”Millions of children denied MDG gains”

The international charity Save the Children says millions of children in Nigeria are not benefiting from progress made in fighting extreme poverty under the Millennium Development Goals, which targeted major improvements in welfare by 2015. In a global report launched in Abuja on Tuesday, Save said progress was not reaching children who needed it most, […]

The international charity Save the Children says millions of children in Nigeria are not benefiting from progress made in fighting extreme poverty under the Millennium Development Goals, which targeted major improvements in welfare by 2015.

In a global report launched in Abuja on Tuesday, Save said progress was not reaching children who needed it most, because of geography, gender, ethnicity, disability or because they are victims of conflict.

It called the discrimination the “largest threat to the wellbeing of the world’s poorest children”, who constitute the largest proportion of some 16,000 children who still die from preventable causes around the world.

Ben Foot, country director for Save the Children Nigeria, said, “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.”

It came as the charity launched Every Last Child, a three-year campaign to reach children left behind.

It cited major regional disparities with 90% of the poorest people living in northern Nigeria, high death rates among women and children, malnutrition remaining a major concern in the north despite improvements in nutrition and nearly 10 million children out of school—most of them girls from the poorest households.

The report spotlights protection of girls in Nigeria, where nearly four out of every 10 girls are married off before they turn 18.

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

“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 chid marriage through strategies to promote girls’ empowerment, change in social and cultural norms, legal reform, and policy action.

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,” said Foot.

The campaign has already garnered the support of national artistes and political figures to push in favour of children left behind.

Zainab Bagudu, wife of Kebbi state governor was alongside entertainers who will stand as ambassadors for the campaign, including Timi Dakolo, Banky-W, Waje, Stephanie Linus.