Women accountants restate commitment to protecting girls’ rights

National Chairperson, SWAN, Blessing Osakwe-Ogo

The Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to protecting girls’ rights by providing scholarships, mentorship, and professional training to help vulnerable girls overcome poverty and achieve financial independence.

The National Chairperson of SWAN, Blessing Osakwe-Ogo, recently stated this as the organisation observed the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, celebrated under the theme “End Child Marriage and Invest in Girls’ Rights”.

In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.

Osakwe-Ogo noted that SWAN addressed barriers to girls’ education and development by providing financial support, career guidance and opportunities to earn professional qualifications.

“We identify that it is difficult for some children, some girls, to go to school. So we give them scholarships,” she stated.

According to Osakwe-Ogo, the association also encouraged secondary school students to pursue accounting qualifications and provided career talks and mentorship to prepare them for professional life.

“Some of them, when they finish secondary school, while they are waiting for university education, they write our institute exam, what we call the accounting technicians,” she added.

She added that the qualification offered opportunities to work across African countries, while those who complete the remaining stages can become chartered accountants.

Osakwe-Ogo disclosed that SWAN also organised awareness programmes to educate girls about sexual harassment, child abuse and ways to seek help when confronted with such challenges.

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“We bring motivational speakers who talk to them, educate them on sexual harassment, give them the red lights, the signs on how to go against them,” she stated.

She added that the programmes were designed to build confidence among girls and encourage them to pursue their ambitions despite societal limitations.

The SWAN chairperson claimed that Nigeria had policies to safeguard their rights, but implementation remained a major challenge.

“The problem has been implementation, to back up those policies with action. That is yet to be seen or yet to be well seen,” she said.

She urged the government to take decisive action against perpetrators of child abuse, stressing that policies must be translated into concrete measures to protect children.

“The government should go beyond talking. They should put the policies into action to protect the girl child,” Osakwe-Ogo stated.

SWAN national leader also tasked the government with the review of cultural practices that expose girls to early marriage or deny them education, arguing that traditions should be adapted to changing realities.

“Culture can be amended. It is a law made by human beings. So it can also be adjusted with modernity to make sure that girls from certain regions are allowed to go to school,” she said.