DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD 2022: MINISTER TELLS FEMALES TO SPEAK UP AGAINST MOLESTATION

11th October is the international day of the girl child, commemorating the 2022 edition, with the theme “our time is now – our rights, our future” the minister of women affairs Dame Pauline Tallen urged all Nigerian girl children to speak up whenever they may be experiencing

molestation.

Speaking at the gathering of school girls, female corps members, women affairs 

commissioners, first ladies of some states, she noted that any form of molestation on girls is an attack on their rights.

She advised parents to set the pace for rights of girls from the home front by avoiding discrimination between the boy child and the girl child.

She stressed on equal opportunities in girl-child and boy-child access to quality education calling on males to encourage free access and support for females as their daughters, mothers and sisters.

She admonished first ladies and commissioners of women affairs to take the key messages of the event to their states and communities for the expected impact.

The guest speaker, founder of a non governmental organisation Voice of the Nigerian Child and adviser to Borno state government, Dr Mairo Mandara  emphasised the need to ensure that girls move beyond basic education to the highest level of education where they can attain their full potentials. 

The event had the first edition of state of the Nigerian girls summit, unity cultural presentation, panel discussion and goodwill messages from United Nations’ agencies and other stakeholders.

Like the international day of the girl child, the state of Nigerian girls summit is expected to be an annual event where concrete policy recommendations to inform policy directions and interventions are to be promoted to aid the realization of girl-child potential.