In commemoration of the 2018 day of the girl child, a non-governmental organisation, Aids Health Foundation (AHF), drummed support and engaged stakeholders in a bid to ensure that girls have right to education in safety and dignity.
The foundation spokesman, Steve Aborisade, said the event which took place in Cross River state was done in collaboration with the state govern- ment, and had in attendance relevant stakeholders in addition to 150 students drawn from all parts of the state.
Steve in a statement explained that the event also served as a platform to present prizes to finalists of an essay competition instituted by AHF in the state.
Young girls had been asked to send in an essay on “ Making Schools Safe Spaces for Girls” with focus on the roles each stakeholder is expected to play, he stated.
He added that the winners of the competition which was independently scored by panel of judges from the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF) won laptops and books.
The first prize went to Constance Mboto of Government Secondary School, Calabar, While Archibong Peace Etim of Government Secondary School, Henshaw and, Bassey Pereka of Model High School were joint second prize winners.
The foundation’s Country Pro- gramme Director, Dr. Echey Ijezie, said ‘‘AHF believes that through dia- logue with girls and other stakeholders about girls’ rights, we can learn about what works best to protect them and to create a supportive environment for their flourishing.’’ Dr.
Echey added that ‘‘Questions continued to be asked about how we keep schools safe for children given the security challenges.
How can we ensure that children have access to safe and effective learning spaces? How would we end school-related gender based violence? “The objective of the event is to be able to rally the voices of every stakeholder for our girls to have the right to education in safety and dignity
