Read what happens to 76% of girls in the North-west

– The fifteen year period for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ended in 2015

– It has been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

– A international charity group said millions of Nigerian children did not benefit from the programme

Save the Children, an international charity organisation has identified discrimination as the largest threat to children born in developing countries.

File photo of children

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Ben Foot, the country director of the organisation noted that millions of children in Nigeria did not benefit from the progress made with fighting extreme poverty under the MDGs.

Foot stated that 16,000 children in developing countries die from preventable causes such as geography, gender, ethnicity, disability or because they are victims of conflict.

“Despite progress and in that process, we have actually left behind millions of children in Nigeria who are not benefiting from education, health care and protection.

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“We found that intersecting vulnerabilities can impact on the prevalence of child marriage, with poverty, geography and education identified as key factors.

“Evidence finds that 76% of girls in the North West region are married before the age of 18, compared with 10% in the South East.

Eighty-tw0 per cent of women aged 20–24 with no education were married by the age of 18, compared with 13% of women in the same age group who completed secondary education.

“We are working to end child marriage through strategies to promote girls’ empowerment, change in social and cultural norms, legal reform, and policy action.

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“Every Last Child calls for three basic guarantees in fair financing, equity and accountability to children.

“The campaign is to galvanise people, from politicians to children, to recognize that fact and put in place policies and actions to bring those children into the game,” he said.

Zainab Bagudu, wife of Kebbi state governor, Timi Dakolo, Banky-W, Waje, Stephanie Linus have been chosen as ambassadors for “Every Last Child,” a tree-year campaign programme by the organisation.

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