UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank
for Africa (UBA) Plc, on Wednesday joined the rest of the world to
celebrate African children in this year’s edition of the International
Day of the African Child.
June 16 every year, has been set aside by the United Nations as the
International Day of the African Child to celebrate children in Africa
where it recognizes the courage of students who marched for their right
to better education in Soweto South Africa, and as an institution that
cares about the education and welfare of the African child, UBA through
its Foundation marks this all-important event annually.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown on educational
institutions, UBA Foundation was not able to visit schools and community
centers as is its usual practice, however, the Foundation held
activities online, where students of secondary schools were afforded the
opportunity to watch and listen to virtual mentoring and reading
sessions.
During the virtual session, the Managing Director, UBA Foundation, Bola
Atta, spoke to the students on various issues, ranging from financial
literacy and the importance of imbibing good reading culture to
nation-building. She also explained why UBA Foundation centers on three
key pillars of Education, Empowerment, and Environment, adding that the
bank through its foundation, recognizes the huge role that education and
indeed a good reading culture has to play in the lives of the youth.
She said, “These days school children barely make out time to read and
are easily distracted by the presence of electronic social media such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others; and to curb this declining
culture of reading across the continent, UBA Foundation came up with the
‘Read Africa’ project, designed to resuscitate the reading culture
amongst our youths across the African continent.
“As a pan-African institution, we believe that the future of Africa lies
in her youth and for this reason, UBA Foundation is actively involved in
facilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on
a pan-African scale, and is helping to rekindle the dwindling reading
and literacy culture amongst African youths as they pursue their
education,” Atta said.
While emphasizing the belief that a highly educated and well-informed
youth is critical to the future of Africa, Atta seized the opportunity
to read a few passages of the recommended novel to students and
encouraged them to visit the UBA Foundation website on
www.ubagroup.com/uba-foundatio
more at their leisure.
UBA through its Foundation believes that quality education is crucial in
developing the manpower needed by Africa to exploit emerging
opportunities and propel the continent to higher levels of development.
Last month, the bank also held its UBA Conversations, an annual event
commemorating the Africa Day, where world presidents and leaders
contributed to discussions aimed at propelling African growth
post-covid-19.
As a Pan African Institution, UBA is at the forefront of promoting
Africa and African values, especially in the areas of economic
development for the continent. Operating in 20 African countries and
globally in the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, the bank
has a strong record of supporting its communities, through challenging
times.