Oyo state partners on alternative care for vulnerable children

The Oyo State Government, in partnership with SOS Children’s Village, a Non-Government Organisation, has inaugurated a 30-man committee that will provide alternative care for vulnerable children. The committee is made up of officials of the Oyo State ministries of Women Affairs and Education, local government representatives, associations of orphans and vulnerable children, the Nigerian Police Force, paramilitary agencies and religious bodies.

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The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs. Grace Oderinde, while inaugurating the committee in Ibadan on Tuesday, urged members to live up to expectations.

She listed challenges facing vulnerable persons to include inadequate nutrition, overcrowding and the lack of social amenities and described them as enormous.

The permanent secretary added that the state has about 100 vulnerable persons’ homes, alongside a number of illegal ones, and encouraged Nigerians to embrace adoption to de-congest such homes. She also commended the NGO for rising up to solve the problems of vulnerable children in Nigeria.

Oderinde reiterated the need to show love to vulnerable children and care for them in family settings for the overall good of society.

“We want to ensure that we put out the right policy that can give these children hope. During one of our monitoring on Monday, we went to a home where 42 children were sleeping in a room. In fact, I couldn’t sleep throughout the night because the place was not ventilated; some were sleeping on the bed, while the majority of the children were on a mat. We learnt that some have been in the home for up to 21 years,” she added.

The permanent secretary, however, explained that the committee was expected to use wisdom and expertise to think of alternative care for the children, which posterity would not forget.

The Deputy National Director of the SOS Children’s Villages in Nigeria, Mr. Ayodeji Adelopo, said the two-day training was to develop an alternative care guideline for vulnerable children.

He said: “This has become necessary as a result of the need to improve and put in place quality alternative care in the state to ensure that children who do not have the privilege of living with their families and being looked after elsewhere receive quality care. The committee is also to define the range of alternative care according to UN guidelines, as the principle of necessity and suitability are considered in placing children in alternative care. This means that only children that need alternative care should be placed in alternative care and everything should be done to keep children within their families. Then, if after assessment, the need for alternative care has been established, there should be a range of options,” Adelopo added.

Wumi/Punch