Girl-Child Day: Rights Activist Faults None Toilet Facilities In Nigeria Schools

…Says Investment On Girls’ Rights A Mere Tokenism

There is no better way to demonstrate schools’ investment in girls’ rights if it doesn’t provide girls with separate toilets that help give girls privacy, which further encourages them to attend and remain in school.

With this year’s theme on ‘Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being’; there is an urgent need to build toilet facilities in schools where there are no facilities, as a way to prove our commitment to investing in girls’ rights.

A school without functional toilet facilities not only violates fundamental human rights but discourages girls’ attendance in school, as they often drop out of school or miss class when they reach puberty because of embarrassment and the lack of private places to maintain their dignity.

These were words of the Human Rights Activist and Girl-Child Advocate Onakpoma Fidelis, in commemoration of October 11 International Girl Child Day, urging school operators and the government on the need to urgently address the lack of sanitation and toilet facilities which are basic investments that support girls’ dignity and promote hygiene environment for students, stressing that lack of access to water and toilets can seriously interfere with children’s education.

He said the school is a place to acquire formal education that will help girls’ children develop leadership and general competencies including decision-making skills, moral system of belief, and pro-social connectedness, meanwhile, operating a school without sanitation facilities threatens this opportunity, especially girls who are at higher risk of getting infections due to poor hygiene, and subsequently miss school during her menstruation.

He noted that when girls are menstruating, they need access to a water point and a place where they can dispose of their pads. Without this, girls may miss up to 5 days of school every month or worse, drop out of school completely.

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The toilet facility, first of all, sustains the hygiene environment, and helps staff and students, reducing suffering and shame among women and girls, who often leave school when there are no toilets available.

However, the concern, attention, and interest elicited among scholars, policymakers, or the larger society towards the lack of toilet facilities, particularly in public schools, and its violations of girls’ rights have not been given a significant response.

Therefore our government and education stakeholders must move beyond reaffirming commitments and invest boldly in the action needed to make girls’ rights count, such as the installation of toilet facilities in schools.