Nigeria: Child Rights Campaign Records New Success

By Development Diaries
November 23, 2021

YouthHubAfrica says its campaign for the passage of the Child Rights Act (CRA) in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, has paid off.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, on 22 November, signed into law the Sokoto State Child Protection bill to enhance the conditions of children in the state.

The governor described the law as among the major landmark achievements of his administration and commended the efforts of the key development partners that pushed for the passage and signing of the bill.

Tambuwal stressed that the state government, under his watch, would continue to live up to the expectations of the people, especially the protection of the lives of growing children and women.

Local and international development partners, including the UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, UNICEF’s Chief Field Officer in Sokoto, Maulid Warfar, attended the signing ceremony.

Kallon lauded Governor Tambuwal’s resilience, as well as other bodies and individuals who ensured the enactment of the law.

Since 2017, YouthHubAfrica, through its CRA advocacy, has been pushing for the domestication of the CRA in states that have yet to domesticate the law.

Nigeria, in 2003, passed into law the Child Rights Act (CRA) in line with the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. However, only 26 states, including Sokoto, have so far passed the law.

Africa’s most populous country operates a federal system of government, meaning laws passed by the National Assembly do not automatically become applicable in all of the country’s 36 states.

With more than 23 million girls and women who were married as children, Nigeria has the largest number of child brides in Africa.

‘Congratulations to Sokoto State and key partners who helped make this a reality for the children in Sokoto’, the organisation said in a Facebook post.

The YouthHubAfrica project, with support from Malala Fund and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), focuses on improving basic education, school enrolment, retention, and completion in Nigeria.