We’re committed to addressing out-of-school kids’ plight – FG

The federal government has reiterated its commitment to address the plight of out-of-school children and other vulnerable young people, using the platform of the At-Risk-Children Programme (ARC-P).

The special adviser to the president on social investments, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, said this while speaking at the closing ceremony of a three-week capacity building programme for 649 ARC-P youth facilitators in Kaduna.

Uwais, in a statement issued on Friday, said the 649 facilitators were drawn from the 23 local government areas of Kaduna state.

She said the programme was critical for a secured and sustainable future for the underserved children and vulnerable youth in Nigeria.

Uwais, who is the facilitator of ARC-P, a federal government’s initiative under the auspices of the Office of the Vice President, said that the just-concluded training was in line with ARC-P’s implementation strategy.

The implementation strategy, according to her, was designed to empower the youth facilitators with the necessary knowledge, skills and the wherewithal that they need to effectively engage, empower and nurture the primary beneficiaries of the scheme.

“Each of the youth facilitators would be assigned a minimum of 50 vulnerable children whom they are expected to groom and mentor using the knowledge gained during the capacity building programme.

“The facilitators are expected to conduct basic monitoring and evaluation of activities with the assigned wards and give periodic reports to the implementation team,” she said.

She added: “With the conclusion of the three-week exercise for Youth Facilitators, Kaduna has become the second state, after Gombe, to commence the implementation of the At-Risk Children Programme.

“The past couple of weeks saw the youth facilitators trained and equipped by resource persons from various Federal and State Government, as well as developmental partners.

“These include UNICEF, UNODC, UBEC, Legal Aid Council, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, National Eye Centre, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Office of the SDGs, Resource and Support Hub, and more.”

(NAN)