A 15-year-old ceremonial Ambassador of Sweden to Nigeria, Miss Mercy Chrimon has urged the Federal Government to invest in girl child education especially, in the area of technical and digital literacy.
Chrimon made the call during a hybrid forum at the Swedish embassy when she assumed ceremonial duties as ambassador of the mission for a day at its office on Tuesday in Abuja.
Read also: BUK Hosts ECOWAS Parliamentarians, Seeks Collaboration Of African Universities
The forum was in commemoration for the upcoming Oct. 11 International Day of the Girl (IDG) 2021.
It could be recalled that the UN declared Oct. 11, as the International Day of the Girl in 2012 to highlight challenges faced by girls and having public conversation on how to address them.
The event was organised by Plan International Nigeria and the mission in partnership with the TecHer Foundation ahead of Oct. 11.
Read also: NDLEA declars Abba Kyari wanted over 25kg Cocaine deal
Chrimon, a primary six pupil of OakBridge Foundation, noted that investing in girl child education, especially digital literacy, would go a long way in improving writing, reading, listening, as well as speaking skills.
She said: “Through the internet we can learn, connect with other girls around the world, express our thoughts and talents, have fun and discover new things.”
She, however, stressed that girls needed the access, knowledge and skills to be online with confidence, to find information, create, and share content.
“False information makes us doubt ourselves and our worth. False information harms our mental health. It affects our trust in politics and the politicians. And above all, it inhibits our chances of achieving our ambition,” she said.
Read also: Insecurity: Nigeria needs devine intervention, says Buhari
Earlier, the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Micheal Grans, noted that digital literacy and access remained major challenges for girls and the gap between men and women in tech was too wide.
He added that it was important that women and girls had the same rights online and while issues like online bullying and harassment was not gender specific, however, girls had been seen to be more targeted than boys.
