TheCable

About 20,800 almajiris have been validated and added to the social register in Katsina with the support of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Rabi Mohammed, head of operations, State Operation Coordination Unit (SOCU), disclosed this on Wednesday at the quarterly social protection Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting in Abuja.

Mohammed noted that the exercise was carried out in three local government areas.

She said no fewer than 5,882 almajiri children were registered in Kafur LGA, 8,318 in Mani LGA, while 6,106 were registered in Safana LGA.

She added that during the exercise, 131 almajiris were integrated from Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Bauchi, and Zamfara.

Mohammed noted that of the almajiri children integrated, 43.9 percent are males, while the females make up 56.3 percent.

“During the exercise, we have also captured almajiris living with special needs and also their sources of food, especially those that fed themselves, by their parents or by their teachers,” she said.

“Among them, those with junior secondary education certificates are 1,397, those with no qualifications are 12,362, those with primary certificate 6,311, and those with senior secondary education are 221.

“Age distribution of the children, 5-10 years of age are 8,208, 11-15 years, 10,309 vulnerable children, 16-20 years, 1,671, and those between the ages of 21-25 years are 103.

“During the exercise, we had sensitisation and mobilisation activities for the stakeholders, and also training of the enumerators.”

She said during the validation and integration, it was understood that most of the children do not want to stay on the streets, but had to because their parents insisted.