The Nigeria government said it has commenced the implementation of the programme to address the plight of children affected by armed conflict in Borno State.
Speaking on Tuesday during the official flag off of a three-week training programme for over nine hundred At-Risk-Children Programme ( ARC-P ) youth facilitators
in Maiduguri, Borno State, Mrs Uwais who is also the National lead of the Programme, domiciled in the office of the Vice President, said the initiative was geared towards addressing the cross-cutting concerns of children and vulnerable youth in Nigeria, using a multi-dimensional approach covering education, health, digital and vocational skills, entrepreneurship, agriculture as well as sports and life skills.
Mrs Uwais,who was represented by the Deputy Director, Budget and Planning, Mrs Grace Akpabio, said the core objective of the training programme for the youth facilitators was to prepare them for the task of providing mentorship and guidance for the primary beneficiaries of the programme.
According to her,the training is to enhance the Knowledge and understanding of the youth facilitators in basic subject matters and life skills to be able to coach ARC-P primary beneficiaries with a view to supporting them to be reintegrated back to the communities.
According to her, “This three week training in Borno is an opportunity to familiarise with the youths with ARC-p, provide basic tools on mentoring and guidance, recognise the different skills of the trainees and areas of comparative advantage, standard training syllables as well serve as feedback mechanism”
” Mrs Uwais further said the youth facilitators have a huge role to play in achieving the objectives of the Programme which is being implemented in a holistic manner involving State Governments, Federal MDAs, development partners and the private sector.
“ARC-P’s coordination Strategy at National level, includes training of educated Youth who reside in the communities, across many spheres of endeavor, to be assigned the responsibility of training, mentoring & monitoring the out-of-school children in their vicinity after securing parental consent. The whole essence is to provide community support of mentorship and guidance to the primary beneficiaries of the Programme, in addition to monitoring them closely, to provide feedback on their progress & challenges towards curbing learning deprivations & child poverty”, Mrs Uwais added.
Speaking at the event, Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum who was represented by the by the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo,
commended the Federal Government for Introducing the ARC-P initiative, saying the programme and other social investment schemes currently going on at the national level are in line with his administration’s 25- Year Development Plan.
He said Federal Government’s Interventions such as ARC-P, were helping to address the plight of children, youth and women in armed conflict, especially in the North East where Boko Haram and other terrorists groups have unleashed mayhem in the last 12 years.