The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Marie-Pierre Poirier

  • UNICEF convenes global meeting on open defecation

     The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is meeting with key players in sanitation, among other stakeholders in West Africa,
    to strengthen local sanitation markets, its Supply Director, Etleva Kadilli, said on Wednesday in a statement in Abuja.

    Kadilli stated that the meeting was part of efforts to support 250 million people globally to abandon open defecation.

    According to her, the meeting, which is ongoing in Abuja, is aimed at enabling 60 million people to gain access to at least basic
    sanitation service by 2021.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting, which opened on Nov. 13, will end on Nov. 15.

    The director stated that “the UNICEF meeting with industry, financial institutions, governments and development partners is to
    discuss how to shape healthy sanitation markets in the West and Central Africa Region.

    “One of the key approaches in the UNICEF global strategy for water, sanitation and hygiene is to build sustainable markets
    for goods and services where supply meets demand.

    “There is need for governments and development partners to work with global and local businesses to ensure that appropriate
    solutions are available and affordable to those who need them.”

    Kadilli, who noted that 2.4 billion people worldwide do not use improved sanitation, stressed the need for consultation as
    important signals were urgently needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) sets targets.

    Read Also:69 percent out-of-school children in north – UNICEF

    She assured that UNICEF had been key custodian of SDG 6.2 and would work to achieve equitable access to sanitation and
    hygiene for all and to end open defecation by 2030.

    She added that “open defecation is a life-threatening practice as contact with human waste can lead to diseases such as
    cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio and diarrhea. Inadequate or non-existent sanitation causes tremendous harm.

    “Everyday, 700 children under five years die from diarrhea related diseases.”

    Ms Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, also noted that the level of open defecation in
    West and Central Africa accounted for 14 per cent of global open defecation.

    Poirier specifically noted that in Nigeria alone, 46.5 million people practice open defecation, making it the second highest
    ranked country worldwide.

    She added that “between 2008 and 2017, the creation of sanitation demand through ‘Community Approaches for Total Sanitation
    in West and Central Africa’ led to an increase of almost 25 million people living in open defecation-free communities.

    “Despite this recent success, the current rate of progress is insufficient to eliminate open defecation by 2030.

    “While UNICEF will continue to rely on proven strategies, new accelerators are needed to support local markets to deliver
    sustainable sanitation solutions at scale.

    “Following the rise in demand for toilets, we will work with countries to enhance the engagement of the private sector to provide
    adequate and affordable sanitation products and services, including in isolated, often underserved rural areas.”

    She says UNICEF has a long history of influencing markets and driving product innovation that has increased children’s
    access to essential commodities.

  • UNICEF radio education helps 1.3m children displaced by Boko Haram

    UNICEF radio education helps 1.3m children displaced by Boko Haram

    UNICEF has initiated a radio education programme in the Lake Chad basin as part of efforts to support the 1.3 million children displaced by the activities of Boko Haram.

    Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa said: “This crisis has unique challenges, so we are developing unique solutions.

    “With many hundreds of schools still closed, and children exposed to numerous risks, we developed a radio education regional prototype that will keep children in a positive education routine.

    “This is the first step, and the Governments have pro-actively engaged to make this available for children in this crisis.”

    The 144 episodes of educational programming on literacy and numeracy, life-saving and other child protection messages will be broadcast in French and three local languages, namely: Kanuri, Fulfulde and Hausa.

    The radio education programmes offer an alternative platform for the 200,000 children in crisis affected areas who are unable to access schools in the Far North of Cameroon and in the Diffa region of Niger.

    Education has been at the centre of the conflict since it began in 2009,  UNICEF said adding Boko Haram has sought to ban education and has targeted teachers and schools in attacks.

    The EU-supported Education in Emergencies initiative has equipped UNICEF to enhance a protective environment for children in schools and communities affected by the crisis.

    This has included expanding education programs to areas where schools remain closed either because they have been destroyed or because of fear of further attacks, UNICEF noted.

    The UN agency added that the radio programmes have the potential to reach children in areas that remain inaccessible for humanitarian assistance and other out-of-school children.

    With support from the EU, UNICEF and the Governments of Cameroon and Niger have developed a radio education program for children impacted by the conflict, UNICEF said.

    “The broadcasts are supported by community outreach efforts to ensure adults allow children to listen to existing radios and facilitate guided listening. UNICEF and the Governments are engaging radio listening groups in communities to help children get the most out of the broadcasts.

    Yvan Hildebrand, Head, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) in Cameroon, said “radio education helps us reach the children who are out of school as a result of the conflict.

    “We’ve worked with UNICEF to develop a high quality interim solution that will help hundreds of thousands children engage in an educational routine.

    “We are very proud of the positive role the EU is playing in this crisis and I am sure that all Europeans can see the value of this investment in children”.

    Beyond radio programming, Education in Emergencies will reach 159,000 children with a range of support including child protection services and risk informed learning programmes adapted for the needs of children living in crisis affected areas in Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

    “This radio platform has potential for even larger numbers of out-of-school children in Niger, Cameroon and in the region.

    “Being on air with a program ‘validated’ by the Government is the first important step for the continuation of learning in emergencies and the protection of children who are not in school.

    “In the very near future, we hope that children who learn by radio will also receive a certification and pass the school year,” Poirier said.

    In spite of the achievements of this project, the needs of children in the Lake Chad basin remain dire while ongoing conflict and security concerns have hampered the humanitarian response.

    UNICEF has called for 38.5 million dollars to meet the education needs of children in the crisis and this appeal has received 19.6 million dollars, just 50 per cent of the amount required.

  • Boko Haram: EU, UNICEF to train teachers on emergency preparedness

    To protect learning environment in the country, the European Union (EU) and the United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) have concluded arrangement to train teachers on how to identify risk and the steps to take.

    Since the start of insurgency in the North East in 2009, Boko Haram has killed more than 611 teachers and about 19,000 educators have fled from the violence.

    The Conflict and Disaster Risk Reduction campaign in schools is part of a specially designed intervention funded by the EU.

    The 18 -month project not only supports children affected by the Boko Haram violence by helping them access education and protection services, it also develops detailed plans with communities so schools can offer safer learning environments.

    The programme is expected to address the complex nature of the crisis across Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

    Reducing the vulnerability of school systems in this emergency is a key part of the multi -sectoral response that draws on expertise from education and child protection specialists. In conflict situations, the education sector is vulnerable to violence and insecurity, so it is a particularly relevant area for Conflict and Disaster Risk Reduction.

    One important aspect of the initiative is to train teachers to identify risks and to develop emergency preparedness and response plans together with the community child protection focal points to reduce the danger for children in an area where bomb explosions, armed attacks and abduction remain a constant threat.

    According to UNICEF, the programme is a multi -country effort to protect children and teachers from the effects of conflict.

    “With 1.3 million children displaced in this crisis, it is imperative to support schools so parents can get their children back in the classroom,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

    “Ensuring access to education for crisis affected children is important, however opening schools is not enough. Children and teachers need to be equipped with knowledge and skills, to be prepared and able to mitigate the effects of something dangerous happening around the school premises.”

     

  • Number of children used for suicide attacks on the rise – UNICEF

    Number of children used for suicide attacks on the rise – UNICEF

    A new report by the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has shown an increase in the number of children used for suicide attacks by Boko Haram sect.

    According to the report, the number has increased to 27 in the first quarter of 2017, compared to nine over the same period last year.

    So far, 117 children have been used to carry out bomb attacks in public places across Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon since 2014.

    According to the statistics, four children were used in 2014, 56 in 2015, 30 in 2016 and 27 only in the first three months of 2017.

    The report also noted that girls have been used in many of these attacks.

    “In the first three months of this year, the number of children used in bomb attacks is nearly the same as the whole of last year – this is the worst possible use of children in conflict,” Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said.

    The increase reflects an alarming tactic by the insurgents, according to the report Silent Shame: “Bringing out the voices of children caught in the Lake Chad crisis.”

    As a consequence, girls, boys and even infants have been viewed with increasing fear at markets and checkpoints, where they are thought to carry explosives.

    “These children are victims, not perpetrators,” says Poirier. “Forcing or deceiving them into committing such horrific acts is reprehensible.”

    The report which was released three years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, provided troubling accounts by children who were held in captivity at the hands of Boko Haram, and showed how these children are met with deep suspicion when they return to their communities.

    In interviews, many children who have been associated with Boko Haram, said they keep their experience secret because they fear the stigmatization and even violent reprisals from their community.

    Some are compelled to bear their horrors in silence as they removed themselves from other groups for fear they might be outed and stigmatized.

    The report also highlighted the challenges that local authorities face with children who have been intercepted at checkpoints and taken into administrative custody for questioning and screening, raising concerns about the prolonged periods of custody.

    In 2016, almost 1,500 children were under administrative custody in the four countries.