The Northwest Governors Forum has held a meeting in Kano to confront the deepening problem of poverty and child welfare across the region. The gathering brought together representatives of the federal government, state representatives from Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi and Sokoto, as well as traditional rulers and development partners.
The dialogue was held against the backdrop of alarming poverty indicators in the Northwest. According to the figures presented, the region is home to about 45.9 million individuals living in multidimensional poverty, a scale that underlines the depth of the challenge facing the states involved.
The situation of children was a central concern at the forum. Data from UNICEF puts the number of out-of-school children in the region at more than 8 million, while speakers pointed to a wide discrepancy in children's access to basic services such as education and health across the country.
Participants framed the issue as one of social protection, describing it as central to the national development strategy. The discussions stressed that the state must work for both the powerful and the powerless, from the urban professional to the rural poor, and that children, women and other vulnerable groups must be at the heart of policy.
The Emir of Kano delivered the keynote address at the meeting. He urged the governors to match their commitments with measurable action, calling on the states to rely on data, to acknowledge what it reveals, to build on what is working, and to resist the temptation of inaction.
At the close of the dialogue, the meeting arrived at a set of strategic resolutions aimed at tackling multidimensional poverty and improving child welfare across the region. Among them was a concrete commitment to enroll at least 781,200 out-of-school children into formal education within the next six months, a target that will now test the forum's ability to turn pledges into results.