The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), Wednesday, urged the Zamfara state House of Assembly to pass a bill that would ensure quality education for the children in the state.
UNICEF also demanded that the House should pass a bill on anti begging in the state and to ensure thirty percent appointments of women in the education sector in the state.
This was a call by Dr Zakari Adam, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna at the opening of a two-day meeting with members of the Assembly.
“UNICEF supported Zamfara High Level Women Advocates (HiLWA), who together with former members of the State House of Assembly and a team from ministry of justice developed the bills,” he noted.
Adams stated that the bills were developed so as to ensure that children had access to quality basic education and for women to have enough opportunities of being appointed in decision making positions in the state education sector.
“We at the UNICEF are aware that the bills have reached a certain stage that they need to be passed into law but could not be passed due to the 2019 political activities, change of leadership and insecurity challenges that bedeviled the state,” he said.
He explained that the meeting was aimed at bringing the new leadership of the House of Assembly into perspective and to intensify more efforts to consider the draft bills.
“UNICEF would be grateful to see that the present State House of Assembly would give the two bills accelerated passage,” he pleaded.
The UNICEF boss, however, commended Zamfara government for giving adequate priority to education and encouraged the state governor to prioritize interventions being supported by UNICEF under Basic Education Programme for the educational advancement of the state.
In his own remark, an Education Specialist, UNICEF Abuja, Mrs Azuka Menkiti, explained that the objective of the meeting was to acquaint new lawmakers with the two bills and the progress so far made towards achieving them.
The Speaker of the House, Nasiru Magarya, expressed satisfaction over the struggle of HiLWA and UNICEF for organising the meeting for public enlightenment on the bills.
Magarya was represented by the Chief Whip, Zarahdeen Sada.
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