Do you know that Nigeria records the highest number of girls that are out of school and that they are about five and a half million girls? That is according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). As one would predict, many of these girls live in slums. These are areas within the city that are squalid, lacking essential amenities and inhabited by poor people. There are about 42 of these kinds of places in Lagos State.
To draw attention to the realities of out-of-school girls (OOSGs) in Lagos State slums, Action Health Incorporated (AHI) is partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) on the Enable Girls Project which seeks to advance advocacy for policy, practice, and programme investments for the scaling up of interventions that improve vulnerable adolescent girls’ health and social well-being in Lagos State.
On Thursday, 23 July 2015, AHI and WAPA convened a multi-sectoral Stakeholders Strategic Plan Development Workshop to develop a strategic framework for Lagos State to address the issues faced by OOSGs. The workshop was attended by twenty-two (22) private and public sector stakeholders comprising members of the Lagos State Government and staff of civil society organizations (CSOs) and international development organizations.
The participants understood that these OOSGs are girls who are under pressure and therefore they do various things to make ends meet and so they suggested and produced a plan document to empower the girls making sure to take cognizance of three things – their Education, Health and Livelihood. It is sure going to be a new season in the life of these girls.
[carousel source=”media: 1936,1935,1934,1930″ link=”image” items=”4″ title=”no”]
You must be logged in to post a comment.