Child's Rights and the Challenges of Educating the Girl-Child: Assessing the Contributions of UNICEF in Nigeria

Agaptus Nwozor; Blessing Okhillu

doi:10.17561/tahrj.v18.6520

Authors

Agaptus Nwozor Bowen University
Blessing Okhillu Landmark University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17561/tahrj.v18.6520

Keywords:

Child’s rights, girl-child education, human rights, Nigeria girls’ education program, radical feminism

Abstract

In 2003, Nigeria domesticated the twin international instruments on child rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The resultant legislation from Nigeria’s domestication efforts is the Child’s Rights Act (CRA) of 2003. Despite the provisions of this legislation detailing the elaborate atlas of rights to be enjoyed by the Nigerian child, their fortune especially that of the girl-child, has not got better. At the base of the contentious forces militating against the rights of the girl-child are the cultural and religious norms that are intrinsically embedded in the dominant patriarchal system prevalent in Nigeria, especially in northern Nigeria. These forces are intricately united in marginalizing and precluding the girl-child from accessing education. Using the lens of radical feminism in combination with human-rights based approach, this paper interrogates the challenges faced by the girl-child in accessing education and the interventionist role played by UNICEF to salvage the situation. The paper finds that although the interventionist program of UNICEF, that is, the Nigeria girls’ education project (NGEP), contributed in re-enrolling over one million out-of-school girls back to school, a lot needs to be done to salvage the girl-child from the doldrums of structural alienation that deprives her of access to education.

References

REFERENCES

ADEDIGBA, A. (2019, August 28). UNICEF to assist with enrolment of one million Nigerian girls in schools. Premium Times. Available at: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/349104-unicef-to-assist-with-enrolment-of-one-million-nigerian-girls-in-schools.html

AGBAJE, F. I. (2020). The objectified female body and the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria: Insights from IDP camps in Abuja. African Security Review, 29(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2020.1776348

AJA, S. N., EGWU, S. O., AJA-OKORIE, U., ANI, T., & AMUTA, N. C. (2018). Universal basic education (UBE) policy implementation challenges: The dilemma of junior secondary schools administrators in Nigeria International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 10(7), 83-90. https://doi.org/10.5897/IJEAPS2017.0511

AJAKAIYE, O. O. P., NWOZOR, A., OJEKA, J. D., ALEYOMI, M. B., OWOEYE, O., OJEKA-JOHN, R., & OKIDU, O. (2021). Media, terrorism reporting and lessons in awareness sustenance: The Nigerian newspapers’ coverage of the Chibok girls’ abduction. Brazilian Journalism Research, 17(1), 118-151. https://doi.org/10.25200/BJR.v17n1.2021.1329

AJANWACHUKU, M. A. (2017). The Nigerian child and the right to participation: A peep through the window of “the best interest” clause of the child’s rights act. Beijing Law Review, 8, 159-170. https://doi.org/10.4236/blr.2017.82009

AJANWACHUKU, M. A., & FAGA, H. P. (2018). The Nigerian child’s rights act and rights of children with disabilities: What hope for enforcement? Curentul Juridic – Juridical Current, 72(1), 57-66

ASSIM, U. M. (2020, September 24). Why the Child’s Rights Act still doesn’t apply throughout Nigeria. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/why-the-childs-rights-act-still-doesnt-apply-throughout-nigeria-145345

BBC (2017, July 25). Nigeria has 'largest number of children out-of-school' in the world. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40715305

BLUEPRINT (2020, November 14). UNICEF enrols over 1.2m out-of-school girls in Nigeria. Available at: https://www.blueprint.ng/unicef-enrols-over-1-2m-out-of-school-girls-in-nigeria/

BRITISH COUNCIL. (2014). Girls’ education in Nigeria: Report 2014 issues, influencers and actions. Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/british-council-girls-education-nigeria-report.pdf

BROBERG, M., & SANO, H. (2018). Strengths and weaknesses in

a human rights-based approach to international development: An analysis of a rights-based

approach to development assistance based on practical experiences. The International Journal of Human Rights, 22(5), 664-680. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1408591

CHILD’S RIGHT ACT, 2003, Cap C50 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5568201f4.pdf

EBOBRAH, S., & EBOIBI, F. (2017). Federalism and the challenge of applying international human rights law against child marriage in Africa. Journal of African Law, 61(03), 333–354. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021855317000195

EGEDE, E. (2007). Bringing human rights home: An examination of the domestication of human rights treaties in Nigeria. Journal of African Law, 51(02), 249 - 284. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021855307000290

ERULKER, A. S., & BELLO, M. (2007). The experience of married adolescent girls in northern Nigeria. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/ForcedMarriage/NGO/PopulationCouncil24.pdf

ERUNKE, J. (2021, May 25). NHGSFP: We’re feeding 10m pupils in schools, says FG. Vanguard. Available at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/05/nhgsfp-were-feeding-10m-pupils-in-schools-says-fg/

FALADE, O. S., OTEMUYIWA,I., OLUWASOLA, O., OLADIPO, W., & ADEWUSI, S. A. (2012). School feeding programme in Nigeria: The nutritional status of pupils in a public primary school in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 3, 596-605. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/fns.2012.35082

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (2020). Final evaluation of the girls education programme 2012-2020 in northern Nigeria. Available at: https://www.ungm.org/UNUser/Documents/DownloadPublicDocument?docId=1004733

FESER, M. (2017, July 2017). 5 countries with highest numbers of child marriage. Global Citizen. Available at: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/5-countries-with-highest-child-marriage/?template=next

JACKSON, S., & JONES, J. (1998). Thinking for ourselves: An introduction to feminist theorizing. In S. Jackson & J. Jones (Eds.), Contemporary feminist theories (pp. 1-11). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

KILBANE, T. (n.d). United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Available at: https://www.who.int/violenceprevention/about/participants/unicef/en/

LEAVY, P., & HARRIS, A. (2019). Contemporary feminist research from theory to practice. New York: The Guilford Press

LORBER, J. (1997). The variety of feminisms and their contributions to gender equality. Oldenburger Universitätsreden Nr. 97. Available at: http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/1269/1/ur97.pdf

MARKOVIC, V. (2019). Suicide squad: Boko Haram’s use of the female suicide bomber. Women & Criminal Justice, 29(4-5), 283-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2019.1629153

MUÑOZ, V. (2007). Foreword. A human rights-based approach to

education for all. New York/ Paris: United Nations Children’s Fund/ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

NBS (NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS). (2020). 2019 poverty and inequality in Nigeria: Executive summary. Available at: https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/1092

NIGERIA HOME GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-2020 (n.d). Available at: http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/nig169078.pdf

NOWELL, L. S., NORRIS, J. M., WHITE, D. E., & MOULES, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

NZARGA, F. D. (2016). Impediments to the domestication of Nigeria Child Rights Act by the states. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(9), 123-130.

OBAJE, H. I., OKENGWU, C. G., UWIMANA, A., SEBINEZA, H. K., & OKORIE, C. E. (2020). Ending child marriage in Nigeria: The maternal and child health country-wide policy. Journal of Science Policy & Governance, 17(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG170116

OBIEZU, T. (2021, March 22). Officials say more 3 million children are out of school in Nigeria. VOA News. Available at: https://www.voanews.com/africa/officials-say-more-3-million-children-are-out-school-nigeria#:~:text=ABUJA%20%2D%20Nigeria%27s%20Ministry%20of%20Education,3%20million%20from%20last%20year

OGUNNIYI, D. (2018). The challenge of domesticating children’s rights treaties in Nigeria and alternative legal avenues for protecting children. Journal of African Law, 62(3), 447–470. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021855318000232

OGUNNIYI, D. (2019, November 24). There are still huge gaps in Nigeria’s efforts to protect children. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/there-are-still-huge-gaps-in-nigerias-efforts-to-protect-children-127031

OKOLI, A. C., & AZOM, S. N. (2019). Boko Haram insurgency and gendered victimhood: women as corporal victims and objects of war. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 30(6-7), 1214–1232. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2019.1650473

OLATUNJI, H. (2020, October 14). 11 states yet to domesticate Child Rights Act — 17 years after passage. The Cable. Available at: https://www.thecable.ng/11-states-yet-to-domesticate-child-rights-act-17-years-after-passage

ORIOLA, T. B. (2016). “Unwilling Cocoons”: Boko Haram’s war against women. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40(2), 99–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2016.1177998

OSMOND, M. W., & THORNE, B. (2009). Feminist theories. In P. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 591–625). Boston, MA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85764-0_23

PREMIUM TIMES (2019, August 27). 39% of children in North-west, except Kaduna, are out of school – UNICEF. Available at: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/348897-39-of-children-in-north-west-except-kaduna-are-out-of-school-unicef.html

PREMIUM TIMES (2021, June 29). Nigeria has highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Sahara Africa – Minister. Available at: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/470545-nigeria-has-highest-number-of-out-of-school-children-in-sub-sahara-africa-minister.html

QIN, D. (2004). Toward a critical feminist perspective of culture

and self. Feminism & Psychology, 14(2), 297-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959-353504042183

RADTKE, H. L. (2017). Feminist theory in Feminism &Psychology [Part I]: Dealing with differences and negotiating the biological. Feminism & Psychology, 27(3), 357–377

UNICEF (2018, November 20). UNICEF calls for leaders to re-commit to child survival and development on International World Children’s Day. Press release. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/unicef-calls-leaders-re-commit-child-survival-and-development-international-world

UNICEF (n.d). Nigeria. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/2971/file/UNICEF%20in%20Nigeria%20Brochure.pdf

UNICEF. (2017). impact evaluation of UNICEF Nigeria girls' education project phase 3 (GEP3) cash transfer programme (CTP) in Niger and Sokoto states. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/1446/file/%20Nigeria-impact-evaluation-UNICEF-Nigeria-girls-education-project-phase-3.pdf.pdf

UVIN, P. (2007). From the right to development to the rights-based approach: how “human rights” entered development. Development in Practice, 17(4-5), 597–606. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469617

WALKER J. (2012). Early marriage in Africa: Trends, harmful effects and interventions. African Journal of Reproductive Health 16(2):231–40.

WORLD BANK (2021, March 8). Girls’ education. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

YAYA, S., ODUSINA, E. K., & BISHWAJIT, G. (2019). Prevalence of child marriage and its impact on fertility outcomes in 34 sub-Saharan African countries. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 19, 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-019-0219-1