A groundbreaking collaboration between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) promises to shine a spotlight on the rights and challenges facing Nigerian children was formalised in Abuja. DELE ANOFI takes a look at how the tripartite collaboration aims to lead to the betterment of Nigerian children’s lives
A new era of promise dawns upon the Nigerian child as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) unite to spotlight both the potential and challenges facing Nigeria’s youngest citizens. This groundbreaking alliance signals a pivotal moment in the nation’s journey towards safeguarding the rights and well-being of its children, calling upon policymakers to wield their political will in addressing these issues comprehensively.
Recognising the influential role of the media in disseminating crucial messages and driving societal change, UNICEF Nigeria has partnered with DAME, renowned for its commitment to recognising outstanding media content, to amplify advocacy and raise awareness on pressing child-related issues. This strategic collaboration underscores UNICEF’s dedication to leveraging the power of media platforms to advance children’s rights across the nation. In a landmark moment at the United Nations Building in the Federal capital, Abuja, on April 20, 2024, the triumvirate cemented their commitment through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This agreement serves as a cornerstone for bolstering children’s rights advocacy, harnessing the influential reach of the media to promote and protect the rights of children throughout Nigeria.
UNICEF Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, underscored the significance of this tripartite agreement, emphasising its profound implications for UNICEF, a global organisation steadfastly dedicated to championing the cause of children worldwide. By joining forces with esteemed media partners and stakeholders, UNICEF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to advancing the rights and well-being of every Nigerian child, ensuring they are empowered to thrive and flourish in a nurturing environment. As this collaborative journey unfolds, the collective efforts of UNICEF, NGE and DAME promise to ignite a transformative wave of change; placing children’s rights at the forefront of the national agenda.
Munduate said: “Children in Nigeria live daily, with different vulnerabilities, different risks, different problems and challenges. Some of them are common around the entire country. Some of them are diversified depending on the context and the area, the region of Nigeria. So this makes it more challenging for us to inform first of all to form all stakeholders meaning all adults in the country because all of us are responsible for the children.
“So, the memorandum of understanding that we are signing today goes beyond an agreement. It is a declaration of a unified vision of accountability to harness the powerful boys of the media for the betterment of children’s lives. So the role of the media cannot be overstated, because it informs and motivates the public. It also creates demand and needs perhaps most critically, it influences those in power to take decisions, to create not only policies because policies can be very wonderful documents, but it creates that push that it’s needed for all of these policies to be implemented. It creates the push so that the budgets are rightfully prioritized and allocated for children. So through this collaboration and partnership, we wish to amplify our advocacy and our awareness campaigns to ensure that the child’s story is heard that the children’s voices are heard and understood, that their rights are not only recognized but they’re also safeguarded.”
On why it is absolutely important to engage the media editors and DAME in this drive, Munduate said, “This is the first time that we’re signing such a partnership, a partnership with the giants, I would say, not only the media but the giants that are part of the sector of the society of Nigeria that can influence and can really drive a change, positive and better change for the realisation of children’s rights in the country. So the partnership promises a different narrative on children’s rights across the nation.”
According to her, issues concerning the Nigerian child should no longer be taken lightly. “In whatever activity we do, we have a responsibility for children. Whatever our role is, we have a responsibility for children. And, you know, mainly on those children who are more vulnerable and who are more and it was left behind in the country. And we must understand that when we speak about children’s rights the right to live, the right to thrive and the right to the insured. It guarantees them the social services that are needed to accomplish this and provides the opportunities for them to shine develop and grow. Our shared efforts will focus on advancing a narrative that supports and nurtures the youngest among us, providing them with the protection that is needed to thrive. We will develop training programmes, for example for journalists on key issues. For example, why this is important for polio eradication, how to engage in joint research endeavours and also how to celebrate the immediate contribution that drives the change and the positive change that is needed. This partnership will also spotlight the need for policies that benefit children’s welfare through insightful and impactful reports,” Munduate noted.
She also gave an insight into what UNICEF hopes to add to the partnership, saying, “The next two years will see us working with our partners to create media content that not only informs but also inspires to support education, health, nutrition, water sanitation, and of course protection of children against any form of violence including child marriage, female genital mutilation, and labour exploitation among others.”
At the agreement signing ceremony, Lanre Idowu, Trustee of DAME, expressed DAME’s excitement at the prospect of opening a new chapter, emphasising that the partnership to promote the welfare and well-being of the Nigerian child is not a recent development but dates back to 2005. “We have been working with them since 2005, that’s 19 years as partners in promoting media interest in the conditions of the child in the context of our setting, the Nigerian child. What is the nature of the relationship? They have been promoting two prizes at the Diamond Awards for Excellence for the media to show more interest in things that affect the Nigerian child, so, they have been our partners in that regard. So we’re not strangers to each other, we’re partners, we’re friends. In the same way, the guild of editors has been a professional partner.”
Idowu highlighted that DAME’s enthusiasm regarding the new MOU stems from the understanding that all three parties are committed to making deliberate and continuous efforts to spotlight issues concerning children. These concerted efforts aim to encourage policymakers to muster the necessary political will to achieve desired objectives. Additionally, part of the agenda includes media simplification of children’s issues to enhance comprehension by stakeholders. “So the three of us have worked together to promote two prizes, one for the Nigerian journalists, and the other for the media and Nigerian media organisation that pays serious attention and serious focus to issues concerning the child. So now we have come together to say yes, we have been partners in terms of promoting their words can we take the relationship a step higher? And that is why we feel that there are so many issues concerning the welfare of the child that can be better reported, that can be better understood, that can be better analysed and more regularly than they have been doing before now.
“With this, the media will call attention to the issues; they will try to engage policymakers to show more interest in those issues that affect the child. This is key because the child is vulnerable on account of age and if you don’t pay special attention to the child, you endangering the future of that child. So we want to assure the future of the child by ensuring that problems of today are tackled promptly,” the DAME Chief said.
Pointing out what the MoU entails, the DAME Trustee particularly identified UNICEF’s resourcefulness in the collaboration as new windows of opportunities are presented to the media practitioners. Putting it into context, Idowu said: “So, the collaboration will involve organising workshops, training, sharing information and listening to the media to give feedback also, so that when there is that much more dialogue, there will be a better understanding of what the issues so that we can have children who will face the future, knowing that the State where they live, believes in them, the State is committed to their welfare. And so who is the winner? It is the Nigerian child. At the end of the day, UNICEF will be sharing with us knowledge, resources, information, and partnering with us to expose us to the current development, and current thinking in these areas. With that, we can also give them feedback about our peculiar situations, why some policies not working. We should be able to, as editors and journalists, explain those things. As reporters, we tell stories and then when we tell our stories, we need sources, we need people, knowledgeable people; they will provide those resources that will be able to point us to where we can look. They will be able to share with us what they know and we’d be able to assess and evaluate and give them the feedback that is bound to strengthen their plans and programmes for the development of the Nigerian child. So it’s a partnership of everybody coming to the table with one thing or the other. What do we have? We have our skills and our skills will be to tell stories as best as you can. So it’s not left to us what we do with those resources, and since we have a focus, which is the Nigerian child, it is a win-win situation for the Nigerian children.”
On his part, Eze Anaba, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, underscored the urgent need to prioritise issues affecting Nigerian children. He lamented the prevalent focus on political and economic matters, often overshadowing critical child welfare issues. Anaba called for a shift in editorial focus, saying, “Currently we are talking about political issues, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and all sorts of conflict. Who are the victims of these conflicts? Of course, it is the Nigerian child. If you talk about terrorism in the North or South, who are the victims? It’s the children and other vulnerable groups. I think as editors, we have been too engaged, talking about politics without looking back, saying okay if an unprecedented number of children are out of school and malnourished, if polio is coming back, nobody’s talking about it.”
Anaba said the opportunity has presented itself for a change of the narrative in favour of the Nigerian child, “I think we all have a shared responsibility to look back and focus and say look, the future is here. What do I mean by that? If we do not take care and deal with these issues plaguing the child and other vulnerable people, we are endangering our future. So that’s why I’m excited by this MOU. It will give us, as a Guild, an opportunity to talk to our colleagues to look back, and that we should not all be carried away by politics alone but also give attention to issues that will help governance by talking more about the child, about diseases afflicting the child, about who are the victims of conflicts. It is our responsibility to talk about them to draw the attention of the government to these issues concerning the Nigerian child. That is why this MOU is quite exciting for me that for once let’s look at how to help the children and help our future, and that’s why I think this partnership will help our country in the long run,” he added.
In the words of Lanre Idowu, the DAME Trustee, the MOU is a win-win situation for the Nigerian child given the core value of the collaboration. Hopefully, each party involved will be able to proudly assert that the Nigerian child has received the most advantageous outcome from their contributions during the two years of the collaborative effort
