UNICEF welcomes revisit of children's bill

A decision by Nigeria's House of Representatives to revisit a Child Rights Bill it rejected last year was on Friday welcomed as a positive move by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"This decision is a tremendous boost for efforts to ensure that children in Nigeria grew up in an environment that protected their rights to survival, growth development and participation," Ezio Murzi, UNICEF representative in Nigeria said in an official statement.

President Olusegun Obasanjo presented the bill to the legislature last year in order to pass into law the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Nigeria in 1991.

In rejecting the bill on 30 October the representatives took particular exception to a provision setting 18 years as the minimum age for marriage. This, they said, was incompatible with religious and cultural traditions in various parts of the country, where women in particular were given out in marriage at a younger age.

Though supported by some Islamic groups, the action drew severe criticism from local and international humanitarian organisations, including UNICEF, which contributed inputs to the draft bill.

In agreeing to take another look at the bill the lower chamber of parliament said on Tuesday it planned to conduct a public hearing to enable it to determine what was best for the wellbeing of the Nigerian child.

UNICEF finds this agreeable. "We fully support this idea for dialogue and pledge to support the process to ensure that an understanding is reached that protects children and also respects religious and cultural norms," Murzi said.