21ST CENTURY SKILLS TRAINING 4 KIDS IN NIGERIA

On 17^th September, 2020, the  adolescent Girl Investment Plan(AGIP) in collaboration with the generation Equality +25 Youth Task Force organized two intergenerational dialogues between Action Coalition leaders ,girls and Youth. Olive Community Development Initiative (OCDI) took part in the intergenerational dialogues and 11 girls participated. It was an online meeting where the participants gathered at OCDI's office, Eiyenkorin, Ilorin to connect to the meeting at exactly 2pm Nigerian time.

The girls were glad to be able to see, hear and interact with the Action Coalition Leaders from different countries through the zoom application using a projector and a laptop. Peace, one of the girls who participated from OCDI, felt overwhelmed speaking to the Caucasians. She spoke about the root causes of child marriage in Nigeria and how poverty has become a major contributor to child marriage, where parents feel that giving out their girl child in marriage brings them financial freedom.

Six Action Coalition themes were discussed and OCDI was involved in Gender Based Violence (GBV) theme. It was discussed during the meeting the things to prioritize on Gender Based Violence and they were the needs to tackle the root and causes of child marriage.  Amidat, one of the girls that attended the meeting, was excited that her comment was captured in the comment box of the GBV chat room. She really stressed her concern on how child marriage has been a cultural norm in Nigeria and she urged the Action Coalition Leaders to organize communities, raise awareness and ensure more resources for justice measures.

Also, bodily integrity was mentioned. it was discussed that comprehensive sexuality education is of utmost importance in components of cultural changes. Comprehensive sexual education must have a gender and intercultural perspective that serves as fundamental strategy for the eradication of Violence.