Send girls back to school, African First Ladies tell northern parents

The African First Ladies Peace Mission has admonished parents in the North to send their daughters back to school despite the series of abductions of students in that part of the country.

The mission promised to employ advocacy towards encouraging parents to send their female wards and children to school.

Mairo Al-Makura, the Special Assistant to the AFLPM President, Aisha Buhari, stated this while speaking with journalists on Monday, during the commemoration of the International Women’s Day celebration with the theme. ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World’.

She said, “Not allowing them (female students) to come back to school would have negative impact on the quest to raise the level of education in the north.

“Although, the attack and kidnapping of the school girls in the north was discouraging but the fear of the parents not to allow their kids back to school will be counter-productive as the aim of the criminals would have been achieved.”

The wife of the former Nasarawa State governor pointed out that the tremendous progress on women’s right and leadership achieved over the last few years was been threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although, we have seen tremendous progress on women’s rights and leadership over the last few years, the pandemic is threatening to reverse the gains that have been made,” she added.

According to her, the pandemic has disproportionally impacted women in many areas, particularly in terms of gender-based violence.

Al-Makura noted, “While the world implemented lockdown measures introduced to curb the pandemic, there has been a spike in reported domestic violence and conflict-related violence against women and girls.

“To ensure that the COVID-19 response and recovery acknowledge their realities, women need to have a seat at the decision-making table.”