The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, will lead a high-powered Federal Government delegation to Kano State on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child with the official launch of the National Strategy and Costed Action Plan for Ending Child Marriage.
The national mega commemoration, announced by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Abuja on Saturday, will also feature direct empowerment packages for beneficiaries and high-level stakeholder dialogues involving fathers, traditional rulers, faith-based leaders, male allies and adolescent girls.
The Ministry said the launch of the National Strategy in Kano will provide a clear operational and budgetary roadmap to guide federal, state and development partner interventions to end child marriage. 
Complementing the rollout, the Federal Government will distribute targeted empowerment and educational support packages to selected vulnerable girls and families to translate national policy into tangible relief, recognize supportive parents and encourage school retention.
The 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, observed globally on October 11 under the theme “End Child Marriage and Invest in Girls’ Rights,” underscores the shared responsibility to protect young girls, expand access to quality education and ensure every girl can reach her full potential.
The Ministry said central to the vision is the engagement of men and boys as champions of reform, by rallying fathers, male community gatekeepers and young men to stand as protective allies and shift cultural norms.
According to the Ministry, communities across the country are witnessing transformative power of positive fatherhood and male allyship, with more fathers keeping daughters in school, supporting their career ambitions and protecting them from early marriage, reflected in increased school retention, rising female literacy and growing presence of young women in higher education and national service.
It said building safe, supportive and resilient family structures is central to the progress, noting that under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Federal Government has reaffirmed commitment to social inclusion and family-centered development with the declaration of 2026 as the Year of Families and Social Development.
Commenting on the delegation, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said: “Ending child marriage requires a united front where men and boys stand shoulder-to-shoulder with women and girls. When fathers champion their daughters, when traditional and religious leaders use their voices to protect young girls, and when young boys are raised to respect and uplift their sisters, whole communities thrive. No girl should ever be denied her childhood, and together with our male allies across Nigeria, we are building a nation where every girl is safe, educated, and empowered.”
The Ministry said as the national mechanism for advancement of women, children, families and other vulnerable groups, it is executing the 9-Pillared Renewed Hope Social Impact Intervention 774, RH-SIIP 774, across every Local Government Area to ensure no girl child, child, family, person living with disabilities or vulnerable individual is left behind.
It disclosed that it has developed, reviewed and validated over 38 policy instruments, Standard Operating Procedures and frameworks, including the ongoing review of the Child Rights Act 2003 with the Federal Ministry of Justice, review of the National Child Policy of 2008 to incorporate emerging realities on adolescent girls, digital safety and social protection, adoption of the first National Strategy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene, review of the Second National Gender Policy and inclusion of women and girls with disabilities across interventions.
These are reinforced by the Girl Child Development Desk, the “See Something, Say Something, We Do Something” child protection campaign, the Future Now Initiative for STEM education and the Care Economy agenda to relieve young girls from excessive unpaid domestic burdens.
Complementing the frameworks is the Nigeria for Women Program Scale-Up, NFWP-SU, supported by a $500 million World Bank expansion, aimed at strengthening household financial security for mothers and fathers to enable parents prioritize long-term education over early marriage.
A highlight of the Kano event will be an interactive, intergenerational dialogue on positive masculinity and social norm change, bringing together traditional rulers, religious leaders and fathers alongside adolescent girls to showcase male role models championing girl-child education.
The Federal Government called on all state governments, traditional and faith institutions, community leaders, fathers and youth groups across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to embrace positive masculinity, protect the girl child and move from policy to action.
