Helpio allows victims in northern Nigeria to report cases anonymously and seek help, amid widespread fear of stigmatisation and soaring sexual assault figures.
On a morning last February, eight-year-old Aminatu Zana – whose real name has been concealed – was raped in her hometown of Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city. The alleged perpetrator was no stranger: a neighbour, who used his familiarity and a bar of chocolate to lure the child into his room, then threatened her if she spoke of his crime.
But bloody traces of his assault on Aminatu’s garments gave him away. Her widowed and impoverished mother, Salima, dreaded going to the police but was encouraged by her neighbours to press charges. That itself was uncommon, as due to fear of stigmatisation and lacking trust in legal pathways, many victims in this part of the country do not pursue justice.
Rivers state, Nigeria – On a morning last February, eight-year-old Aminatu Zana – whose real name has been concealed – was raped in her hometown of Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city. The alleged perpetrator was no stranger: a neighbour, who used his familiarity and a bar of chocolate to lure the child into his room, then threatened her if she spoke of his crime.
But bloody traces of his assault on Aminatu’s garments gave him away. Her widowed and impoverished mother, Salima, dreaded going to the police but was encouraged by her neighbours to press charges. That itself was uncommon, as due to fear of stigmatisation and lacking trust in legal pathways, many victims in this part of the country do not pursue justice.
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he National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, claiming Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, the latest figures from the NBS revealed on Monday. The NBS stated in its report on ‘Labour force Statistics: Unemployment and underemployment report- Abridged labour force survey under COVID-19 (Q4, 2020) that this translates to 23.19 million unemployed people.
Part of the report read, “During the reference period, the computed national unemployment rate rose from 27.1 per cent in Q2, 2020 to 33.3 per cent in Q4, 2020, while the underemployment rate decreased from 28.6 per cent to 22.8 per cent. “A combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1 per cent. “This means that 33.3 per cent of the labour force in Nigeria or 23,187,389 persons either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed by our def
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The spread of COVID-19 in many African countries has been more contained than some had expected in 2020. Experts have predicted that the economic fallout of the pandemic for Africans, however, will be different and direr than for the rest of the world.
The reason is that Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of the world’s populations living at or below the poverty line. A recent World Bank scenario estimates that COVID-19 could push up to 40 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty, seriously eroding the progress that African countries have made to reduce deprivation during the past two decades.
As of this writing, the spread of COVID-19 in many African countries has been more contained, and the death toll lower, than some had expected in 2020. The economic fallout of the pandemic for Africans, however, will be different and could be more dire than for the rest of the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of the world’s populations living at or below the poverty line. A recent World Bank scenario estimates that COVID-19 could push up to 40 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty, seriously eroding the progress that African countries have made to reduce deprivation during the past two decades.