By Uzairu Dauda:
Governments at all levels have been urged to place children’s needs at the heart of national development by prioritizing child-focused budgetary allocations.
The call was made during a training session for U-Reporters on child-sensitive budgeting, held at Hazibal Suit Bauchi.
Delivering a paper titled Concept of Child-Focused Budgeting, the Social Policy Specialist at the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Yusuf Auta, emphasized that budgets are the most powerful tools available to governments to invest in children and reduce poverty and inequality.
He said, Budgeting for children is not just a financial decision; it is a moral and social responsibility, which ensures the delivery of essential services like quality education, healthcare, nutrition, safe drinking water, and social welfare to every child.
He explained that child-sensitive budgeting involves creating frameworks that ensure efficient and transparent allocation of resources to benefit children, saying this will minimize transaction costs, avoiding leakages, and ensuring that funds reach children promptly.
According to Dr. Auta, budgeting with children in mind requires strong political will; and the active participation of children or their representatives in the budget planning, monitoring, and implementation processes.
He further emphasized the need for budget transparency, calling for public access to budget documents to verify that allocations align with the needs and rights of children.
Dr Auta expressed concern over the widespread multidimensional poverty affecting Nigerian children, which continues to hinder the realization of basic child rights such as access to adequate nutrition, education, healthcare, security, and social protection.
In response, several U-Reporters who participated in the training pledged to advocate more actively for child-centered budgeting.
They committed to engaging in town hall meetings, tracking budget implementation, and raising awareness through their social media platforms to hold leaders accountable and promote a better future for Nigerian children.
