The United Nations Children’s Fund has empowered about 95,556 adolescent girls and boys in Katsina State with financial literacy, safe spaces and vocational skills.

Education Specialist, UNICEF, Kano Field Office, Muntaka Muhammad-Mukhtar, disclosed this in his remarks in Katsina on Friday, during a community town hall meeting.

Mr Muhammad-Mukhtar said that the meeting was to assess and consolidate the gains of the Reaching and Empowering Adolescent Girls in North-West Nigeria (REACH) programme.

He stated that the REACH programme had been implemented across six Local Government Areas in the state in the past two years.

He stated that the local government areas include Katsina, Kafur, Kankara, Rimi, Baure and Mani, adding that it was aimed at boosting school enrolment, retention and completion.

The education specialist disclosed that the beneficiaries were empowered with skills, such as knitting, crochet, henna design, cap making, throw pillow creation and other life-changing skills to enable them to pursue their respective life careers.

Also speaking, the UNICEF Adolescent Development Specialist, Ngozi Izuora-Songu, said that out-of-school girls and those who survived Gender-Based Violence (GBV) were among those that benefited from the training and empowerment.

Ms Izuora-Songu noted that the skills were expected to provide the girls with a foundation for income generation.

She said, “The vocational skills acquired by the girls aligned with local market demands, making their products highly marketable within their communities and in urban centres.’’

She said that medical test kits were also donated to six health centres across three LGAs of the state to boost local healthcare capacity to support GBV survivors.

She added that about 150 traditional and religious leaders and law enforcement personnel, were sensitised to child protection and GBV at various training sessions across the state.

According to her, the engagement improved community responsiveness to GBV cases and strengthened local child protection structures.

She noted, “Health workers were trained in the proper use of these kits, which enable screenings for sexually transmitted infections and injuries and support timely medical interventions for survivors.”

Ms Izuora-Songu described the meeting conducted across the six benefitting local government areas as a viable platform to evaluate the barriers to the transitioning of adolescent girls from primary to secondary school.

The specialist noted that the meeting also served as inclusive platforms to discuss among key stakeholders, including adolescent girls, parents, principals, teachers, and education officials, allowing communities to reflect on the impact of REACH interventions.

The meeting was organised by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board.

(NAN)