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Tag: UNICEF

  • UNICEF appoints Cobhams Asuquo national ambassador

    UNICEF appoints Cobhams Asuquo national ambassador

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appointed the internationally acclaimed and award-winning Nigerian musician, producer and songwriter, Cobhams Asuquo, as its National Ambassador.

    UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Mr Peter Hawkins, announced the appointment in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday.

    Hawkins said that the appointment made the celebrated artist UNICEF Nigeria’s first National Ambassador in the last 15 years.

    Asuquo, a lawyer by training, is a singer and musician who shot to fame when he produced the debut album of Nigerian soul sensation “Asa”.

    This include Asa’s hit singles, “Fire on the Mountain” and “Jailer”.

    Hawkins explained that as UNICEF National Ambassador, Asuquo would help raise awareness on concerns around children’s rights and solutions, including issues around birth registration, immunisation, education and protection from violence.

    “I am delighted to welcome Asuquo to the UNICEF family, particularly on Nigerian Children’s Day, dedicated to every Nigerian child, to give them a better place to survive, thrive and develop.

    “May 27 was set aside to celebrate the importance of children in Nigeria, providing the opportunity to policymakers and families to focus on the holistic development of young Nigerians,” Hawkins explained.

    He said that Asuquo had been supporting UNICEF to raise awareness on children’s and youth issues.

    “He had supported UNICEF Nigeria’s work since 2019, including producing the hits ‘I am a Nigeria Child (For Every Child)’, calling for every Nigerian child’s rights to be respected and protected.

    “He also produced the song ‘We go Win (Corona)’, to raise awareness on how Nigerians can protect themselves from COVID-19.

    “Asuquo had also produced the song ‘Tell Everybody’ back in 2015 to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals, as part of the UN Global Goals campaign,” Hawkins said.

    The UNICEF representative expressed optimism that the national ambassador would continue to use his singing, passion and dedication to defend the rights of vulnerable children and young people in Nigeria.

    Hawkins quoted Asuquo as saying: “It’s a huge honour to become a UNICEF Nigeria Ambassador.

    “I am thrilled to join the list of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors around the world, supporting the protection and promotion of children’s rights.

    “I am passionate about children’s rights, and I am passionate about Nigeria – and securing its future and the only way we can truly do that is through ensuring every child fulfilled their potential.

    “I look forward to making my contribution to the improvement of the lives of Nigerian children and young people.”

  • UNICEF loses top official in Kano

    Malam Rabiu Musa, Head of Communications in the Kano Field Office of UNICEF, is dead.

    His son, Musa Rabiu, who comfirmed the death to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, said that the UNICEF official died on Saturday at the age of 60.

    “My dad died at about 3 a.m on Saturday, after battling with a sickness for a few days.

    “Although, we noticed symptoms we suspect to be of Coronavirus, but the result of the test conducted is not yet out.

    “A week ago, he complained of sore throat and malaria, but after few days of medication, he became normal.

    “Few days later, he complained that he was finding it difficult to breath.

    “He also complained that no matter how short he walked, he loses breath. So, he was taken to the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Dala, on Friday where he gave up,”the son said.

    At about 2 p.m. when NAN contacted the son, he said: “we are now at the hospital with the officials of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for his burial”.

    NAN reports that the deceased is survived by seven children and one wife.

  • More than 300 persons released from administrative custody over alleged association with armed groups

    Late last night, 223 children including 10 girls were released from Nigerian Army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison after they were cleared of suspected ties with armed groups. They were released to the safe custody of Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, UNICEF and Borno State authorities in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria.

     

    The children will now immediately enter a programme that will help them reintegrate into their communities, re-engage with their families, and take the first steps towards creating a new life and means of livelihood.

     

    Some of the children had been missing for up to four to five years, with many presumed dead by their families.

     

    “The release of these children is a huge step forward and one to be welcomed and celebrated,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative. “These children deserve to have a normal childhood – and now require our full care and support to re-enter the lives that were so brutally interrupted by this devastating conflict.”

     

    Now in its tenth year, the conflict in north-east Nigeria continues to uproot and devastate the lives of tens of thousands of children, women and men.

     

    Since 2016, 3,559 people associated with armed groups have been released from administrative custody, including 1,743 children (1,125 boys, 618 girls). All have gone through the Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Center in Maiduguri in Borno State and have since been reunited with their families or placed in the most appropriate alternative care, where they are accessing rehabilitation services and reintegration support in their communities.

     

    UNICEF is working closely with Nigerian state authorities to help with reintegration programmes for all children formerly associated with non-state armed groups, and others affected by the ongoing conflict in north-east Nigeria.

     

    Age and sex appropriate community-based reintegration interventions include an initial assessment of their well-being, psychosocial support, education, vocational training, informal apprenticeships, and opportunities to improve livelihoods. At least 12,264 people formerly associated with armed groups, as well as vulnerable children in communities, have accessed such services since 2017.

     

    UNICEF and Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development are looking forward to receiving more children.

     

  • Two million children in Nigeria could die in the next decade -UNICEF

    Two million children in Nigeria could die in the next decade -UNICEF

    Boosting efforts to fight pneumonia could avert over 2 million child deaths from pneumonia and other major diseases in Nigeria, new analysis has found.The modelling by Johns Hopkins University is being released today as nine leading health and children’s agencies host the world’s first global conference on childhood pneumonia in Barcelona.

     

    Forecasts show that 1.4 million children under the age of five could die from pneumonia over the next decade in Nigeria, on current trends the highest number of any country in the world and more than 20 percent of childhood deaths from pneumonia globally.

     

    However, an estimated 809,000 of these deaths would be averted by significantly scaling up services to prevent and treat pneumonia.

     

    Researchers also found boosting pneumonia services would create an additional ‘ripple effect’, preventing 1.2 million extra child deaths from other major childhood diseases at the same time.

     

    Interventions like improving nutrition, increasing vaccine coverage or boosting breastfeeding rates – key measures that reduce the risk of children dying from pneumonia – would also stop thousands of child deaths from diseases like diarrhoea (580,000), meningitis (68,000), measles (55,000) and malaria (4,000).

     

    By 2030, that effect would be so large that pneumonia interventions alone would avert over 2 million predicted under-five child deaths in Nigeria from all causes combined, researchers said.

     

    Pneumonia is caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, and leaves children fighting for breath as their lungs fill with pus and fluid.

     

    The disease is the leading killer of children in Nigeria, causing 19 percent of under-five deaths.

     

    Most pneumonia deaths can be prevented with vaccines, and easily treated with low-cost antibiotics. But more than 40 percent of one-year-olds in Nigeria are unvaccinated, and three in four children suffering from pneumonia symptoms do not get access to medical treatment.

     

    Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria’s Country Representative, said:

     

    “We have a responsibility to do all we can to avert these deaths by pneumonia – deaths that are nearly all preventable. It will take concerted action by all players. The announcement by the Nigerian government of the world’s first-ever pneumonia control strategy – coupled with the focus globally on combatting pneumonia – is a huge step forward. We now need to follow this with concrete action on the ground to address the causes and drivers of childhood pneumonia deaths in this country.”

     

    On January 29-31, nine leading health and children’s organisations – ISGlobal, Save the Children, UNICEF, Every Breath Counts, ”la Caixa” Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Unitaid and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – are hosting world leaders at the Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia in Barcelona, the first international conference on childhood pneumonia.

     

  • UNICEF raises alarm over 17 million unregistered children in Nigeria

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that despite the significant increase in the number of children whose births are officially registered, there still lies a huge number of unregistered births in Nigeria.

    According to new report on global birth registration from the UNICEF, although the number of registered births increased from 30 per cent in 2013 to 43 per cent in 2018, about 17 million children under the age of five in Nigeria remain unregistered.

    According to the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, “We have come a long way in Nigeria and ensuring that children are registered through the health services is making a big difference – but still too many children are slipping through the cracks.

    “These children are uncounted and unaccounted for – nonexistent in the eyes of the government or the law. Without proof of identity, children are often excluded from accessing education, health care and other vital services, and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.”

    Worldwide, 166 million children under-five, or 1 in 4, remain unregistered, according to the new report Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030. The report which analyses data from 174 countries, shows that the proportion of children under-five registered globally is up around 20 per cent from 10 years ago – increasing from 63 per cent to 75 per cent.

    In West and Central Africa, under-five registration increased in 10 years from 41 per cent to 51 per cent, despite the multiple challenges the region is facing.

    “Birth registration in West and Central Africa remained stagnant for a long time, leaving millions of children without their basic right to legal identity. This situation has now changed and millions more children are registered at birth.

    “With UNICEF’s support and under the leadership of the African Union and of national governments, countries have invested in integrating birth registration in health and immunization platforms to extend the coverage and accessibility of services and reach even the most vulnerable populations.

    This simple shift in service delivery is not only low cost but effective in increasing national registration rates, contributing to progress in the region as a whole,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

    The report further revealed that despite progress, the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa lag behind the rest of the world and some of the lowest levels of registration are found in Chad (12 per cent) and Guinea-Bissau (24 per cent).

    Barriers to high registration coverage in Nigeria include the operation of two parallel and competing systems for birth registration at federal and state levels, insufficient birth registrars, lack of public awareness on the importance of birth registration for children, coupled with ingrained social beliefs that do not encourage the registration of children.

    In Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030, UNICEF calls for five actions to protect all children, they include: Provide every child with a certificate upon birth; empower all parents, including single parents, regardless of gender, to register their children at birth and for free during the first year of life; link birth registration to basic services, particularly health, social protection and education, as an entry point for registration.

    Others are: Invest in safe and innovative technological solutions to allow every child to be registered, including in hard-to-reach areas; and engage communities to demand birth registration for every child.

    Hawkins added: “Every child has a right to a name, a nationality and a legal identity.

    “We have just marked the 30th anniversary of these rights – as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and 2020 will mark the 30th anniversary of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child – which provides that every child be registered immediately after birth. We must continue to register and not stop until every Nigerian child is registered – every child counts!”

  • 10.5m children out of school in Nigeria

    10.5m children out of school in Nigeria

    Mr Maulid Warfa, the Chief of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Kano field office, says more than 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria.

    Warfa disclosed this on Friday in Kano during an event tagged ‘Youth Talk’ to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the conversation on the rights of the child.

    “Young people today live in a world of unlimited potentials. However, despite gains in the situation facing Nigerian children and young people in recent years, much still remains to be done.

    “Too many Nigerian children and young people are being left behind, especially when it comes to education. Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children,” he said.

    Warfa explained that Friday’s conversation, tagged ‘Naija Youth Talk’, with the theme ‘The Nigeria We Want, Voices from Kano’, would allow young people to create the Nigeria of their choice as well as build momentum and support for further action.

    “Nigeria’s youth bulge is the largest in the world. Out of a population of over 200 million, more than 64 million persons are in the 15 to 35 years age bracket, an age bracket normally categorised as young persons.

    “It is easy to see this as a challenge to national development and it can be, if not properly managed. But the youth population of any country is a key ingredient of national development, a bridge and transition to a prosperous future,” he said.

    Warfa commended the Kano State government for understanding the challenges and working with key partners, including UNICEF to turn round the unfortunate situation of youth education for the better.

    In his goodwill message, Dr Mansur Muhammad-Tukur , Executive Director, Development Professionals Network International (DevProNet), described education, employment and empowerment as major key elements that could contribute to Nigeria’s development.

    “Kano State has the highest number of street beggars or ‘Almajiris’, scavengers and hawkers, especially the girl-child in the world and this is worrisome,” Muhammad-Tukur said.

    He also called on wealthy individuals to, at least, sponsor one or two of their house maids to school.

  • Northeast Nigeria: More children cleared of ties with armed groups and released from administrative custody

    Northeast Nigeria: More children cleared of ties with armed groups and released from administrative custody

    Twenty-three boys and two girls were released today from Nigerian Army administrative custody after being cleared of suspected ties with armed groups. This brings the number of children released this year to 44.

    “These are children taken away from their families and communities, deprived of their childhood, education, health-care, and of the chance to grow up in a safe and enabling environment. UNICEF will continue working to ensure that all conflict affected children are reunited with their families, have hope of fulfilling their dreams and their human rights,” said UNICEF Nigeria Acting Representative Pernille Ironside.

    The children have been handed over to the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and will be kept at a UNICEF supported Transit Centre whilst efforts to reunite them with their families and reintegrate them back to their communities are underway. They will access medical and psychosocial support, education, vocational training and informal apprenticeships, and opportunities to improve their livelihoods.

    “We have made progress, but we would like to see all children suspected of involvement with armed groups, transfered out of military custody to the care of the relevant local authorities as quickly as possible to facilitate their return to their families and communities, spending minimal, if any, time in detention. As we commemorate the 30th Anniversary for the Convention of the Rights of the Child this year, we must collectively commit to do more for the protection, well-being and development of children in Nigeria, including by ensuring that they are not recruited or used in conflicts in the first place,” said Ironside.

    Since 2016, a total of 2,499 people including 1,627 children have been cleared of association with non-state armed groups. UNICEF and partners continue to provide age and gender appropriate community-based reintegration support services to all affected children and other vulnerable children in communities that are at risk of recruitment by armed groups.

  • Nigeria loses N1.4trn annually to Violence against Children- UNICEF

    The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that there is a crucial need for increased spending on Child Protection Services as Nigeria loses N1.42 trillion to Violence Against Children (VAC) annually.
     
    UNICEF stated that this is equivalent to 1.6 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Profit (GDP).
     
    It called for a 0.1 per cent restructuring based on the current levels of consolidated CP expenditure of Nigeria’s budget to increase total consolidated CP expenditure by 63 per cent.
     
    The revelation was made on Tuesday at the launch of two survey books,” A Financial Benchmark for Child Protection, Nigeria Study, Volume 1″ and “The Economic Burden of Violence Against Children” in Lagos.
     
    TheNewsGuru recalls that there was a wake-up call by President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2015 for a National Campaign to End Violence against Children (VAC) in Nigeria.
     
    Ms Juliane Koenig, UNICEF Abuja, presented the report of the studies on behalf of the consultants of the survey.
    Koenig said: “The analysis of the economic costs shows that violence against children carries a considerable burden in Nigeria.
    “The findings provide a strong evidence-base for urgent prioritised development and funding of interventions by all stakeholders for the reduction of violence against children.
    “The adverse consequences of childhood violence affect not only children as individuals, but by extension, families, communities and societies.
    “Nigeria’s future economic growth and development, may unfortunately, be compromised if sustained, commuted support and resources to Nigeria’s Child Protective Systems are not secured.
    “These systems are essential in the identification and prevention of suspected cases involving violence against children as well as to ensure immediate access to health and protective services for victims when warranted.”
     
    Mr Denis Onoise, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, explained that there was need for “Call to Action’’ by governments and stakeholders to add child protection budget line to national chart of accounts.
     
    According to him, there is also need to formalise an End VAC National Act Plan and establish VAC helpline.
    “These will improve the delivery of child protection services across the country,” Onoise said.
     
    Responding, Mrs Bola Balogun, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, commended the efforts put into the reports.
    Balogun said the discoveries in the assessments serve as a wakeup call for all stakeholders to go back to the drawing board and chart a new course toward increased funding for child protection.
    Commenting, Mrs Grace Obi-Ukpabi of the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Abuja, said the nation’s refusal to invest in children will birth a bleak future.
    “If we refuse to invest in our children, we are giving the future a bleak look because what we do to our children, we indirectly do to ourselves.
    “As Nigerians, we must invest in our heritage because it is this investment that will yield quantifiable returns towards growth in the economy,” she said.
    The Ministry of Budget and National Planning, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and with the support from UNICEF, embarked on the two different surveys.
    The aim was to determine the financial commitment of government on Child Protection Services and also to evaluate the economic loss of VAC.
    As an essential part of the National Campaign, the study was to increase the level of awareness on public fund allocations for Child Protection services across the Federal Ministries, Department, Agencies and four pilot states of Lagos, Cross Rivers, Plateau and Gombe.
    The first part of the study was on Financial Benchmark on child protection: this study was embarked upon to provide evidence of the actual budget allocation and expenditure on child Protection services between 2014-2016.
    The second report, which is on Economic Burden of Violence against Children, presented the cost of inaction on VAC; this is to deepen the evidence of the child protection for every Nigerian Child.

  • UNICEF condemns use of teenage girls as suicide bombers in Borno

    UNICEF condemns use of teenage girls as suicide bombers in Borno

    UNICEF has condemned the use of children as suicide bombers in Mandarari community in Borno.

    NAN reports that the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in its report said 30 persons were killed and 42 others injured in multiple bomb blasts that rocked a Borno village on Sunday night.

    according to several reports, three children two girls and a boy (ages unknown) were used to detonate explosives that killed 30 people and injured 40 others at a community football viewing centre in Konduga in Borno state.

    Mr Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, in a statement released in Maiduguri on Tuesday, said: ”UNICEF appeals to all those involved in this terrible conflict to protect children at all times and to keep them out of harm’s way.

    “This incident brings the number of children who have been reported as having been used as human bombs to five, since January 2019.

    ”In 2018, 48 children including 38 girls were used in suicide attacks.

    “We again call on all parties to the conflict in north-east Nigeria to immediately cease all attacks against civilians, to stop using children in this conflict, and to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.”he said

    “While UNICEF sends its condolences to all those who have been killed or injured in this horrific incident, It is unacceptable that children should be used in this way.

    NAN reports that UNICEF in a report said children were used in suicide attacks in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

    The UNICEF said that since 2012, non-state armed groups in north-east Nigeria have recruited and used children as combatants and non-combatants, raped and forced girls to marry, and committed other grave violations against children.

    Some of the girls, the UN agency said had become pregnant in captivity and give birth without any medical care or attention In the ongoing armed conflict in north-east Nigeria, more than 3,500 children were recruited and used by non-state armed groups between 2013 and 2017.

    The use of children in suicide attacks by armed groups as person-borne explosive devices significantly increased from 2014 to 2017.

    In 2018, it said a total 48 children (38 girls) were used in suicide attacks whilst 146 (45 boys, 101 girls) children were used in the same way in 2017.

    In first quarter 2019,it added two girls were reported to have been used as ”human bombs”.

  • Chibok girls’ abduction 5th anniversary: UNICEF seeks more protection of children’s rights

    Chibok girls’ abduction 5th anniversary: UNICEF seeks more protection of children’s rights

    Mr Mohamed Fall, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Nigeria, on Thursday called for the protection of children rights against violence and other form of abuses in the country.

    Fall in a statement issued by Kusali Kubwalo, the Communication Analyst, UNICEF Field Office Maiduguri, said the call would serve as reminder to widespread abductions and grave violation of children’s rights in the northeast region.

    “More than 3, 500 children aged between 13 and 17 were recruited by non state armed groups between 2013 and 2017; and used in the ongoing conflict in northeast.

    “In 2018; some 432 children were killed and maimed; 180 others abducted while 43 girls sexually abused in the war-torn region,” he said.

    Fall noted that the figure represented the number of cases verified, adding that true figures were likely to be higher.

    “Over 100 of the abducted Chibok school girls remain missing.

    “The anniversary of the abduction marked on April 14; is a grim reminder of the widespread abductions of children and grave violations of children’s rights continue to take place in the northeast.

    “Children should feel safe at home, in schools and on their playgrounds at all times,” Fall was quoted as saying in the statement.

    According to UNICEF, since 2012; non state armed groups had recruited and used children as combatants, non-combatants, raped and forced girls to marry.

    It added that armed groups also committed grave violations against children, lamenting that some of the girls become pregnant in captivity and gave birth without any medical care or attention.

    The UN children’s agency called on parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international laws, to end all form of violations against children, stop targeting community infrastructure such as schools.

    “This is the only way we can begin to make lasting improvements in the lives of children in this devastated part of Nigeria.

    “UNICEF continues to offer its support to the Government of Nigeria in its strong efforts to protect the country’s children. UNICEF works with the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and other partners to support children who have been rescued or escaped from captivity”.

    The UN agency disclosed that it had provided community-based reintegration services to over 9, 800 persons formerly associated with armed groups, as well as vulnerable children in communities in the past two years.

    It explained that the services entails assisting children to trace their families and return them to their communities, as well as offer psychosocial, education, vocational training, informal apprenticeships and livelihood supports.