A combination of denied education and socio-cultural beliefs among others are obstructing the Nigerian girl child from getting prominence in the boardroom compared to their global counterpart, experts have said.
“The issues hampering the girl-child are still very much in place and the last few years have seen a steady rise in the number of girls being sexually abused and suffering other forms of abuse and molestations,” Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Agency, said at an event.
Every year, October 11 is observed as the International Day of the Girl Child. The occasion marks the importance of adolescent girl children and attempts at identifying their power and potential by opening opportunities for them.
This year’s theme which is “Digital Generation, Our Generation” is aimed at amplifying and empowering the voices of adolescent girls around the globe. However, advocates for the girl child say that before the inclusion of a Nigerian girl child in the digital transformation of the world, these fundamental issues peculiar to them must first be addressed.
“Twelve million girls are born every year but, unfortunately only one-third of them survive. Insecurity, low birth mortality, lack of basic human rights, poor health and nutrition, and lack of education are some of the major contributors. We have to bring awareness to the reality that an educated girl is empowered and can achieve anything she puts her mind to,” Pearl Uzokwe, Director, Governance, and Sustainability at Sahara Group said.
Read also: Indomie rewards creativity in Nigerian children
In marking this year’s girl child celebration, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as experts, say in the age of the digital revolution where people are using technology in various ways to learn new skills and earn revenue, women, and girls cannot be left behind.
“Little girls with dreams become women with vision. We need women at all levels including the top to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored,” Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, said.
Since the pandemic, the world has sat in front of laptop/mobile screens for learning and earning, but around 2.2 billion people around the globe still do not have internet connections, according to data from the Global System for Mobile Communications.
On a global level, the gender gap of internet users has jumped from 11 percent in 2013 to 17 percent in 2019.
“In spite of the gaps that exist in protecting the girl child I remain encouraged by the opportunities that digitization offers the girl child in the areas of digital learning to ensure girls unable to physically attend school for a myriad of reasons are able to keep up with their studies,” Uzokwe said.
The International Day of the Girl Child’s celebration is also necessary to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The goal is to assist young girls who have access to better health services, equal opportunities in education and without any gender-based discrimination or violence.
As International Girl Child day focuses on the rights, safety, and education of girls, the main objective is to make girls an active part of the progress globally, but this can not be achieved without solving the challenges the Nigerian girl-child faces.
To commemorate this year’s celebration of the girl child, Nigerian organisations which include the Wave Foundation, Pad a Girl, have come up with initiatives to help curb the ignorance level of the girl child on her rights, restoring her pride, as well as fundraising activities by MalalaFund to empower girl advocates to do more for girls’ education.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
