Tag: UNICEF

‘1.6m children out-of-school in North-East’ – UNICEF

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children’s Fund, (UNICEF), has warned that 1.6 million children in the North-East region are not attending school. UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Maiduguri, Borno State, Phuong Nguyen, revealed this on Wednesday, during a Foundation Literacy and Numeracy in the North-East seminar held in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. She said: “At least 1.6 million children are out of school in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Of those in school, 72% cannot read a simple text after grade 6. Without acquiring appropriate foundational and transferable skills, children…

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‘Three out of 4 Nigerian pupils unable to read, write’ – UNICEF

Aminu Imam

Three-quarter of pupils in Nigerian primary schools lack adequate literacy and numeracy, according to a UNICEF assessment report. The global agency’s Chief of Education in Nigeria, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, disclosed this yesterday, at the opening of the seminar, which was held at the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy seminar in Maiduguri, Borno State. According to her, “Nigeria has a severe learning crisis with three out of four children being unable to read or to solve a simple math problem. This not only hobbles children’s opportunity to learn higher order skills but is…

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‘63% Nigerians face abject poverty’ – UNICEF 

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over poverty level of ordinary Nigerians, lamenting that 63 percent of Nigerians faces deprivation and other forms of poverty in the country. Speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day policy and programmatic dialogue workshop on Nigeria’s poverty profile and social register Tuesday in Abuja, UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Cristian Munduate, said she had personally witnessed the menace of poverty across the country and its accompanying toll in several aspects of people’s lives, including in the area of education. “From Lagos to…

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UNICEF: Over 700, 000 children in North-East will suffer acute malnutrition in 2023

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that more than 700,000 children in north-east Nigeria will need treatment for acute wasting in 2023. This was contained in an issued statement on Monday by the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate. He said the agency has partnered with the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) to tackle issues of waste and disease outbreak in conflict areas in the North-East. Munduate said the agencies inaugurated a programme, which will target about 88,000 people, as well as nearly 50,000 children battling…

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UNICEF targets 10m Nigerian children in new 4-year education programme

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has rolled out a new educational programme aimed at attracting 10 million Nigerian children to school within the next four years. The new country programme, which will run from 2023 to 2027, is expected to massively cut down on the alarming out-of-school children rate in Nigeria. UNICEF’s Communication Specialist, Dr. Geoffrey Njoku, made this known in Kano on Monday, during a two-day media dialogue on the status of implementation of the Child Rights Law across the country. Njoku also said that the UN agency…

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West African Jollof Wars: UNESCO settles debate between Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal

Aminu Imam

The zenith of the Jollof rice debate reached dizzying dimensions earlier this week, when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) settled, in a swift move, a long-standing fierce battle by proclaiming Senegal as the origin of Jollof rice. Jollof rice, also known as Ceebu jën in Senegal, is a staple in West African cuisine, is made of rice and fish, accompanied by vegetables and sometimes tomatoes. According to research by Conversation Africa, the origins of Jollof rice can be traced back to the entrenchment of colonial rule…

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2022 Flood: Over 600 perished, 1.3million persons displaced In Nigeria ? UNICEF

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has said that according to government data no fewer than 600 persons died and 1.3 million were rendered homeless as a result of the September/October 2022 floods across 34 states of the country. Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe, stated this yesterday, during an official handover of supplies for Anambra State Flood Response from UNICEF to the Anambra State Government. During the occasion, the first set of supplies of 100 drums of chlorine for disinfection of water sources, 40 cartons of Aquatabs…

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Flooding: Over 800 thousand children displaced by flooding in Nigeria – UNICEF

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children Fund, (UNICEF) says an estimated 840,000 children have been displaced by the recent flooding that ravaged some parts of Nigeria. According to an issued statement on Tuesday, the Head of the UNICEF delegation for COP-27, Paloma Escudero, said about 27.7 million children across the world were affected by the flooding in 2022. Escudero said children are a large majority of the 27.7 million children affected by flooding in 2022 are among the most vulnerable and are at high risk of a multitude of threats including death…

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Katsina: UNICEF demands unconditional release of abducted children

Aminu Imam

The United Nations Children Fund, (UNICEF), has demanded an immediate and unconditional release of 21 children abducted last Sunday by armed bandits at a farm in Mairuwa community, in Faskari local government area of Katsina State. UNICEF, in an issued statement by its Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, described the abduction as an attack on the posterity of Nigeria, thus demanding immediate actions by all relevant stakeholders that would culminate in the return of the abducted children. She expressed concern that the tragic incident is another indication of the…

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Flood: UNICEF raises alarm, says more than 1.5 million children at risk in Nigeria

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

As the devastating floods  wreck havoc across Nigeria,  United Nations Children Education Funds says more than 2.5 million people in Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance, 60 per cent of which are children and are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition. The floods, which have affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country, UNICEF says have displaced 1.3 million people, with over 600 people loosing their lives and over 200,000 houses either partially or fully damaged.  In a statement, UNICEF says cases of diarrhoea…

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