By Martin Paul and Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), in collaboration with Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Amnesty International, among other organisations, have expressed concern over the education of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees, persons with disabilities, returnees and stateless persons across the continent.

At the celebration of the 2020 ECOWAS Human Rights Day in Abuja yesterday, participants also frowned at the increasing number of out-of-school children, children with special needs and low budgetary allocation for the education sector, particularly in the country.

The concerned was further highlighted as President Muhammadu Buhari, avowed that no stone would be left unturned in the pursuit to bring to an end, the out-of-school syndrome, child marriage and education of the girl-child in the country.

The President noted that it was the collective duty of all to ensure that mothers of today and tomorrow were educated, encouraged and empowered.

Speaking when he commissioned the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja, the President said: “Our quest is to ensure that concerns of women, children, and other vulnerable citizens are given prominence and ultimately addressed.

“A key priority of our government is the development and implementation of social inclusion and economic sustenance policies. Our determination is to ensure that economic growth and prosperity are felt by as wide a circle as possible.

‘‘In particular, we are laying great emphasis on education of the girl– child. The high level of young girls who are out of school or unable to complete school due to socio-economic pressures is disturbing and must be addressed.

‘‘The launch of the National Strategy to End Child Marriage, 2016 – 2021 has been the first critical step towards increasing children’s access to quality all-round education and enhancing the retention of the girl-child in our schools,” the President said.

President Buhari enjoined the ministry to continue to champion and coordinate all matters relating to the plight of Nigerian women and the most vulnerable citizens, assuring Nigerian women of his continued support and determination to see that the Ministry delivers on this mandate.

 “I expect this Ministry to maintain its lead coordinating role on these, and other women’s related matters working with State Governments as well as our regional and international partners,” he said.

Earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, in her remarks, thanked the President for recognising the role of women in nation-building, and supporting the completion of the headquarters of the women ministry.

The minister appealed to the President to appoint more women to leadership positions in his government, assuring that her ministry will double efforts to improve girl-child education in the country while advancing the welfare of vulnerable persons and women.

The ECOWAS Human Rights Days is celebrated on January 16 each year and this year had the theme: “Rights to education for persons with disabilities, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Refugees, Returnees and Stateless Persons.”

Participants at the even not only discussed education for out-of-school children but also inclusion of children with special needs as well as increased budgetary allocation for the education sector.

The CDD director, represented by Jasper Ukachukwu, a Senior Program Officer, noted that vulnerable groups, like persons with disabilities, IDPs, refugees, returnees and stateless persons continue to face serious challenges in their enjoyment of rights to education.

He referred to a 2017 report on inclusive education by the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education that “though literacy among children with learning disabilities had increased globally, they remain severely excluded from educational policies and still lag far behind their peers”.

A UNICEF study showed that 27.2 per cent of primary school age in the North Central region of Nigeria, are out of school, while another worrisome statistics from the Universal Basic Education Commission shows that “13.2 million children of school age are said to be out of school, and 60 per cent of that number are girls, many of who enrol in school, but drop out along the line.”

Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, thus making ascertaining the percentage of those with learning disabilities difficult as a result of uncoordinated data.

Ukachukwu, therefore, urged the federal government to adopt an inclusive dimension of the right to education, “notably through the implementation of the 1960 UNESCO Convention and Recommendation against Discrimination in Education, which provide an international legal framework for the protection of the right to education without discrimination.”

Regarding IDPs, refugees, returnees, and stateless persons, he said they face significant challenges in exercising their right to education, from infrastructure, capacity and resource constraints to persistent insecurity, social tensions and discrimination.

“More specifically, education is all too often treated as a secondary need to be addressed once violence has subsided, but conflicts and the emergencies they cause may last for years or even decades, leaving many displaced children to grow up deprived of education and the protection and support schools provide.

“This impedes their socioeconomic development, fuelling displacement risk and the potential for future crises.”

In his contribution, Emmanuel Okorodudu of ECOWAS, called for more ‘inclusivity’ and accessibility and creation of ‘transformational’ schools to cater for the IDPs and PLWDs.

The Director, Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, spoke on a holistic care through psycho-social support on the IDPs and others, saying this was necessary to help them overcome the traumatic experience.

Earlier, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in West Africa and the Sahel, Ibn Chambas, reaffirmed the organisation’s cooperation with the ECOWAS for promoting human rights.

Chambas, who was represented by Senior Human Rights Officer, in ECOWAS, Malamine Tamba, said the event offered governments and civil society organisations opportunity to address emerging challenges on human rights in the sub-region.