The Malala Fund has encouraged the Kaduna government to strengthen re-entry plans that enable married girls and adolescent mothers to go back to school, so that they can come up with positively to society.

Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai, who arrived in Abuja to meet with the Board of Directors of the Malala Fund, aimed at advancing its priorities on girls’ education in Nigeria.

Nankwat Dakum, the Fund’s Communication Manager in Nigeria, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Nabila Aguele, the foundation’s CEO in Nigeria, said this during a visit to the Centre for Girls’ Education in Zaria. She emphasized that the visit followed the fund’s first-ever global board meeting held in Nigeria, and was targeted at dealing basically with grassroots partners.

Ms. Aguele went ahead to explained that the Malala Fund, which had been operating in Nigeria for many years, supports 29 local organisations, including the centre. According to her, Nigeria accounts for over 22 million girls married under the age of 18 , the highest number in West and Central Africa, with many already mothers.

She warned that the education gap had long-term effects for development, confirming that children of unschooled mothers were less likely to attend school on their own.

Aguele also said that the fund was working to increase gender-responsive budgeting in the education sector, emphasizing that policy-making must reflect the voices and realities of girls in their communities.

The CGE executive director, Habiba Mohammed, said the organisation had impacted more than 200,000 girls in Kaduna through its Safe Space Programme since 2016.

She explained that safe spaces provide girls with life skills, vocational training, reproductive health education, nutrition, climate change awareness, and guidance on gender-based violence.

The programme also supports married adolescent girls while working alongside their husbands, parents, religious leaders, and community stakeholders to ensure re-entry into school.

“We want every girl, including married adolescents, to have lifelong learning so that even after 12 years of schooling, they continue to grow,” she added.

During the visit, some girls who had benefited from the safe space commended CGE and the Malala Fund, stating that they were now self-reliant and self-aware.

Maimuna Muhammad, who is married, said associating with the space helped her recognize gender-based violence and how to handle it, adding that she now knows how to take care of herself and her baby.