SCI urges Govt., Religious, Traditional Leaders To Develop Girl Child Potential
By: Femi Mustapha
Save the Children International (SCI) has called on government at all levels, as well as religious and traditional leaders, to do everything possible towards the development and fulfillment of the girl child’s potential.
The Kaduna State Team lead of SCI, Tanko Lagaya, asserted this in his goodwill message during the International Day of the Girl Child celebration organised by Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria ANRiN with support from Save the Children International in Kaduna yesterday, with the theme “Time is Now, Her Future, Her Right”
According to him, Save the Children as the leading Child – Centred Organization in the World with the mission to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives has been in Kaduna State for the
past 12 years and would continue to support all government’s efforts geared towards uplifting the lives of Children in the State.
He added that as the world celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the United Nations’ special observance of the Girl-Child; it is time to galvanise the international community, not only to celebrate the advances the world has seen in girls through decades but also to take stock of where we must do more to redouble or renew our commitment.
Similarly, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) Project Manager, Dr. Zainab Muhammad Idris, expressed satisfaction with the state government for collaborating with various stakeholders in addressing all girl child challenges.
According to her, ANRIN has been able to reach out to over two million out-of-school children in Kaduna State with positive results.
In her remarks, the state Commissioner for Health, Amina Mohammed Baloni, called on parents and society to provide adequate nutritional needs and education to the Girls before marriage.
She explained that it was imperative to increase attention on issues that matter to girls and to leverage their potential as future leaders to create opportunities for them to thrive and for their voices to be heard.

Dr. Amina Baloni enumerated the challenges of girl children including discrimination in access to education, food, and nutrition. Being used as burden bearers for household chores and farm work. Early marriage, sexual abuse, and other forms of gender-based violence.
“Each one of these challenges is a terrible menace on its own, with the potential of bringing down society in all its ramifications. These challenges occur as a result of cultural, religious, political, and social belief systems in our society”