IDS to empower 480 Borno out-of-school girls

A non-governmental organisation involved in providing humanitarian services to communities affected by insurgency in Borno is to roll out educational programme that will assist 480 girls affected in the state enrol back to school.

The non-governmental organisation, Intercommunity Development Social Organisation (IDS), in partnership with the Street Child UK, will be implementing the project tagged Every Girl in School and Education in Emergency (EiE) intervention project, enabling 480 conflict-affected girls have access to protective and gender-friendly educational environment.

The project director of IDS in Nigeria, McShimana Jacobs Akem, in a press statement issued to journalists Monday in Maiduguri, said “The approach is to support individual girls whilst also working with communities and teachers to build safer, more inclusive learning spaces for girls in humanitarian emergency situations.” 

He said, “The pilot phase of the programme which commenced from November 2019 to March 2020, will involve the establishment of girls’ clubs, which will provide essential life skills and mentoring on topics such as safety, sexual and reproductive health and rights education and menstrual hygiene management awareness, including free distribution of reusable sanitary pads and social and emotional skills, which will empower 360 in-school girls and 120 out-of-school girls.

“The clubs will be established in both formal and non-formal, temporary learning centres (TLCs).  Girls with disabilities will be included in all activities in order to meet the educational and protective needs of the most vulnerable girls whilst also reducing stigmatisation through inclusion,” he stated.

According to Jacobs, “about 128 formal school teachers and school-based management committee (SBMC) members, 96 community volunteer teachers (CVTs) and community education committee (CEC) members, will be trained on girls’ rights, how to response to protection concerns, particularly on issue of sexual, gender-based violence (SGBV).

He said advocacy will also be carried out to sensitise communities on the importance of girl-child education during the project.

The intervention is funded by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria through the international programme; Global Britain Fund for Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Leave a Reply