fund report on distant-learning measures for girls in Nigeria

Recall that Malala Fund Education Champions in Nigeria, launched a report, Girls' Education and COVID-19 in Nigeria, late last year.

The report revealed new data that girls in Nigeria faced distinct gendered impacts during the pandemic, with over 50% of girls receiving no help to continue education during school closures.

The report - which analyses survey data collected from 2,253 respondents in Kaduna state - documented a widening gap for girls' learning access during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Source: Legit.ng