Nasarawa State is one of the seven states that make up the North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It has interstate boundaries with Kaduna State to the north, the FCT to the west, Kogi and Benue states to the south and Taraba and Plateau states to the east. Its capital is Lafia. Its Main Cities and Towns are Lafia (capital city), Akwanga, Doma, Karu, Keffi, Nasarawa, Nasarawa-Egon and Wamba. Nasarawa State covers an area of 28,735 sq kilometres. It has a population of 1,869,377 (2006 census figures) with a population density of 65 people/sq km. Its population makes up 1.3% of Nigeria’s total population. The main ethnic groups in Nasarawa State are Aguta, Alago, Basa, Ebira, Eggon, Gbagyi, Gwandara, Kanuri and Tiv. There are 29 languages spoken in the state, the major ones being: Agatu, Basa, Eggon, Gbagyi, Gade, Goemai, Gwandara, Ham, Kofyar, and Lijili.
The dominant religions in Nasarawa State are Islam and Christianity although a certain amount of traditional religion is still practiced. According to the 2006 population censors, Nasarawa State has a total population of 1,869,377( Male 943,801 and Female 925,576) out of which 953,382 are children (0-17years) (FMWA&SD, 2008). With OVC prevalence of 21%, the OVC population for the state is 302,222 (FMWA&SD, 2008). From 226 households surveyed in 2007, the OVC situation shows that 831 children lived in households (% male = 53, % female = 47%) with an average of 3.7 children per household, 32% of children are orphans while 82% of children were attending school (CRS, 2007). The Socioeconomic status of households surveyed shows that majority of households lack access to safe drinking water and so prefer to buy drinking water from vendors, poor toilet facility and waste disposal, and majority of households use firewood as main source of energy. It was also indicative from the study that children face array of issues around child protection, access to food and good nutrition, poor hygiene and high dropout or not attending school. (CRS, 2007).