UNICEF urges more media space for children’s voices

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

The Bauchi Field Office (BFO) of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for more media space to enable the Children voice out their special needs.

According to Communication Working Partner with UNICEF, who is coordinating the implementation, Umar Muhammad Shira, Child participatory Radio and Television presentations would enable the children air their views in their own languages and perceptions for the world to understand and act.

He said, through the initiative, children are now allowed to anchor segments of programmes, live and recorded, covering key areas of their development concerns such as nutrition, health, security, education, rights protection among others.

Shira explained that as long as all the media stations have their functional children desks, UNICEF is keying into existing programmes by way of enhancing the capacity of Producers to bring in creativity in their works.

He pointed out that the move will ensure more visibility reportage on key issues affecting the children.

Umar Shira noted that when properly reported, those at the helm of affairs like, policy makers will be tasked to also have a paradigm shift in areas of funding children development and welfare issues.

He also said that global attention, especially in the implementation of SDGs is shifted towards collaborative efforts by all the stakeholders as a workable strategy in pushing for better outcomes on the outlined and targetted goals.

Shira reminded the Media of the role it has to play in the areas of information dissemination, sensitization of the society and mobilization for positive action.

The Coordinator, charged media stations to see the partnership as a call to duty to offer their platforms for the survival and development of children while on her part, UNICEF promises to come in from time to time with little support to keep the flag flying in the best interest of the children.

He added that with the new approach, media stations are expected to encourage the children to directly participate in the programming so as to be able to expand their cognitive thinking in line with present circumstances of global attention to their flight and to speak for themselves.

Shira said Children are now being allowed to anchor programmes on Radio and TV stations as a concrete steps of speaking on behalf of the entire children in Nigeria.