By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
UNICEF has said that around the world, one out of six children live in extreme poverty or less than US$ 1.9 per day and their families struggle to afford the basic health care and nutrition needed to provide them a strong start in life.
It added that poverty affects children disproportionately as a deprivation which leaves a lasting imprint in 2009 with 149 million children under the age of five years were stunted globally.
UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, Phuong T. Nguyen, disclosed this on Tuesday at a one day Public Hearing on Child Rights Act organized by Borno State House of Assembly in Maiduguri.
Ms. Nguyen said that 1.6 children in 2009 were living in a conflict affected countries and approximately 426 million children were living in a conflict zone and 5.1 million children in north east Nigeria conflict affected region are in need of emergency humanitarian services.
She however lamented that many of the children are unaccompanied or separated from their families and displaced by the armed conflict which they could be at a high risk if grave violation of their rights in and around the IDPs camps and other areas of refuge.
The UNICEF Chief Officer, commended Borno State Women Affairs and Social Development and Ministry of Justice as well as Child Protection partners for their contributions to the draft (Borno State Child Rights Act) in an effort to protect the rights of children while appreciating Borno State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee on Violence Against Persons, Justice and Judiciary in domestication of the Child Rights Act.
According to her, all children have their rights, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, sex, cultural abilities or economic background, suggesting that, “No girl or boy should be treated unfairly in any basis. Every child has the right to health, education, and protection and every society has a stake in expanding children’s opportunities in life. Yet, around the world, millions of children are denied a fair chance for no reason other than location, sex or circumstances into which they are born”.
She said Nigeria enacted the Child Rights Act in 2003 as a law to guarantee the right of all children in Nigeria and expand opportunities available to them with only full implementation of the enactment in 27 states out of 36 states of the federation, with nine states including Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Kebbi, Jigawa, and Zamfara states yet to adopt and domesticate the Federal Child Rights Act.
The UNICEF Chief Field Officer, also applauded the BOSHA and state government for their show of commitment and dedication to secure the rights and protection of its children. She assured that UNICEF and all other development partners are committed to ensure that enablers are available for the Act to be enacted into law .
“Thus, by providing the legal framework binding all duty bearers to its article. UNICEF will also assist the state government to develop an inter-ministerial CRA Plan of Action that will make the law a living and active document, allowing rights holders to be aware of their rights while holding all duty bearers accountable in making Borno a better place for the children,” Nguyen said
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