Ad image

SDGs: FG targets 500, 000 children in awareness raising initiative

Ezekiel Johnson
Ezekiel Johnson
SDGs: FG targets 500, 000 children in awareness raising initiative
Orelope-Adefulire on SDGs awareness raising initiative

Nigeria has kicked off a new awareness raising initiative with the National Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, Activation Week as world leaders declared the next 10 years as a decade of action for the global goals.

This is done through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire.

The world’s largest lesson initiative implemented in Nigeria by DEAN Initiative and other partners is designed to, through 2500 Youth Volunteers, teach well over 500,000 students in four days with specially designed #SDGs classes.

The formal activation of the World’s Largest Lessons across the country by the Federal Government of Nigeria is an initiative to teach over 500,000 children,

The activation is part of a global campaign to educate children and young people about the SDGs.

The initiative will give children both in and out of school the opportunity to take part in a special Nigeria edition of the World’s Largest Lesson, which will stand out as Nigeria’s largest awareness raising initiative for the Sustainable Development Goals and 500,000 children will imagine a new Nigeria and be invited to make it happen.

These lessons, taught by a team of 2500 youth volunteers, will unlock in children a vision for the Nigeria that they wish to live in by 2030, and a Nigeria that has achieved the Sustainable Development Goals.

Children will then be asked to consider what they can do to help make Nigeria a reality.

From October 14th to 17th the SDGs activation will take place in the 36 states plus FCT and in 556 local government areas spanning 1,056 communities and in 1,246 schools.

This initiative is one of the boldest and largest countries’ SDGs campaign globally and its aims to invite children to imagine the Nigeria they want and be part of building it.

The event will peak on Friday 18th October in Abuja with a group of representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisation and led by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs taking part in an event which children and young people will showcase what they can do for the SDGs and make a simple request to the Federal Ministry of Education to make it possible for all children in Nigeria to understand how they can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and build a sustainable Nigeria for everyone.

Organised into school clubs and known as Club 17 Africa, the project has been endorsed and supported by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs and the Federal Ministry of Education.

Children in schools or out of school community groups and Internally Displaced People camps will learn more about the goals and develop ideas for community projects.

The best of these will be awarded small cash grants to make their projects possible.

While the project has been stimulated and supported by the World’s Largest Lesson, it has been created in Nigeria by three young organisations – The DEAN Initiative, The Center for Development Support Initiatives and Teens Can Code.

All of these have a passion to bring education and skills of the 21st Century to children in Nigeria.

They are using special materials and resources for teachers including a poster created by Nigerian illustrator Henry Ezeokeke, a club curriculum created by Dr Mina Ogbanga, and a teacher training course developed as a Facebook Community group by Ayodele Odeogbola.

They have been supported in their efforts by Avanti Communications, UNICEF and UNESCO – all of whom work to support the Allisson Bellwood led World’s Largest Lesson reach children all across the world.

In response to the project’s launch, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs Nigeria described the initiative as part of the strategic efforts to drive the SDGs to all nooks and cranny of the country.

She expressed optimism that the commencement of the lesson activation would not only bring the SDGs into the classrooms, but into the communities and homes, to assist the young minds to identify problems and proffer local solutions.

Share this Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *