In
almost all emergencies, such as
in armed conflicts, natural
disasters, human-made hazards
and mass population
displacements, civil
registration systems often
become dysfunctional, poorly
operational and, in extreme
cases, entirely collapsed. Birth
and death certificates are often
lost and entire archives may be
destroyed during or in the
aftermath of the crisis. In such
situations, the administrative
system fails to record and
register vital events leading to
a backlog of unregistered women
and children, and the absence of
a reliable cause of death
information. This is the case in
the crises-torn north-eastern
region in Nigeria with the core
of humanitarian response often
focusing on addressing basic
human needs, such as safety,
health and education. In normal
circumstances, even today, civil
registration of births or deaths
is not carried out 100% as a lot
of parents do not register
births or deaths especially in
the northern parts of Nigeria.
Plus, the provision of civil
registration services usually
remains under-resourced and
under-prioritized in situations
of fragility, with significant
long and short-term
consequences. For example, women
and children are especially
vulnerable in situations of this
insurgency conflict and
emergency, and it is critical to
register and count them so that
they can be protected and
provided for. Also, this
highlights the need for a new
approach to education,
especially, girl-child and the
issue of the development of
regional identity.
Girl Child Day:
October 11, OXFAM seeks Equal Opportunity for
Girls-Child. International Day of the Girl Child is
an international observance day declared by the
United Nations (UN); it is also called the Day of
Girls and the International Day of the Girl. October
11, 2012, was the First Day of the Girl Child. “No
sustainable future can be contemplated without
considering the future of the girl child in the
country”. According to the World Bank, every day,
girls face barriers to education caused by poverty,
cultural norms and practices, poor infrastructure,
violence and fragility. About 98 million
girl-children are out of school around the world and
mostly in 3rd world countries. Girls’
education is a strategic development priority for
everyone, especially in northern Nigeria.
Girls’ education goes beyond getting
girls into school. It is also about ensuring that
girls learn and feel safe while in school; complete
all levels of education with the skills to
effectively compete in the labour market; learn the
socio-emotional and life skills necessary to
navigate and adapt to a changing world; make
decisions about their own lives, and contribute to
their communities and the world. Girls’ education is
a strategic development priority because when girls
are educated, the whole society benefits. Better
educated women tend to be healthier, participate
more in the formal labour market and have the
opportunity to earn higher incomes, have fewer
children, marry at a later age, and enable better
health care and education for their children.
Married educated women can help lift households,
communities, and nations out of poverty. According
to UNESCO estimates, 130 million girls between the
age of 6 and 17 are out of school and 15 million
girls of primary-school-age - half of them in
sub-Saharan Africa - will never enter a classroom.
Although the girl equivalent of the
Almajiri child is not seen carrying a bowl and
roaming the streets, she faces her social problems.
For instance, she is seen hawking, selling
traditional snacks by the road, and most times she
is employed as a house help. Another common practice
is that these girls direct blind people who tread
the streets begging for alms. The blind person may
either be the girl’s mother, father, relative or a
stranger, in which case, he is permitted by her
parents to carry the girl on the understanding that
he will give her something out of what he gets that
day. They are mostly found at traffic intersections,
which are strategic locations to ask for alms when
motorists stop. Many others wonder about, on the
streets and in the markets, and even at mosques from
where perhaps an uncertain meal might come. Also,
more often than not, that deprived, dejected girl is
married off at a very young age because her parents
or guardian is unable to provide for her.
In Islam, Girl child education is
just as important as boys' education because Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said "Education
is compulsory for both male and female believers".
History is replete with stories of women
intellectuals who have impacted tremendously on the
development and spread of Islamic
education. Unfortunately today, the girl equivalent
of Almajiri child presents its social
problems; though they do not leave home, they are
however free to roam the streets, hawking, fetching
water and engage in other house-hold jobs. Most of
them are enrolled in one form of school or the
other. But attendance is occasional or at times
practically zero. Hawking becomes their main
occupation. The South-Eastern states also have their
share of problems of girl child education. A recent
survey shows that more than 50% of them end up
hawking on the streets. As for the North, “yes, it
is true we could blame the British almost (100%) for
deliberately destroying our indigenous education
system but we could not blame them for our
collective negligence in allowing the system to
continue unabated in its present form” said Malam
Zubairu.
Poverty remains the most important
factor in determining whether a girl can access an
education. For example, in the North-West zone
alone, only 4 percent of poor young women can read
compared with 99 percent of young women in the
South-East. Studies consistently reinforce that
girls who face multiple disadvantages - such as low
family income, living in remote or underserved
locations, disability or belonging to a minority
ethnolinguistic group - are farthest behind in terms
of access to and completion of education. Violence
also negatively impacts access to education and a
safe environment for learning. Child marriage is
also a critical challenge. Child brides are much
more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer
years of education than their peers who marry later.
This affects the education and health of their
children, as well as their ability to earn a living.
According to a recent report, more than 41,000 girls
under the age of 18 marry every day and putting an
end to the practice would increase women’s expected
educational attainment, and with it, their potential
earnings. According to estimates, ending child
marriage could generate more than $500 billion in
benefits annually each year.
According to the UNFPA’s ‘World
Population Report 2020’, 33,000 Nigerian girls under
the age of 18 will be forced into marriage, usually
to much older men. One in five females married today
in Nigeria is underage. About 19 percent of women
between 15 and 19 have begun child bearing. About 14
percent would have given birth and four percent are
pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately,
about 11 northern states have yet to domesticate the
Child Rights Act despite its obvious benefits for
children which include being unable to get married
till the age of 18 as girls stay longer in school.
The states that have failed to pass the child rights
law are Bauchi, Yobe, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Borno,
Zamfara, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, and Jigawa. Little
wonder these are the states with the highest cases
of child marriage and fertility rates. They are also
the poorest. There are, of course, those who argue
that issues of polygamy, child marriage and
expansive breeding are cultural and religious
matters and ought to be respected and left to the
individual. Such cultural relativist thinking no
longer suffices. Responsible leadership demands
guiding the people towards what is best for them
through education and social services without
coercion. Sadly, Nigeria has been too timid to
address the root causes of population explosion,
which include polygamy, child marriage and low
prevalence of contraception. Many countries
prescribe compulsory schooling as a fundamental
right of the child. The change should start from
leadership. A motion moved by a federal lawmaker in
the Eighth National Assembly to implement effective
population management policy unfortunately
degenerated into a religious debate and failed to
achieve its intended outcome. Saudi Arabia, one of
the world’s most conservative countries, has placed
a ban on the marriage of persons below the age of
18. That is the way to go. Nigeria’s modern
contraceptive prevalence rate of 12 percent for
married women and 28 percent for sexually active
unmarried women is still too low and needs to be
scaled up if the fertility rate is to drop.
Arguably, State governments must also stop the
practice of spending public funds sponsoring mass
weddings.
There is the need for a radical
social and political change that will lead to the
eradication of discrimination and prejudice that
continue to hold the girls back in all areas of
life. In the case of Nigeria, there is the need to
make case for Nigerian women and girls who have been
faced with so many issues ranging from, rape, female
genital mutilation, gender-based violence,
marginalization, early marriage among others. To
reinforce the message around challenging gender
stereotypes, fighting bias, broadening perceptions,
improving women and girl’s participation at all
levels of the economy and celebrating the
achievements of women and girls. The world would be
a better place if the female genders are as happy as
their male counterparts.
The World Bank Group (WBG) has joined
with governments, civil society organizations,
multilateral organizations, the private sector, and
donors to advance multi-sectoral approaches to
overcome these challenges. Working together with
girls and women, the WBG focus includes:
-
Providing conditional cash
transfers, stipends or scholarships;
-
Reducing distance to school;
-
Targeting boys and men to be a
part of discussions about cultural and societal
practices;
-
Ensuring gender-sensitive
curricula and pedagogies;
-
Hiring and training qualified
female teachers;
-
Building safe and inclusive
learning environments for girls and young women;
-
Ending child/early marriage; and
addressing violence against girls and women.
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