Jigawa Govt Receives 400 Tents As Alternative Classes For Flood-Ravaged Communities
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has donated 400 tents to be used as alternative classes for primary and junior secondary school students in communities ravaged by floods.
The Syndicate reports that the schools currently hosts the thousands of people displaced by the floods.
The Chief of UNICEF Kano field Office, Mr Rahama Muhammad presented the items to the state Emergency Relief Management Agency (SEMS) at Nasarawa Primary and Junior secondary school in Gwaram local government area.
He said the intervention was to return the affected pupils and students back to school as the news school term enters fourth week.
“Today, I wish to announce additional support to the Ministry of Basic Education Jigawa through SEMA from UNICEF and UNHCR in form of 400 tents and 20 school in a box with a total estimated value of N45 million,” Rahama, represented by Mr Mr. Michael Banda, added.
He explained that the 2024 rainy season has resulted in massive flooding in Nigeria, the worst floods experienced in a decade.
The UNICEF official noted that the floods had led to the collapse and destruction of hundreds of public education and health facilities, water systems and sanitation facilities.
Rahama said that the flood had affected more than six million people, 70 per cent of them women and children across many states.
“UNICEF and UNHCR hope this support will go a long way to ensure classrooms occupied by IDPs are freed to allow continued learning. Learning will be resourceful and qualitative with the use of school in a box”.
“UNICEF is partnering with Jigawa media outfits – both radio and television – to ensure educational radio programmes begin to air immediately until December 2024 so that children can have access to alternative learning through radio,” he added.
According to him, families, teachers and authorities from the Ministry of Basic Education will work collaboratively to ensure minimal disruption to the learning processes in all schools occupied by IDPs.
“One core strategy across development and humanitarian settings of the current UNICEF-Government of Nigeria Country Programme of Cooperation, 2023-2027, is to align interventions within the humanitarian, development, and peace “triple nexus” agenda, including resilience-building measures, sustainable solutions and humanitarian prevention and exit strategies”.
Rahama added that, “Our programme pursues risk-informed humanitarian and development nexus programming, and strengthens the resilience of systems, households, and communities in line with UNICEF Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Transformative Agenda and Grand Bargain”.
The UNICEF Kano field Officer expressed the hope that the Jigawa SEMA would continue acting as the custodian of the new plan of action and demonstrate leadership in inter agency emergency response coordination.
Receiving the materials, the SEMA Executive Secretary, Dr Haruna Mairiga thanked UNICEF and UNHCR for the intervention, and pledged that the items would be set up to free the classrooms being occupied by IDPs so that students will return to school.
