Over two million girls, boys and caregivers need psycho-social support services due to severe distress, hardship and displacement in North-East Nigeria, Save the Children, an international NGO, has said.

Mr Ben Foot, the Country Director, Save the Children International, Nigeria, made this known on Wednesday in a child protection report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on its 100 years Centenary celebration in Abuja.

According to Foot, another 770,000 children and caregivers remain at risk of injury and loss of life from explosive remnants of war.

“Education is a key concern in the conflict of N/East Nigeria, the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) estimates that there were 2.2 million school-aged children and teachers in NE Nigeria who need immediate education in emergency support”.

“867 schools, primarily in Borno state, are still non-functional mainly due to inaccessibility as a result of insecurity.
The conflict has exposed children to different forms of violence making them vulnerable to abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation; violence continues to cause death, injury, forced displacement, abduction and conflict related psychological distress”.

“Throughout the child consultations it became clear that internally displaced children value and trust people who keep their secrets, provide them with emotional support and help them meet their basic needs. Many children particularly want someone to help them make decisions and go to for advice when needed; something which unfortunately they often do not have”.

Foot said that the child protection concerns for unaccompanied and separated children in Borno were vast and the government, UN agencies and local/international humanitarian aid organisations were working in extremely difficult circumstances to address these concerns.

He said that the report did not want to ignore the significant efforts that had been made to try and meet the needs of these vulnerable children, their communities and government actors.

“We will continue to fight for children every single day. We will do whatever it takes to make sure they survive, get protection when they’re in danger, and have the chance to learn. This is because every child should be able to make their mark on their world and help to build a better future for us all,” he said.

Foot therefore urged all actors to renew their commitment and join forces to create a conducive environment for children to learn, be protected and grow up healthy.

He said this could be a reality when proper policies and strategies were in place and were funded at national and sub-national levels.

He said that when families and communities start to treat boys and girls equally; and then other stakeholders, civil society, government and development partners were better coordinated and collaborated to accelerate change for children.

He commended the recent bold step forward taken by Nigerian government in ratifying the Safe School Declaration that would be instrumental to ensuring that the schools would be safe zones for children to peruse their studies.
Foot expressed hope that a national policy to guide the implementation of the Declaration would be in place soon.

He added that there was need for partnership between international and local CSOs to work better to monitor and maintain surveillance on child protection violations in the community and leverage their ability to advocate on behalf of local vulnerable groups.

Save the Children has been committed to three global initiatives to mark the centenary throughout the year: ending pneumonia, boosting early childhood education and protecting children in conflict.
On its 100 year anniversary, it unveiled three reports that provide a very close look at the situation of child rights in Nigeria and around the world.

The reports are Global Childhood Report 2019; Stop the War on Children: Protecting Children in 21st Century Conflict; and Families Torn Apart: Protecting and Caring for Children Separated from their Families by the Conflict in NE Nigeria. (NAN)