Girls can still fulfill their dreams through second chance education

Fatima during a class session. Photo: Neem Foundation

Across Nigeria, girls are experiencing various forms of gender-based violence, with many forced into child marriage. In the northern part of Nigeria, girls are married off between the ages of 15 and 18, resulting in a school dropout rate that is very high. A 2013/2014 UNESCO report revealed that Nigeria has more primary school children out of school than any other country in the world – 10.5 million children, representing 14 per cent of the 70 million children out of school globally. Over 60 per cent of this figure are girls who reside in the northern part of the country. These studies have identified early marriage as one of the causes of school dropout.

This is the story of Fatima Abubakar Sani,* a 22-year-old mother of two girls from Kofar Danmarke in Sokoto North and a survivor of early child marriage, who was consequently denied access to formal education. Fatima’s story is not unique, as this is the reality for thousands of girls in the North East region.

Fatima suffered physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence. She was also denied a social life as part of the Kunle (confined) system of marriage that exists in the northern part of Nigeria.

But through the efforts of the European Union/United Nations Spotlight Initiative project, Neem Foundation identified Fatima through the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Sokoto State and enrolled her into the Neem Foundation Second Chance Education Centre. She is currently benefitting from value-based education, second chance education (in basic literacy and numeracy), psychosocial support services (through group and individual counselling and expressive therapy), socioeconomic support and skill acquisition.

Through the Spotlight Initiative, she is now able to identify alphabets, read three-letter words, write her name and solve simple arithmetic problems. She has equally shown remarkable psychological healing, progressing from “severe” to “mild”. Fatima was also able to convince her husband to enrol their daughters in formal education, after having witnessed the impact of the project on her own life.

In her words: “I have been impacted significantly by my encounter with the joint EU-UN Spotlight Initiative project through Neem Foundation, and by the grace of God I will do my best to advocate for girls like me that were forced into early marriage to be given a second chance in education to fulfil their dreams. All hope is not lost. I want to appreciate joint EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and the tireless efforts of Neem Foundation staff in impacting our lives”.

*Not her real name

UN Women in Nigeria, through the joint European Union/United Nations Spotlight Initiative, engaged Fatima and thousands of other participants in northern Nigeria through partnership with a Second Chance Education partner, Neem Foundation. The Second Chance Education Programme provides access to women and girls who missed their first opportunity at education due to gender-based violence. Participants are provided with functional literacy skills, reintegration into formal education (where so desired), livelihood support, psychosocial support, business ethics support through the UN Women Kolibri portal, and access to markets through engagement with private sector partners in Nigeria.