By Harris Emanuel
Uyo—As part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of The Girl Child, a nongovernmental organization, Aniedi Etim Foundation, has donated well over 500 sanitary pads, among other items to school girls with special needs at Special Education Centre for Children with special Needs, Mbiabong Etoi-Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Ms Aniedi Asuquo Etim, an avid advocate for girls’ education in Nigeria, appealed to the government, corporate organizations and individuals to support girls’ education, as according to her, about 129 million girls between the ages of 6 and 17 globally were out of school.
She noted that the International Day of The Girl Child was not only a unique day where girls are celebrated, but also a day where issues and challenges faced by girls are brought to bear.
“The International Day of The Girl Child is marked to celebrate the uniqueness of every girl and their potential. It is also marked to call the attention of world leaders to the challenges faced by girls in their quest to achieve their goals for an assured future”, she said.
According to Etim, girls have the skills and the capacity to become change makers if given an education, highlighting that on the 2022 Day of The Girl Child, she was lending her voice to help keep girls in school.
In her words, “When girls stay in school and finish their secondary education which is basic education, amazing things happen for them, their families and communities. They enjoy better health because they are educated and know the right channel to seek for medical help when they are sick, instead of going to their backyard to mix concoction and drink.
“They can take care of themselves and their own children, earn better income and become active participants in community development. When a girl is educated, generations are liberated. And so on this 2022 Day of the Girl, I’m lending my voice to help keep Girls in school.
“Our support as individuals, corporate organizations, the government, etc to keep girls in school can help millions of adolescent girls around the globe to not only stay in school, but receive quality education.”
She, however, advised the school girls to ”stay motivated, study hard, and trust in God as there is no limit to what they can achieve in life”, even as She admonished all and sundry to remember Girls with special needs as they face even more challenges accessing education.
In her remarks, the Director and Principal of the special school, Mrs. Esther Emmanuel, thanked the Foundation’s Executive and her team for their act of goodwill and prayed God to sustain the Foundation for more impact in the society, calling on others to emulate her good gesture towards achieving gender equality in education.
Besides, she commended Governor Udom Emmanuel, for ensuring that the school children are fed as majority of them have been neglected by their families.
Present at the outreach were teachers of the school, who joined the children for a moment of special prayers for Etim and her Foundation.
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