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Vigils to mark 500 days since Chibok schoolgirls were abducted

Children in conflicts, Education in emergencies, Girls' education, Safe schools

Five hundred days ago today, the lives of more than 200 schoolgirls changed forever. The students at the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria, were abducted by gunmen from Boko Haram.

Many of them escaped during the chaos of the mass kidnapping. Others fled from their abductors in the days and weeks that followed. But 219 are still missing and presumed to be in the clutches of Boko Haram, who posted videos of them last year.

Today 国产视频 to mark the 500 days since the girls were taken 国产视频 some of their relatives held a candlelight vigil and join a march by young Chibok Ambassadors in the capital Abuja. It国产视频檚 part of a week of events including Muslim and Christian prayer services.

Sesugh Akuma from the #BringBackOurGirls campaign said: 国产视频淲e never envisaged that our girls would still not be rescued 500 days after their abduction. We are extremely saddened.国产视频 Manasse Allen, 45, an uncle of two of the missing girls, was at Unity Foundation in Abuja, where the march and vigil will be held. He said: 国产视频淚t really is a very painful experience. It国产视频檚 traumatic.国产视频

Faces of just some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Fourteen parents have died since the girls were abducted on April 14, 2014. New Nigerian President聽Muhammadu Buhari said at his inauguration in May: 国产视频淭his government will do all it can to rescue them alive.国产视频 He set the army a three-month task to crush Boko Haram and dozens of girls and women have been rescued from camps during operations in the northeast of the country.

The president met the United Nations Secretary-General in Abuja on August 24, where聽Ban Ki-moon said:聽国产视频淚 once again call in the strongest possible terms on those responsible to unconditionally release these girls and the many other abducted children.国产视频

Mr Ban also talked about the Sustainable Development Goals, which will be adopted at the UN General Assembly in September. He said the international community had to be 国产视频減eople-centred国产视频 to achieve the goals and that included having safe schools and empowering women and girls.

Within weeks of the Chibok kidnappings, the Safe Schools Initiative was launched in Nigeria with a $10 million contribution from the business sector by the Global Business Coalition for Education, matched by a $10 million contribution from the Nigerian government. 聽

Ban Ki-moon talks to students at Garki Junior Secondary School in Abuja Picture: UN

A World at School launched a campaign and more than $10 million was also mobilised by donors, including the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany and the African Development Bank through the UN children国产视频檚 agency UNICEF and a new UNDP Trust Fund for Safe Schools.聽

This has resulted in some notable successes for the Safe Schools Initiative. A pilot for the Students Transfer Programme took 800 students from each of the three states worst affected by insurgency 国产视频撀燗damawa, Borno and Yobe 国产视频 and put them in schools in safer parts of the country. Most adapted quickly and have excelled academically.

The聽Schools Remodelling/Reconstruction Programme has seen schools in the three states picked as pilots and assessed for upgraded infrastructure, physical protection, security plans and staff training. Approval was also given for the rebuilding of the聽Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok.

Double-shift schooling has been introduced for internally displaced children in four states 国产视频 Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Gombe. By May a total of 47,952 children had been reached. Teachers have received additional training and learning support and teaching materials have been distributed to double-shift schools.

Sarah Brown: real progress on Safe Schools Initiative in Nigeria

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