By Gabriel Yough
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Community Support for Women and Girl Child Empowerment Initiative, on Tuesday began the establishment of the Girl- Child Rights’ Clubs in schools in Taraba.
Miss Miyenbi Ariaye, the President of the organisation, announced this at an event to mark the 2022 edition of the International Day of the Girl Child in Jalingo.
She explained that the establishment of the club in schools would help eliminate discrimination against girl child in communities in the state.
Ariaye said that her organisation had been working to ensure every girl child had the platform and the opportunity that would propel her to achieve her dreams and aspirations.
“To achieve this goal of promoting girl child’s rights and offering them the opportunity to realise their dreams, we at Community Support for Women and Girl Child seek to inaugurate the girl-child rights’ clubs in all secondary schools within Taraba.
“The club will serve as a social and educational tool to mitigate girl-child inequality, provide mentorship, entrepreneurial, ICT, health, educational, gender and life skills training that are essential.
“To develop relevant knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours needed to address the 21st-century challenges.”
According to her, aside from the training that will be offered by the NGO, we will be using this club platform to track girls who drop out of school; to find measures to bring them back.
“It is worthy to note that this club is not only about girls but also about helping the world as a whole,” she said.
The president explained that adolescent girls had the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life not only during their adolescent years but also as they grow.
She added these would enable them become women, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads and political leaders.
Alhaji Garba Lawal, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Development, who inaugurated the clubs also presented a talk on personal hygiene, the rights of the girl child and career choices at the event.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Day of the Girl Child is established to draw the attention of the public to the importance of addressing the challenges that girls face.
It is also extablished to draw the attention of the public to promoting girls’ empowerment and rights and is marked annually on Oct.11.(NAN)
