The federal government has decried the 32 per cent rise in the rate of malnutrition in children under five across the country. This is just as the government declared that child labour remains rampant, with millions of children engaged in hazardous work across various sectors, thereby depriving them of a safe and secure childhood.
Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman- Ibrahim, stated this in United Kingdom at the launch of the community children’s fund event with the theme, “Advancing Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040: Protecting Street[1]Connected Children in West Afric.”
The minister said the statistics were not too different in other African countries, and highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive intervention towards the protection Nigeria’s children.
The minister further stated that this neglect was compounded by the erosion of family cohesion, economic pressures, forced migration, and cultural shifts that have strained familial bonds that once provided safety nets for children.
She said the launch of the fund provides a platform to address not only the vulnerabilities faced by children across Africa but also the immense potential they hold.
“Malnutrition is a major concern, contributing to 32 percent of deaths among children under five.
“They are exposed to hazardous living conditions and child labour in rural farms or urban marketplaces, and they continue to bear the brunt of societal inequities.
“These children are robbed of their childhoods, often forced to navigate a world that treats them as invisible, with their rights and potential left unrealised.”
She added that it was enshrined in Africa’s agenda for children in the year 2040, that all must commit and reignite the determination to build a future where every African child thrives and collectively declare that neglect, abuse, and systemic failures have no place in our societies.
