Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to issues of girl-child education and gender empowerment.
The Vice President said this on Wednesday when he received a delegation from the United Nations led by the UN Deputy Secretary-General (UNDSG) and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Mrs Amina Mohammed.
She was accompanied on the visit by the Co-Founder Malala Fund, Ms. Malala Yousafzai and other officials.
He assured the Malala Fund of the federal government’s partnership with the organization for the greater good of Nigeria.
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In separate remarks, Mrs Amina Mohammed and Ms. Malala Yousafzai, commended the federal government’s efforts in promoting goals 4 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), observing progress in the areas of gender equity and education of girls across the country.
While speaking with reporters after a closed-door meeting, Yousafzai who is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, said she was in Nigeria to celebrate her 26th birthday, adding that she had been going around the world meeting girls from different parts of the world and raising awareness about the issues that girls faced since her UN speech at the age of 16.
Malala said already she had visited schools and met education activists as well as girls in Abuja and Borno State, stressing that girls education was important as it would determine the future of Nigeria.
Amongst members of the delegation were the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale; the Executive Director, UN Office of Partnerships Ms. Annemarie Hou; the Special Assistant to the DSG, Ms. Hadiza Elayo; the Senior Advisor to the Resident Coordinator, Mr Frederic Eno, and Co-Founder Malala Fund, Mr Ziauddin Yousafzai.
