UN Women's Exec Director Says Abduction Of Nigerian Schoolgirls UN-islamic, UN-African

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 (BERNAMA-NNN-SABC) -- The zExecutive Director of United Nations Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has described the abduction of almost 300 Nigerian schoolgirls by Islamist militant group Boko Haram as un-Islamic and un-African while welcoming global attention which has seen international assistance step up.

Mlambo-Ngcuka says the UN is involved in a system-wide approach in Nigeria which is reaching out, not only to the government of Nigeria, but also to youth, civil society and the private sector in the country, to stand up and express outrage at the continued captivity of the girls.

It has been one month since the girls were kidnapped fro their school hostel in Chibok in the northeastern Nigeria state of Borno without any significant breakthrough being reported.


Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former deputy president of South Africa, said Tuesday that Boko Haram should bring back the girls unharmed, which was what is paramount in everybody's minds. She said they had no right to claim that they were representing the interests of the Nigerian people when they snatched people under false pretences.

"They clearly know what they are doing is unacceptable, it is wrong and it is not good for the people."

She said UN Women, in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) and the European Union (EU), had established broad-ranging programmes aimed at supporting women as leaders and she suggested that, had women been in charge in Nigeria, things might have been different for the girls.

"I think that if women were there, they would have worked harder but this is not time for the blame game at this point. What we are emphasizing is that it's un-Islamic, it's un-African and there is no way that Boko Haram can claim that they are doing this to advance the African cause," she said.

"They are undermining education, rights of women and girls, something that the whole UN women fights for, that the Nigerian people want and fight for, that the parents want and fight for and we are behind the parents, we are behind the community and we are behind humanity. We should not allow such an organisation to thrive under our noses."

Mlambo-Ngcuka, who took up her role at the UN in August last year, also suggested a bigger role for African governments and welcomed initiatives at an upcoming summit to address the scourge of terrorism in the region.

The UN earlier cited a lack of intelligence and information on the whereabouts of the girls with hopes that security partners who had offered assistance would be able to help.

-- BERNAMA-NNN-SABC