By Abbas Bamalli
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a Pan-African Non Government Organisation(NGO), has called for increased investment in adolescent girls in Katsina State.
FAWE Coordinator in the state, Prof. Binta Ado, made the call at an event to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child in Katsina.
According to her, with the right support, resources and opportunities, the potential of the girls has no limit.
“When girls lead, the impact is immediate and wide-reaching. Families, communities, and economies also benefit from this.
“It is time to listen to girls, to invest in proven solutions that will accelerate progress towards a future in which every girl can fulfill her potential.
“That is why we are here today, to celebrate the girl-child and listen to them to share with us their plans for the future,”she said.
She added that FAWE was founded by five African women Ministers of Education in 1992, and was initially supported by development partners within the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
Ado explained that since then, FAWE had engaged with governments, local partners, schools and communities to advocate for gender mainstreaming.
According to her, the engagement is also to influence the development and implementation of policies, and interventions to promote girls’ and women’s education in Africa.
The coordinator said that, “with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, FAWE runs as a network of 34 National Chapters, spread across 33 countries in Francophone, Anglophone and Lusophone Africa.
“FAWE’s rationale is to promote education for African girls, not only because of the direct benefit that accrue to girls who attend school, but also because of the extensive benefits for the society at large.
“African girls and women’s poor educational status is for the greater part attributed to poverty, violence, cultural norms/practices, poor infrastructure, and the fragility of African states.
“FAWE believes that nothing short of a paradigm shift and total systemic transformation of the education systems will help girls, and young women in adversity develop to their full potentials through education and training.
Ado ssid, “the day focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this year’s theme is ‘Girls’ vision for the future’, which conveys the need for urgent action and persistent hope, driven by the power of girls’ voices and vision for the future.
While the NGO urged the girl-child to learn to become self- reliant rather than look forward to white colar jobs, exposed them to different entrepreneurship skills.
Some of the secondary school girls during interactive session, as the leaders of tomorrow expressed their visions and missions.
NAN
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