REVISITING WORLD’S CHILDREN’S DAY 2018



Since 1954 that it was first observed, the Universal Children’s Day in November 20th every year has been dedicated to issues on child development. The 2018 edition of the Day was dedicated to promotion of children education, protection and fulfilment of their God-given potentials. The world decided to go blue in order to symbolically drive the message home in every country. Through the #GoBlue, the United Nations encouraged all and sundry to do three things:
i.                    Celebrate children by wearing blue clothing or accessories and share with the world on social media;
ii.                   Take part in the world’s largest lesson using the School Activity Packs (designed by UN); and
iii.                 Transform their website and social media platforms by turning them blue for the day (adapted from http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/)
Apart from the normal news from mainstream media on the significance of the Day, 2018 Universal Children’s Day went like every other without concrete actions from the stakeholders in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the message of this year was significant for child development in the country. It was a missed opportunity to strategise on getting every child of the 13.2 million out of school children (the Premium Times, 4th October, 2018) in the country back to school. It was a day when all the stakeholders would have brainstormed on what went wrong that 69% of the country’s out of school children are in the Northern Nigeria (the Premium Times, 11th October, 2018). However, every day still offers an ample opportunity for child development in Nigeria.
As part of our mandate at Concern Women International Development Initiative (CWIDI), we therefore, join the UN to state that education is part of the Nigeria’s child rights. We demand for a safe Nigeria where every child can grow and fulfil his/her potential. CWIDI demand a safe North (East) where the vulnerability of children (and women) to violence and death occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram is reduced to nothing. We call on the government and the security agencies to ensure that the war on terrorism is not only won on the pages of newspapers and social media but also that Boko Haram becomes a thing of the past in the country. This is imperative because until every child is in school, safe from harm and can fulfil his/her potential, the future of Nigeria might not be different from it is right now. If the country refuses to prioritise the development of the child, the child would find it difficult to prioritise the development of the country in the nearest future.     
  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Access to contraception and Adolescents’ Well-being

In many parts of the world, including Africa, adolescents are grappling with the physical and emotional transformations that usually accompany their change of status. Many of them are becoming sexually active at an earlier age more than ever before. Yet majority of adolescents lack proper access to information and services relating to their sexuality, especially with regard to contraception . Over the years sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents have continued to be ignored or treated with levity. This in turn has led to unmet needs of adolescents’ sexual health needs. It is estimated that every year 21 million girls aged 15 to 19 years and 2 million girls aged under 15 years become pregnant in developing regions (Daroch et al 2016, UNFPA 2015). It has further been found that about 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 years and 2.5 million girls under age 16 years give birth in developing regions (UNFPA 2015). Many of these births occur due to the fact that adolescents lack ...
Read more

JANUARY 2019 “STORIES OF ADVOCACY” ON ADVANCING THE SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN GWAGWALADA, FCT, NIGERIA

Image
    Staff of CWIDI with Female participants in the Focus Group Discussion @Pakio community   Bridget with Adolescent girls @  Momo Sabo communities during the FGD   Staff of CWIDI having FGD with members of Community Watch dog    Bridget with Mr James (persons with disability after the interview   Youth leaders participants @FGD  Paso Gwani community  CWIDI & partners educating women on FP and providing service  CWIDI & partners educating women on FP and providing service  In the month of January CWIDI continued to promote the sexual health and reproductive health and rights of young people in Gwagwalada Abuja through support from Women Deliver. Through WhatsApp and twitter messages CWIDI continued to educate young people on issues relating to SRHR such as family planning, gender equality, gender base violence, menstruation and hygiene, condom use, life skills and negotiation...
Read more

Gender-based Violence: Examples from the field

“I tried everything I could to fight him off, I tried to scream but only air escaped my lung” Lola, 19years (sexual violence) “I pushed, kicked, punched and scratched and that is when I felt a knife pierce my skin. I want completely limp” (domestic violence) “I thought my legs were fast because they never stopped running but I never thought he was right there with me from the start, waking up with me everyday and that day, I knew home is where I should run from, it is not safe either” (sexual violence) Carie 25 years says “It brings pain in my heart that I couldn’t run away from the isolation very early. It took away my identity and my dignity” (Emotional violence ) Introduction Gender-based violence (GBV) is a violation of the fundamental human rights; in which women and girls are more frequent victims than men and boys. It is a global problem which occurs in the home, at school, in the work place and other social settings. GBV includes rape, assault, wife-...
Read more