By: Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
Jigawa State has been ranked as highest of multi-dimensionally poor children in the country with 73.9 per cent.
The UNICEF Kano Chief Field Officer, Mrs Rahama Rihiod Mohammed Farah, said during the launching of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 6) in Dutse, JIgawa State capital, that the figure is the outcome of 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 6) and released in August 2022.
The launching of MICS 6 Survey Report was conducted by the JIgawa State Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and UNICEF Kano Field Office held at the Manpower Development Institute. It was attended by critical stakeholders such as political leaders, civil servants, civil societies, community leaders, traditional and religious leaders and donor partners, among others.
Mrs Rahama Rihiod Mohammed Farah explained that the report is a source of concern as it shows the critical situation children are living in and that they are facing an uncertain future.
According to her, “the Survey was carried out in 2021 and the results are released in August 2022 shows that 73.9 per cent of children in Jigawa are multi-dimensionally poor,” adding that it indicated that 65 per cent children in Northeast Nigeria were multi-dimensionally poor.
“This high rate shows a striking reality that children’s rights in Jigawa State are not being fulfilled. Most children in the State are deprived of their basic rights for survival, protection and development,” Farah emphasis
According to her, though the survey results (MICS 6, 2021) reveal that the State has made significant progress in some indicators such as child Immunization coverage from 2011 to 2021, achieving reduction of under five mortality by 37 per cent, “this indeed a substantial progress that needs to be continued and sustained.
“However, there are still indicators that did not improve, such as the case of child birth registration, child nutrition. In education, 44 per cent of children that are supposed to be in Primary School are still out of school while learning foundation skill outcome is two per cent.
“Today’s launching of the MICS in Jigawa is an urgent call for action. This an emergency call for policy makers, community leaders, civil society organizations, politicians, the State parliamentarians and international actors across all sectors to put the most need efforts and design innovative strategies to improve the current human development situation in the State especially improving the well being of children and women who suffer the most,” Farah declared.