Two Million Children Remain Out-Of-School In Northeast, Says UNICEF
By Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that two million children continue to remain out of school in the Northeast of the country.
The out of school children are from the insurgency-affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe of the region.
UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, Joseph Senesie raised the alarm on Wednesday, at a media dialogue on Journalism Ethics and Child Rights (JECR) reporting in Damaturu, Yobe state.
According to him, training and retraining of journalists are important to stay ahead of a crucial profession in the media.
Lamenting the increasing rate of children out of school in the insurgency-affected region, Senesie stated, “From nutrition to education and sanitation, UNICEF is at the forefront of giving children affected by conflict a voice over their fundamental rights to education, health and protection.”
The Maiduguri Chief Field Office further revealed that the UN agency also supported the life-saving treatment of about 600,000 acutely malnourished children in Northeast Nigeria.
Similarly, Senesie added that 1.2 million children were immunized with the pentavalent vaccine, while 1.6 million people were also reached with the cholera vaccine.
Other life-saving interventions in the region, he added, including the over half a million children below five years, were supported with birth registrations that would enable them to have access to education, health and protection.
Citing Borno and Yobe states, Senesie further disclosed that in 2014, 500,000 children accessed formal and non-formal education, while 32,215 of them who had never been vaccinated (zero dose) received life-saving immunizations with support from UNICEF.
Consequently, he raised the alarm, “There is still much to be done,” as only 30% of children in Borno and Yobe states have their births registered in various health facilities.
Senesie continues to be concerned that; 12 local government areas in the two states, are yet to be immunized against the six killer-child diseases, including cholera and polio that claimed many lives of children in the region.
He, therefore, urged the media to conduct independent reports on the “successes and gaps” in shaping the national agenda on child’s rights across the country.
The UNICEF Chief Field Office, maintained that the reports improve the wellbeing of children, including the 14.3 million that are currently out of school in the country.
