UNICEF Urges Govt, Others To Prioritise Sustainability Of Policies

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has emphasised the importance of integrating sustainability into the planning process of new policies and initiatives.

The organisation urged governments and other stakeholders to consider the long-term impacts of their decisions to ensure a more sustainable future for all. According to the body, sustainability should be at the forefront of policy-making processes. It is only through deliberate and strategic planning that true progress toward a more sustainable and equitable world can be achieved.

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Bauchi, Dr Tushar Rane, said these at a two-day Regional Stakeholders Engagement Meeting on out of-school children.

The meeting attended by commissioners of education and other officials from Bauchi, Gombe, and other states, aimed to devise strategies for reducing the number of out-of-school children and improving student retention, transition, and completion of secondary education Rane highlighted the severity of the situation, with 10.2 million primary school-age children and 8.1 million junior secondary school-age children currently out of school across Nigeria.

He emphasised the urgent need for collaborative efforts to reverse the trend, especially in the northern regions of the country. According to statistics from the Multiple Indicator Cluster (MIC) Survey 2021, dropout rates have risen across all genders and wealth quintiles, particularly in northern Nigeria. Dr Rane identified various obstacles hindering education, including inadequate policy planning, budget allocation, teacher shortages, poor infrastructure, and cultural norms.