Burkina Faso/Children's rights in emergency situations in Burkina Faso: Journalists equipped with tools

On the sidelines of the commemoration of the International Day of Education, the NGO Children Believe and its partners organized on Thursday, 21 January 2021, a workshop to sensitize journalists on the promotion and protection of children's rights in emergency contexts. The objective was to strengthen their capacities and make them committed partners and allies.

Every January 24th, the world commemorates International Education Day. This day was established by the United Nations (UN) to celebrate the contribution of education to peace and development. Its celebration in Burkina Faso takes place this year in a context marked by insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official figures, as a result of the current security crisis, 2,398 schools have been closed and more than 1,049,767 people are displaced, more than 60% of whom are children.

This situation undermines the rights to education, protection and participation and requires urgent, adequate, concerted and coordinated action. It is in this context that the NGO Children Believe and its partners have undertaken, through this workshop, to strengthen the capacities of media men and women on the promotion and protection of children's rights in emergency contexts, with a view to making them committed partners and allies.

For the West Africa Director of Children Believe, Christelle Kathoulé, it is important to involve media professionals in this process as they are key actors in accelerating change and transforming societies. To this end, participants were sensitized on the rights, protection and participation of children.

The presentation of the child-sensitive approach to admissibility and its impact in promoting children's rights and combating violence against children was also discussed. In this regard, Dieudonné Ouédraogo, Programme Assistant at CGD, said that this approach consists in allowing children to participate in decision-making on matters that concern them.

In addition, Karim Sankara, UNICEF's Child Protection Programme Officer, gave journalists not only an insight into the role of the child protection system, but also a chance to learn more about how the system works.In addition, Karim Sankara, UNICEF's Child Protection Programme Officer, gave journalists not only an insight into the role of the UN system in strengthening the protection of children's rights, but also an idea of the situation of children in Burkina Faso in terms of health, nutrition and education. According to him, 56% of children do not attend pre-school and 53.2% of 6-11 year olds, or 16 million, are out of school. After having followed with interest the different presentations, the participants came out of the meeting seasoned and ready to develop initiatives in their different bodies to promote child protection.

Source: lefaso.net