By Bashir Hassan
No doubt, a sharp rise in Nigeria’s inflation to 34.6% further worsened the living conditions of millions of households. This resulting in food poverty, malnutrition, stunting, wasting among children who are more vulnerable to economic decisions of the country.
Data show that over 16 millions of school age children were out-of-school with families struggling to feed. From disturbing education indices to health, development partners were seen providing aid and technical support to governments and non-governmental organisations to save millions of women and children.
One of the international development organisations is the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria which has been actively working to improve the lives of children and families in the country. All their support, activities or interventions are geared towards making the life of the child meaningful, helping to create the enabling environment for children to grow to their full potential in life.
It has always advocated for child care from conception where the child could get proper care to journey through life. These levels of care can be seen in how pregnant women are encouraged to go for antenatal care (ANC), delivery in health facilities, postnatal care, nutrition intake, exclusive breastfeeding, family planning and other forms of healthcare services. After delivery, child development becomes another major area of focus of UNICEF.
UNICEF Nigeria focuses on supporting the Government at national and subnational levels in ensuring every child has access to good nutrition, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, education, and protection from violence and exploitation.
Without doubt, the Bauchi Field Office (BFO) of UNICEF has gone extra miles sustaining a cohort of trained journalists amplifying issues around child health and development, hand in hand with that of mother's health and general wellbeing.
In most of their 2024 activities, this cohort of journalists were carried along by UNICEF BFO. Some of the objectives of such engagements were to keep journalists abreast with issues that concern children wellbeing with a view to using their various channels in amplifying such issues. These amplifications had galvanised government at all levels and other partners into taking actions, aimed at addressing some of the concerns.
It is imperative to note that BFO's collaboration with the media is in line with UNICEF Nigeria's move to leverage on the impact of the media in creating awareness and social behaviour change in their focused areas of support to Nigerian Government.
This was attested by UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Cristian Munduate in April 2024, when UNICEF, Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) signed an Memorandum of Understanding. That MoU was a significant move to advance the rights and welfare of children in Nigeria. The partnership was aimed at leveraging the media's influential power to promote and protect children’s rights across the nation.
During the occasion, Munduate was quoted as saying, “This partnership with the Nigerian Guild of Editors and DAME harnesses the media's immense potential as an advocate for the welfare of children. The media not only informs public opinion but also influences those in power to enact changes that favour children’s rights. By joining forces, we are setting a course to transform how children’s rights are reported and addressed in the media, ensuring every child’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled.”
Some of the activities of UNICEF BFO were empowering young people to take the lead in advocating for children's rights. They provided space for young minds to share ideas, voice concerns, and express their dreams for every child. This year, BFO created a platform where the children spoke directly to the leadership of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and the State First Lady, Dr. Aisha Bala Mohammed.
During that particular engagement, the children presented their needs for possible intervention by the Bauchi State Government.
These partnerships had provided technical support to the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Board (BSPHCDB) in establishing community resource initiatives like the Mama2Mama and Fathers for Health (F4H). Such community structures have been assisting the BSPHCDB in mobilizing caregivers to allow their children, wards and women to access healthcare services at the community level. The activities of these community volunteers had also led to improved immunization coverage especially during the HPV, Measles integrated immunization, and other other routine immunization campaigns.
Besides carrying the cohort of journalists along in their activities, specific programmes and activities were organised for the journalists drawn from BFO's focused States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba.
Such engagements provide an avenue for cross fertilization of ideas on how best to develop impactful stories aimed at driving policy changes that could benefit children's and women's welfare. The engagements also serve as resource meetings that provide journalists with current statistics of children/women related issues within Nigeria, regions and states specifics.
Some highlights of UNICEF BFO's engagements with journalists in 2024 were media dialogues organised on: Child nutrition, Complementary feeding, Exclusive breastfeeding, Child poverty and social protection, Child Immunisation campaign to address zero dose challenge, Basic education and safe school environment, Importance of the first 1000 days of children's life after birth and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Environmental Sustainability in relation to child development among other engagements
The most recent media dialogue organised by UNICEF BFO was in November 2024. During the engagement, conversations were centered on child mortality in Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba States. That engagement was aimed to raise awareness, foster action, and stimulate both public and government responses to address this problem. The primary goal of that engagement was to ignite a meaningful conversation about child mortality in Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba states, focusing attention on the root causes of child mortality, its socio-economic and health impacts, and the urgent need for collective action from a broad range of stakeholders.
Another milestone in the twilight of 2024 achieved by UNICEF Nigeria was the engagement of celebrities like Ali Nuhu, Kate Henshaw etc that served as UNICEFs Ambassadors that supports States in their campaigns for improved immunization coverage to mitigate all preventable child killer diseases.
UNICEF BFO also engages journalists in commemorating all significant dates set aside by the United Nations (UN). It was during one of such days, the 2024 World Polio Day, that UNICEF BFO launched a song made by a select group of celebrities drawn from some West African countries that includes Nigeria.
Another giant stride made by UNICEF in 2024 where the Media were fully carried along was the handing over of a multimillion naira Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Plant and a Level 2 Newborn Care Unit at Azare General Hospital, constructed by UNICEF in collaboration with IHS Nigeria and the Government of Canada, which was handed over to Bauchi State Government in early December 2024.
In the same vein, journalists were also mobilised by the BFO to assess the Open Defecation Free (ODF) statuses of some Local Government Areas of Bauchi State. This was done with a view to disseminating lessons learnt in the attainment of ODF so that other communities can key into such best practices.
It is instructive to note that all these engagements, activities and programs carried by UNICEF BFO in partnership with journalists and other broad range of stakeholders were all geared towards child survival and wellbeing. This much was attested by UNICEF Chief of Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique at the launching of 2024 second round of MNCH Week in Gombe State when she said, "The main focus of UNICEF is to ensure that children and women live healthy lives, reaching their full potential in life".
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