The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says up to 73.9 percent of children in Jigawa State are multi-dimensionally poor with the state ranking the highest in terms of poverty compared to other parts of the country.
UNICEF disclosed this in its 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 6) conducted across the 27 local government areas of the state.
Speaking at the launch of the report on Friday, the Chief of the UNICEF, Kano Field Office, Mr. Rahama Mohammed Farah, said the report was a source of concern as it shows the critical situation children are living presently and how they will continue to live in the future.
Farah added that the high rate shows a striking reality that children’s rights in the state are not being fulfilled.
“Most children in the state are deprived of their basic rights for survival, protection and development,” he said.
The reports said about 65 percent of the children in the northwest of Nigeria are multi-dimensionally poor compared to children in other parts of the country.
The report, however, revealed that the state has made significant progress in some indicators such as child immunization coverage, which led to the reduction of under-5 mortality by 37 percent.
Responding, the Commissioner of Finance and Economic Planning, Alhaji Babangida Umar, expressed concern over some of the outcome of the survey.
Umar, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Budget and Economic Planning Directorate in the ministry, Aminu Adamu, said Governor Muhammad Badaru is concerned over the development.
