Dame Tallen Reiterates Need To Protect Children From Violence
Oru Leonard
The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, OFR, KSG has reiterated the need to protect the Nigerian Children from all forms of violence and abuse while she was addressing the media on Tuesday 24th May, 2022 in commemoration of the upcoming 2022 Children’s Day Celebration which usually comes up every 27th of May every year.
The Minister seized the occasion to raise awareness on issues affecting children’s well-being, observing that COVID-19 pandemic has taken tolls on livelihood of the parents of the children and has left everyone in fear for the safety and apprehensive of the future of the Nigerian children.
Dame Tallen also disclosed the theme of this year’s Children’s Day Celebration which is ‘Strengthening supportive systems for the protection of the Nigeria child; A wake up call’, noting that the theme resonates with emerging issues and concerns that have affected the children’s well-being and that there is a need to redouble efforts in the protection of the Nigeria Child from all forms of violence and abuse.
The Minister said that, despite the efforts of Government and other stakeholders in addressing the rate of child vulnerability, ranging from child adoption, forced trafficking, battering, rape, child marriage, forced labor, exploitation and ritual killings perpetrated by close family members and caregivers the menace is increasing daily. She said, it is more worrisome in the recent increase of violence in schools where children are physically abused online and offline, allegedly perpetrated by their peers and teachers who are supposed to protect and shield them from violence.
The Minister urged Nigerian Mothers and Fathers as well as members of the Society to say “Enough is Enough”; No to Violence against Children. noting that parents should devote more time to supervise the activities of their children, while the children have to shun any negative activities including drugs and substance abuse, cultism and focus on their studies.
Dame Tallen further disclosed that her Ministry in collaboration with relevant stakeholders has developed policies and carried out series of programs to ensure safety and protection of children, some of which are she enumerated as the establishment of Family Courts in 16 States of the Federation; reconstitution of the Technical Working Group on Case Management in Nigeria; launching and dissemination of the ‘State of the Nigerian Girl Report’; the National Policy Dialogue on Ending Violence Against Children; resuscitating of the National Child Right Implementation Committee and Trainings; launching the BETA Version and Upgraded the National OVC Management Information Systems (NOMIS); and the launching of the Movement for Good to End Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria by 2030.
Dame Pauline Tallen also seized the occasion of the media briefing on Children’s Day, 2022 to disclose that her Ministry is equally commemorating the 2022 World Menstrual Health and Hygiene Day with the theme “Making Menstruation a Normal Fact of Life by 2030”.
She stated that as the coordinating Ministry and the National Secretariat for Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management, a remarkable progress around menstrual health and hygiene management has been made, giving example of the Bank Pad to cater for cases of emergency within work environment into which Ministries like, Foreign Affairs, Water Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, Interior, Youths and Sports Development and the NYSC have keyed into the program.
The Minister called on other MDAs and Stakeholders including Airlines, Schools, Security Agencies to join in the campaign to make menstruation a normal fact of life by setting up Pad Bank in their spaces and urged collaboration with existing structures to End Violence Against Children to secure a brighter future for our Country.
(MWA Media)
