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Lagos partners UNICEF to tackle rising violence against children

By Gbenga Salau
24 June 2021   |   3:04 am
Lagos State government has partnered with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to train key child protection functionaries in the state as part of efforts

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Says child abuse eradication cannot be left to govt alone

Lagos State government has partnered with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to train key child protection functionaries in the state as part of efforts to tackle rising cases of violence against children.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Dr. Olugbenga Ayoola Aina, in a statement while declaring open the three-day event yesterday, said: “The training is aimed at improving the skills of participants in delivering essential services towards ending violence against women and girls in Lagos State.”

According to him, the decision to train the key state-level actors and volunteers by the UN agencies implementing the EU-UN spotlight initiative was informed by the rising cases of violence against children and the need to create a platform for participants to acquire 21st-century skills of child protection officers.

The permanent secretary added that the programme, divided into four batches, was also meant to promote networking opportunities among key state functionaries in Lagos.

On his part, UNICEF Representative and Child Protection Specialist, Mr. Dennis Onoise, while commending the good job being done by the Lagos State Government in the area of child protection programmes, said that the challenges posed by the menace of child abuse could not be left to Lagos State government alone to tackle, hence the training of the key child protection functionaries.

Among the topics considered were “Overview of Child Protection,” “Ending Violence Against Children,” “Denial of Child’s Rights in Nigeria,” “Principles of Child Protection,” “State Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy,” “Child Protection Case Management,” “Supporting Vulnerable Children and Families Under the Child Rights Act” and “Social Inquiry Report.”

The UNICEF representative urged the participants drawn from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), legal, academic, as well as government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in discharging their obligations even with more vigour for child abuse to be reduced to the barest minimum.

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