UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank
\nfor Africa (UBA) Plc, on Wednesday joined the rest of the world to
\ncelebrate African children in this year\u2019s edition of the International
\nDay of the African Child.
\nJune 16 every year, has been set aside by the United Nations as the
\nInternational Day of the African Child to celebrate children in Africa
\nwhere it recognizes the courage of students who marched for their right
\nto better education in Soweto South Africa, and as an institution that
\ncares about the education and welfare of the African child, UBA through
\nits Foundation marks this all-important event annually.<\/p>\n
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown on educational
\ninstitutions, UBA Foundation was not able to visit schools and community
\ncenters as is its usual practice, however, the Foundation held
\nactivities online, where students of secondary schools were afforded the
\nopportunity to watch and listen to virtual mentoring and reading
\nsessions.<\/p>\n
During the virtual session, the Managing Director, UBA Foundation, Bola
\nAtta, spoke to the students on various issues, ranging from financial
\nliteracy and the importance of imbibing good reading culture to
\nnation-building. She also explained why UBA Foundation centers on three
\nkey pillars of Education, Empowerment, and Environment, adding that the
\nbank through its foundation, recognizes the huge role that education and
\nindeed a good reading culture has to play in the lives of the youth.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cThese days school children barely make out time to read and
\nare easily distracted by the presence of electronic social media such as
\nFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others; and to curb this declining
\nculture of reading across the continent, UBA Foundation came up with the
\n\u2018Read Africa\u2019 project, designed to resuscitate the reading culture
\namongst our youths across the African continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a pan-African institution, we believe that the future of Africa lies
\nin her youth and for this reason, UBA Foundation is actively involved in
\nfacilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on
\na pan-African scale, and is helping to rekindle the dwindling reading
\nand literacy culture amongst African youths as they pursue their
\neducation,\u201d Atta said.<\/p>\n