115 girls benefit from UK, UNICEF CCT in Niger

No fewer than 115 girls of school age have benefitted from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom (UK) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT).

The cash transfer is part of efforts to encourage parents in rural communities to enrol their female children in school.

Mass enrolment of girls into Sonfadako Primary School, Gbako Local Council of Niger State followed the development.

The monthly N5,000 intervention to each girl, implemented between 2015 and 2018, boosted the morale of parents to enrol their wards en masse, Head Teacher of Sonfadako Primary School, Mohammed Ndako, disclosed to a team of journalists assessing UNICEF intervention in the area.

Ndako noted that 115 girls benefited from the CCT, leading to high enrolment, completion and transition from primary to Junior Secondary School, as well as studying in tertiary institutions.

The Chairman, School Based Management Committee (SBMC) of the school, Usman Mangaie, also explained that the intervention had fine-tuned the educational fortunes of female children in the area.

UNICEF Desk Officer in Gbako, Mohammed Musa, had earlier applauded the SBMC, community leaders and parents for complementing UNICEF’s intervention programme in the area.