SAVE the Children, a leading child rights organisation has called for the actual implementation of the Child Rights Act (CRA) in Nigeria in commemoration of the 30th United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to mark the world children’s day.

At a digital literacy training for 30 girls from  Government Secondary School, Gwagalada, Abuja, Save the Children stressed the need for the implementation of the CRA in Nigeria, noting that Nigerian children are currently witnessing the erosion of their fundamental human rights by both state and non-state actors.

Ammanuel Mamo, Director of Advocacy and Campaign, Save the Children Nigeria said in his speech that the CRA should not just stop at being domesticated only by states.

“In Nigeria for example, there are so many states that have already domesticated the Child Rights Act, which is a very good and important step forward,” Mamo said.

However, it does not end right there. It has to be implemented. “Implementation starts with budgeting for it, clarifying the plan of actions and clarifying accountability towards that,”  he added.

Out of the 36 states and the FCT, 11 states are yet to domesticate the CRA. The states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Yobe, Sokoto, Borno, Zamfara, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, and Kano.

“We would like to take this opportunity to urge them to immediately domesticate the Act as a very important step forward for the realisation of the Child Rights Act, Mamo said about those states who are yet to domesticate the CRA.

Save the Children disclosed that there are about 1.7 billion children who are affected by violence every year. 5.9 million children are affected by preventable causes like pneumonia each year, while four girls under the age of 15 get married every minute in the world, amounting to 5,760 married under-aged girls in a day.

The organization, therefore, called on the government to define specific actions to take in ensuring that further progress is made towards realising the rights of every child with a focus on the most marginalised and that children should be included in a meaningful way of the decision-making process of the government.