Strengthening Adult Literacy Programs in Order to End Female Genital Mutilation to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Odenigbo Veronica Ngozi, Lorreta Chika Ukwuaba
Abstract:
This study focuses on how the strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria, specifically in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. The research delved into the definition of FGM, adult literacy programs, and how to achieve ending FGM in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030. It further discussed the practice of FGM in Nigeria and emphasized the statement of the problem. Main purpose of the study was to investigate how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs in 2030. A survey research design was used to conduct the study in Nsukka L.G.A. The population was composed of 26 facilitators and adult learners in five adult learning centres in the area. The entire population was used as a sample. Structured questionnaires were employed to elicit information from the respondents. The items on the questionnaire were face-validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was verified using Cronbach Alpha Reliability Technique. The research questions were analysed using means and standard deviation while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of degree of significance using a t-test statistics. The result of the findings shows that the practices of FGM can end through strengthening adult literacy programs. Strengthening adult literacy programs is a good channel to end or stop FGM through the knowledge and skill acquired from the learning centres. The theoretical importance of the study lies in the fact that it highlights the role of adult literacy programs in accelerating transformative strategies to combat harmful cultural practices such as FGM. It further supports the importance of education and knowledge in achieving SDGs by 2030. The study addressed the question of how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies which can end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs by 2030. In conclusion, the study revealed that adult literacy is a good tool to end FGM in Nigeria. The recommendation was that (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and individuals should support the funding and establishment of adult literacy centres in communities so as to reach all illiterate parents or individuals so that they can acquire the knowledge and skill needed to understand the negative effect of FGM in the life of a girl child.
Keywords: Adult literacy, female genital mutilation, learning centres, Sustainable Development Goals.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4References:
[1] UNICEF Data (2022). Protect the progress. 2022 progress report on the Every woman Every child Global Strategy. http://data.unicef.org/resource/protect-the-progress-every-woman-every-child-report.2022/ April12th 2023.
[2] Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) (2018. The DHS program final report in English. http://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-frssq-dhs-final-reports.com April, 2023
[3] Multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) and National immunization coverage (2021) survey finding report. http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/reports/2021-multiple-indicator-cluster-survey-national-immunization-coverage-survey-report April 11,23.
[4] WHO (2023) female genital mutilation. http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation. April 11, 2023.
[5] UNICEF (2013). Child well-being in Rich countries. A comparative overview. Report card 11. Innocent Research centre Florence.
[6] UNICEF (2022). UNICEF warns FGM on the rise among young Nigeria girls. Organization launches community led initiative to end harmful practices on international Day of zero Tolerance for FGM. http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/presss-releases/unicef-warnsfgm-rise-among-young-nigeria-girls. April 1th, 2023.
[7] New York State Education (NYS) (2023). Adult literacy Educational programs. https://www.access.nysed.gov/aepp/adult-liteacy-education-programs April 12th, 2023.
[8] U.S Department of Education (2021) Adult Education and Literacy. Office of career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE). http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/index.html April 12th 2023.