Media Practitioners Advocate collaboration on Nigerian child protection 

The Nigerian media advocate  for collaboration with relevant stakeholders such as UNICEF to protect the Nigerian child through their reportage.

The President Nigeria guild of Editors, Eze Anaba made this known at a symposium organised by UNICEF Nigeria, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) as part of the celebrations of World Children’s Day, 2024

The symposium held in Lagos over the weekend had it as the theme: “Reinforcing the Role of Media in Mainstreaming Child Rights.” 

The event brought together media practitioners, government officials, the private sector, and child rights advocates in vital discussions on child welfare in Nigeria.

Mr. Eze Anaba, in his speech emphasised that stories of children, whose rights are being denied, whose dreams are deferred must be told.

“As editors, as journalists, we are confronted daily by existential issues. The media is not just a passive observer of society.

“It is an active participant in shaping societal norms and influencing policies and so, our role in mainstreaming child rights is as important as any other stakeholder.

“We must uncover and amplify the voices of the voiceless by highlighting the challenges students face, from lack of education to health inequities. We can mobilize public opinion and pressure policymakers to act,” Mr Anaba stated.

Similarly, the representative of  UNICEF, Cristian Munduate expressed the belief that stakeholders can do better for Nigerian children.

According to Munduate, every year 8,000,000 new babies are born and so in 5 years’ time, from now we will have 40,000,000 more children under 5. This is why we need to act now.

The representative UNICEF said 41 babies out of every 1,000 live births, unfortunately, do not survive based on different situations such as low weight when they are born, complications at birth, mothers, who are very weak and malnourished as well as teenage pregnancy.

“To save lives, UNICEF supports Nigeria in terms of immunization, but we still, have many challenges. 2,100,000 children in the country still have no dose of any vaccine, and these children are at high risk to get any preventable disease.

“All children are entitled and need to have the opportunity to live, to thrive, and to develop,” she maintained.

Munduate said that these opportunities can be achieved with the help of the relevant stakeholders and the media.

Other activists at the symposium were the discussion among panelists, who are professionals in their various fields on the protection of children and school safety amid increasing insecurity in Nigeria, tackling poor health and nutrition in children and the impact of climate change on the socio-cultural growth of children.