By; ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna
Ahead of the draft budgetary allocation of various states in Northern Nigeria for 2025, stakeholders have emphasised the need to give attention to a more child-sensitive budgeting.
Arising from a one day strategic dialogue meeting between key government functionaries, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Legislators, the Media and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Social Budgeting for Child Sensitive Sectors for Kaduna & North Central States of Nigeria, the stakeholders expressed concern over the dwindling standard of wellbeing of Children.
In a communique chaired by the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, Nasarawa State, Munira Abdullahi, the group pledged commitment to push for the rights and needs of children and vulnerable populations in state budgets for 2025, through prioritizing issues that can build a more equitable and supportive environment for the future generations.
The dialogue which was organised by the Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission with support from UNICEF, had in attendance the six North Central States of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau plus Kaduna.
The meeting was aimed to advocate for increased financial allocations to programs that directly support the well-being, health, education, and protection of children, especially those facing socio-economic challenges.
They called for an effective collaboration and partnership between the executive, legislators, CSOs and the media across all states to build understanding of child-sensitive priorities.
They commended all the participating States for signing the Child Rights law, but however, requested them to ensure that clear provisions are made in the budget for child development, maintaining that the absence of child sensitive budget lines in the approved budgets are not good enough for the development of the child.
The stakeholders called on government at all levels conduct training sessions for budget and finance officials on child rights and child-friendly budgeting to better equip them for integration in fiscal policies.
They also emphasised the need to map CSOs in focal states, and build their capacity on budget tracking, reporting and social protection.
“Create a robust Child-sensitive monitoring and evaluation framework to track the impact of budget allocations on children’s lives, ensuring that funds reach their intended programs and recipients.” They added.
