Vulnerable children
Oyo govt patners with NGO. The Oyo State Government, in collaboration with the Non-Governmental Organization SOS Children’s Village, inaugurated a 30-man committee to provide alternative care for vulnerable children.
The committee is comprised of representatives from the Oyo State Ministries of Women Affairs and Education, local government representatives, orphan and vulnerable child organisations, the Nigerian Police Force, paramilitary agencies, and religious bodies.
Mrs. Grace Oderinde, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Inclusion, challenged members to live up to expectations during the committee’s inauguration on Tuesday in Ibadan.
She noted the significant obstacles confronting vulnerable people as poor nourishment, overcrowding, and a lack of social facilities.
The permanent secretary stated that the state has approximately 100 vulnerable people’ homes, in addition to a number of unlawful ones, and urged Nigerians to embrace adoption in order to decongest such houses.
She praised the NGO for stepping up to address the needs of disadvantaged children in Nigeria.
Oderinde emphasized the importance of showing vulnerable children love and caring for them in family settings for the sake of society as a whole.
“We want to make sure that we have the right policy in place to give these children hope.” On Monday, during one of our monitorings, we went to a family where 42 children were sleeping in a room.
“In fact, I couldn’t sleep all night because the place wasn’t ventilated; some children were sleeping on the bed, while the majority of the children were sleeping on a mat.” “We discovered that some people had been in the home for up to 21 years,” she continued.
As a result, the permanent secretary said that the committee was supposed to apply its intelligence and expertise to come up with alternative care for the children that posterity would remember.
Mr. Ayodeji Adelopo, Deputy National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Nigeria, stated that the two-day training was designed to build an alternative care guideline for vulnerable children.
“This has become necessary as a result of the need to improve and implement quality alternative care in the state to ensure that children who do not have the privilege of living with their families and being cared for elsewhere receive quality care,” he explained.
“The committee will also define the range of alternative care options in accordance with UN guidelines, as the principles of necessity and suitability are taken into account when placing children in alternative care.”
“This means that only children who require alternative care should be placed in alternative care, and that every effort should be made to keep children with their families.” Then, if the need for alternate treatment is determined following assessment, there should be a variety of possibilities,” Adelopo stated.
Representatives of the Christian and Muslim communities in Oyo State, Pastor Leye Adefioye and Alhaji Sulaimon Abanise, both stressed the importance of alternative care for vulnerable children in separate interviews.
They said that traditional approaches had failed to address difficulties faced vulnerable youngsters.