The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, has signed an Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with the Nigerian Guild of Editors NGE, and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence DAME, on advancement of children’s rights advocacy in Nigeria.
The goal of the MoU is to explore the media’s capacity to foster and protect children’s rights across the nation.
According to a UN survey, 10% of boys and 1% of girls have experienced $3xual violence, and six out of ten children worldwide have encountered some sort of abuse.
With over 23 million girls and women who were married as minors, Nigeria is the country in Africa with the highest number of child brides, according to the research. It further states that due to the nation’s rapid population growth, the number of child brides would more than double by 2050 and increase by more than one million by 2030.
Another report by UNICEF said one in three children in Nigeria was out of school, totaling 10.2 million at the primary level, and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school level.
The MoU was therefore imperative to utilize the power of the media to address all identified and perceived bottlenecks affecting Child rights development in Nigeria.
UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Cristian Munduate described the MoU as key to securing the future of the Nigerian child and maintained that through the agreement, efforts would be intensified to safeguard children’s rights.
Similarly, a Trustee of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME), Lanre Idowu stated that securing the rights of children would bring immense benefits to all Nigerians.
For the President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, said it was becoming risky for any country including Nigeria to abandon children’s rights.
