Governors of the seven North-West states have resolved to re-enrol at least 781,200 out-of-school children in formal schools within the next six months as part of a coordinated regional strategy to tackle multidimensional poverty and improve child welfare across the zone.
The decision was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day North-West High-Level Policy Dialogue on Reducing Multidimensional Poverty through Scaled Social Protection Systems and Innovative Financing held at the Government House, Kano.
The communiqué, signed by the director-general of the North-West Governors’ Forum Secretariat on behalf of the forum, outlined ambitious targets in education, healthcare, nutrition and social protection to be implemented between July and December 2026.
The forum, comprising governors of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states, adopted the Renewed Hope Child Support Programme as a regional framework for addressing child poverty and improving human capital development outcomes.
According to the communiqué, the governors committed themselves to supporting the retention of at least 1.3 million school-age children through attendance and retention interventions, while another 781,200 children will be enrolled and supported through Early Childhood Care Development and Education programmes.
The governors also pledged to strengthen girls’ education and transition programmes and promote the integration of Western education into the Almajiri education system.
The forum expressed concern over the region’s multidimensional poverty rate of 75.8 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent, noting that about 45.9 million people in the North-West suffer multiple forms of deprivation.
It observed that children bear the greatest burden through limited access to education, healthcare, nutrition and social protection services.
To improve child health outcomes, the governors resolved to enrol at least 1.17 million vulnerable children in non-contributory health insurance schemes and ensure the full immunisation of 781,200 children under the age of five.
They also pledged to strengthen access to antenatal, postnatal and child healthcare services, particularly in underserved communities.
On nutrition, the forum committed to providing support services to at least 781,200 malnourished children and reaching an equal number of mothers and caregivers with Infant and Young Child Feeding awareness and behaviour-change programmes.
The governors further resolved to harmonise and strengthen social registers across the seven states, validate and enrol vulnerable households in the Renewed Hope Child Support Programme and integrate beneficiary databases with education, health and nutrition information systems.
As part of efforts to ensure sustainability, the governors agreed to establish dedicated child support and social protection budget lines in their respective states and progressively allocate no less than two per cent of annual state budgets to child-focused social protection interventions.
The communiqué also highlighted plans to mobilise additional resources through development partners, philanthropic organisations, private sector partnerships and development finance institutions, while exploring Islamic social finance instruments such as Zakat and Waqf to support child development programmes.
To drive implementation, the forum approved the establishment of a North-West Child Development and Social Protection Coordination Mechanism under the North-West Governors’ Forum Secretariat.
The body will coordinate implementation across states, monitor progress against agreed targets, facilitate peer learning and publish periodic governors’ scorecards on child development indicators.
The governors called on the Federal Government, development partners, civil society organisations, humanitarian agencies, religious and traditional institutions, and the private sector to support the implementation of the programme.
They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that no child is left behind and pledged to translate the outcomes of the dialogue into measurable actions capable of improving the lives of millions of vulnerable children and households across the region.
