By: Monday Munkaila, Gombe
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has declared that child protection is a basic right of every child in the country, in the society and in the community, it must therefore be ensured and assured.
The declaration was made by the Chief of Office, Bauchi Field Office of the UNICEF, Dr Nuzhat Rafique while opening a one-day Stakeholders Roundtable and Advocacy on Protecting Child Rights for Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe, held on Tuesday.
The Chief of Office stated that, “When the child is born, the child’s basic rights start. I have always talked about a continuum of care since the time of birth. The first right of the child is birth registration, the recognition that he has come to the world and his registration is his first right and the basic right.”
She added that, “Then it comes to its survival, how the child can survive. It’s the basic right of every child born to every mother, that mother and child both, they are happy, they are healthy, and they grow to their full potentials. And every mother who gives the birth to a child after nine months of effort and going through life and death situation has a right to have a healthy, normal baby. So survival and health is the second basic right of every child.”
Nuzhat Rafique further stressed that, “And it’s also mother’s right to have a healthy baby and to make that possible that every mother healthily raises a newborn child and goes home from the hospital in a best state of her health with her happy, healthy newborn. That is an ideal situation for every woman, every child, which is not very prevalent in Nigeria, unfortunately.”
According to her, “Many mothers, they die during childbirth. Many newborns, they die even before taking their first breath or a few breaths in this world, which is really a big, big loss. Then if the child survives, what about all the care that needs to be given, immunization, the basic right of a child to be protected from all the diseases, preventable diseases, which are killing the children in large numbers in Nigeria, one of the highest in West Africa because of the number of population.”
She added that, “Population is so high that the burden of death and disease contributed towards Africa from Nigeria is very high. So, very important point to plan the population as well as to work for the survival of every mother, every child.”
The CFO further stated that,”Then comes to the growth. The child has to grow. Nutrition. The first basic right of nutrition is the mother’s milk, breastfeeding. Every religion promotes breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, nothing else than breastfeeding. That is the basic right of child because that milk is so rich in immunity. The mother’s immunity is transferring into the baby so he can survive well.”
“So, first six months of breastfeeding, then continued breastfeeding, what Qur’an says, for two years, that is a way to plan your family as well. When mother is breastfeeding, her next pregnancy is delayed. So, Islam and other religions, every religion promotes that mother should take care of the pain, take care of their children. And mothers should breastfeed their children for their health, for their better growth, She stressed.
Nuzhat Rafique added that, “Then comes, after six months of exclusive breastfeeding, the nutrition starts. You see, thousands of children are malnourished in these three states of Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe.”
According to her, “We are bringing our RUTF, SQLNS, these are the therapeutic foods. Once the child goes into malnutrition, it’s not taken care, not given the proper food at home, then it falls down into the malnutrition. When it becomes very weak, lethargic, and you can see these children around in your community. So, that is where the malnutrition comes in.”
She added that, “And malnutrition is one of the highest killers of Under-five children in this country. So, that is also the violation of one basic right of every child. That the child should have enough food, proper food at home, and here is, Nigeria is rich in terms of local food production.”
According to her, “I have not seen anywhere like I saw in Bangladesh. I saw in many countries, even in Sierra Leone, the places where there was no food. Nigeria is rich and have food everywhere. But how to feed your children? The mother’s knowledge, mother’s awareness about preparing the local food in a way that it can enrich the diet of the child, that is lacking. So that is a basic right of the child to have nutritious food so he can grow.”
She stressed that, “And when the child grows, then, the most important thing is that when it is growing since birth, child should be protected. Protection is the first, first, first and throughout the right of the child. Child, even I am talking about all these child, basic child rights from birth to survival to nutrition, they, if the child is not given that, it means the child is not protected. That is a violation of child protection rights.”
She further stated that,”But child abuse, you know, indeed, I will come here to a very sensitive issue. Even as small as six-month-old baby being raped and abused. I have seen their names and I have seen the baby in the Sexual Assault Referral Center that we will talk about in Bombay, in Bauchi. We have, I have gone through the register. And trust me, when I was reading the names and ages, I was crying. I was literally crying, looking at those ages. That is a huge violation of child rights.”
“Baby girls, baby boys, adolescents, old-aged women, no one is safe. But children, it’s a grave violation against children’s rights not to be protected because they cannot say anything. They cannot protect themselves. A two-year-old child I saw last, what she can, she doesn’t even know what is happening with her. This is really, really a very worrying situation in our state and maybe in the country, but it is overall in all developing countries, we see these cases,” She lamented.
According to her, “These are very unfortunate cases. But when they happen, they need to access services, they need to be referred to the point where they can be taken care of because they have an impact on the rest of the child’s life. It is not a one-time event. So that is a very, very grave violation. No protection is a very grave violation against child rights.”
“And then finally, if everybody, why these things are happening? Because most of the people, they are not aware. They are not educated. Even parents don’t know how to take care of their child. A six-year-old girl, they give the money and ask her after maghrib, seven o’clock, six o’clock in the dark to go and get something from the shop. And that is where these things happen,” She stressed.
Nuzhat Rafique opined that, “If parents are educated, they are aware, they are very careful about their children, they know that they have to protect their child. These things do not happen. So education, education is the very, very important basic right of every child because today these children will be educated, will be aware, educated, and groomed parents of tomorrow. We can only change this culture, we can only change this very, very grave situation if every child is in school.”.
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