The level of multi-dimensional poverty of children in Nigeria’s North-west region is higher than the national average, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in its latest multiple indicator cluster surveys (MICS) launched on Thursday in Jigawa State.
“About 65% of northwest children are multi-dimensionally poor. However, among (the) states (Kano, Katsina and Jigawa). Jigawa has the worst child deprivation rate, the Chief UNICEF Kano Office, Rahama Farah, announced.
The survey said 73.9% of children in Jigawa are multi-dimensionally poor.
“This high rate shows a striking reality that children’s rights in Jigawa state are not being fulfilled. Most children in Jigawa are deprived of their basic rights for survival, protection and development.
“The MICS results in 2021 for Jigawa state reveal that while the state has made significant progress in some indicators, the UNICEF said.
However, there are still indicators that either did not improve (such as the case of child birth registration) or are still below the national averages such as the under 5 mortality rate, Mr Farah stated
For example, Mrs Farah said in health, Jigawa has the highest under-5 mortality compared to the other two states of the Kano Field Office – with 70 points more than the national average.
Despite this high under-5 mortality, from 2011 to 2021, in 10 years, Jigawa has reduced its under-5 mortality by 37%. This is indeed substantial progress that needs to be continued and sustained, the official said.
“There is a continuous need for effective health and nutrition interventions to reduce under-five children’s deaths by carefully analyzing and addressing the underlying and contributing causes that precipitate them.
“In terms of immunization, MICS Data for 2021 indicate that Jigawa state has made significant improvement in Penta III coverage.
“In Education, 44% of children that are supposed to be in primary school are still out of school (in Jigawa state)
“In terms of learning achievement in schools: the MICS 2021 introduced a new foundational learning module that measures the level of foundational numeracy and literacy skills of children between the ages of 7 to 12.
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“MICS data shows that the learning achievement situation in Jigawa state is deeply worrying, we are seeing that less than 2% of the children assessed have demonstrated foundational reading and numeracy skills. This is an urgent call for immediate action.
“Today’s (Thursday) launching of the MICS in Jigawa is an urgent call for action, this an emergency call for policymakers, community leaders, civil society organizations, politicians, the state parliamentarians and international actors across all sectors to put the most need efforts and design innovative strategies to improve the current human development situation in Jigawa especially for improving the wellbeing of children and women who suffer the most.
“Today we have gathered in Jigawa to launch the findings and results of the multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS 6) for the Jigawa state.
“This mixed survey was carried out in 2021 and the results are released in August 2022.
“MICS is a survey carried out at the household level to provide statically sound and comparable data on key development indicators related to children, women and vulnerable groups in the society, the UNICEF announced.
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