UNICEF calls for renewed effort to end violence against children

The United Nations Children’s Emergency  Fund (UNICEF)  has  called for renewed efforts to end violence against children. The 2016 Children’s Day celebration with the  theme, “Protect the Rights of the Child in the Face of Violence and Insecurity: End Child Marriage” helps to shed light on the unprecedented levels of violence against children in Nigeria […]

The United Nations Children’s Emergency  Fund (UNICEF)  has  called for renewed efforts to end violence against children.
The 2016 Children’s Day celebration with the  theme, “Protect the Rights of the Child in the Face of Violence and Insecurity: End Child Marriage” helps to shed light on the unprecedented levels of violence against children in Nigeria in the recent past and present.
 A release from UNICEF said the  North East had continued to witness grave violations of children’s rights – killings, abductions, sexual violence and use in suicide bombings by Boko Haram – with more than 1.2 million children below the age of 5 being displaced.
The  Nigeria  Violence Against Children Survey (carried out by the National Population Commission, with the support of UNICEF and US Center for Disease Control and Prevention), estimates that half of all children in Nigeria experienced physical violence, one in four girls and one in 10 boys experienced sexual violence and one in six girls and one in five boys experienced emotional violence before they reached the age of 18 years. 
 In response, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Year of Action to End Violence Against Children on 15th September 2015, in conjunction with the National Priority Actions, which not only set out the key actions of national ministries and agencies, but also of NGOs, religious groups and the media.
However progress has been made with Lagos as the first state to heed the president’s call, launching its own campaign and priority actions in February 2016. Cross River will be the second in June 2016 while Bayelsa State has domesticated the Child Rights Act.
 UNICEF representative in Nigeria  Jean Gough stated that this year’s Children’s Day offers the opportunity to highlight the significant pledges made  by the federal government, NGOs, religious groups and the media last September to join hands to end violence against children, and called for renewed efforts by all stakeholders to turn the commitments they made into action for children.