Humanitarian Affairs Minister To Attend Confab On Children And Vulnerable Groups

Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouk, Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development will lead a higher powered delegation of the Ministry to the National Consultative Conference on Protecting Children and Vulnerable Persons to present a keynote address.  The address will focus on strategic action plans for protecting children and vulnerable groups towards achieving UN Sustainable Goals on Children in Nigeria.

The Conference, scheduled to hold at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja, from 25th to 28th November 2019, is an important first step in developing a marshal plan of action for implementation and enforcement of child right laws in Nigeria.

The strategic importance of the consultative conference can properly understood against the background of  current realities that: over 20,000 cases of sexual and domestic violence against children are reported in Nigeria every year; over  10 million Nigerian children aged 5-14 years are out of school;  over 15,000 children are born and abandoned  without parental care each year; at 200,000 children are at the risk of death annually due to baby factory and child trafficking criminal activities; over 700,000 lunatics are currently roaming the streets of Nigeria.

The consultative conference is being attended by critical stakeholders involved in the protection of children and vulnerable groups in Nigeria including: Principal Officers of Women Affairs, Justice, Health and Education Ministries, Departments and Agencies; Chairmen, Principal Officers and members of  Federal and State Houses of Assembly on women affairs, health and education; Heads,, Deans and Chief Security Officers of tertiary Institutions; elected and appointed political office holders.

The Consultative Conference is being coordinated by Child Trust Action with the support and facilitation of: Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs; Federal Ministry of Women Affairs; Senate Committee on Women Affairs; House of Reps Committee on Women Affairs; National Human Rights Commission; and Social Investment Office of the Presidency.