The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised serious concern over the state of child welfare in Kano, revealing that around four million children in the state are suffering from multidimensional poverty deprived of access to basic health services, nutrition, and education.
This was disclosed by Mr. Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah, the Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, during a media engagement on Child-Sensitive Budgeting and Planning held in the state capital.
Farah described the figures as alarming, noting that child poverty in Kano goes beyond income-based measurement, encompassing a lack of essential services critical to a child’s survival and development.
He cited that the under-five mortality rate in the state stands at 143 per 1,000 live births, amounting to the death of about 143,000 children annually before reaching their fifth birthday. “This should be a wake-up call for more robust child survival initiatives,” Farah warned.
The UNICEF official also disclosed that nearly 2.3 million children of school-going age remain out of the classroom in Kano, posing a major threat to the state’s future human capital base. He further noted that roughly 4.7 million children aged between 6 and 23 months are not getting the minimum acceptable diet, contributing to the stunting of over three million children under five.
“Kano is home to approximately 6.5 million children under the age of 18,” Farah said, describing their plight as a sobering reflection of the state’s developmental challenges and societal obligations.
He stressed that meaningful investments in children’s health, education, and welfare must be prioritized, describing such interventions not as acts of benevolence but as foundational to breaking cycles of poverty and fostering sustainable development.
Farah also criticized current gaps in the state’s budgeting process, noting what he called “invisibility and insufficiency gaps” in the allocation and tracking of resources intended for child-focused programs.
Responding to the concerns, the Deputy Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, assured attendees that the government remains committed to enhancing child welfare and educational development.
He called on government ministries and agencies to ensure proper monitoring and implementation of budgetary provisions, particularly those aimed at improving the well-being of children in the state.
