By
Helen Griffiths
This week, a United
Nations expert committee will review Nigeria’s record concerning women and
girls. It will be an opportunity both to endorse Nigeria’s efforts to protect
its schoolgirls from abduction and attack, and to urge more action.
Boko Haram, a homegrown
Islamist armed group, has for years carried out a campaign of deliberate
attacks on girls, teachers, and schools.
“We were in the school
when Boko Haram came and started shooting,” killing one boy, 15-year-old
“Aisha” told Human Rights Watch in 2016. “They said they will come back if we
don’t stop going to school. So the school was closed, and the military came to
stay there. But Boko Haram still came back to burn the school.”
Besides such attacks,
Human Rights Watch also documented how both Boko Haram and government troops
have occupied schools, putting students’ safety and education at risk. The
presence of fighters in schools disproportionately affects girls, who are
especially exposed to dangers like sexual violence.
But in 2016, when the UN
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) asked the
Nigerian government about the presence of troops in schools, the government
questioned “the source and authenticity of this report.” That’s not good
enough. The committee should press the government delegation for a firm answer
on whether government forces have been using schools for military purposes.
Nigeria claims an
operational code exists preventing their armed forces from using schools. The
committee should ask for a copy of it. If such a prohibition exists, it should
be recognized as best practice – so long as the military complies with it.
Either way the committee should urge the government to protect schools from
military use.
Nigeria has taken actions
to protect girls that deserve praise. The government has improved security
around schools and universities, including through digging ditches around
schools; installing security lighting; using sandbags to deter intruders;
stationing security personnel at schools; and setting up roadblocks on access
roads. It’s also tried to find alternative ways to educate displaced children.
Nigeria was also among the first countries to endorse the Safe Schools
Declaration, an international political commitment to better protect students,
teachers, and schools during war.
All children have the
right to an education free from danger. This week, CEDAW can help make this
right a reality for Nigerian girls whose education is under attack.
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