Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has equipped 95,556 adolescent girls and boys in six local government areas of Katsina State with financial literacy, safe spaces and vocational skills to boost school enrollment, retention and completion.

The adolescents, drawn from the six local governments of Katsina, Kafur, Kankara, Rimi, Baure and Mani, were empowered by UNICEF through its Reaching and Empowering Adolescent Girls in North-west-Nigeria (REACH) programme.

They were empowered with financial literacy and vocational skills such as knitting, crochet, henna design, cap making, throw pillow creation and other life-changing skills to enable them to pursue their respective life careers.

This was unveiled Friday at a town-hall meeting to assess and consolidate the gains of the REACH programme which has been implemented in the state for the past two years.

Organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the meeting was held at the defunct Katsina Teachers College, in Katsina metropolis.

Speaking at the event, the UNICEF Adolescent Development Specialist, Ngozi Izuora-Songu, said out-of-school girls and those who survived gender-based violence (GBV) are among those that benefitted from the training and empowerments.

“These skills provided the girls with a foundation for income generation. The vocational skills acquired by the girls align with local market demands, making their products highly marketable within their communities and in urban centres,” she said.

Izuora-Songu, however, said medical test kits were also donated to six health centres across three local government areas of the state to boost local healthcare capacity to support GBV survivors in the state.

She added that 150 traditional and religious leaders and law enforcement personnel were sensitized on child protection and gender-based violence at various training sessions across the state.

Izuora-Songu said: “This engagement improved community responsiveness to GBV cases and strengthened local child protection structures.

“Health workers were trained in the proper use of these kits, which enabled screenings for sexually transmitted infections and injuries, supporting timely medical interventions for survivors.”

She described the community town hall meeting conducted across the six benefitting local governments as a viable platform to evaluate the barriers to the transitioning of adolescent girls from primary to secondary school.

She noted that the meeting also served as inclusive platforms to dialogue among key stakeholders, including adolescent girls, parents, principals, teachers, and education officials—allowing communities to reflect on the impact of REACH interventions.

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