Children’s voices and concerns need more space in media coverage, mainly on issues such as nutrition, school dropout and online safety, participants at a UNICEF dialogue in Kigali said on September 18.

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They called for closer cooperation between journalists and UNICEF to improve access to research, data and children’s own experiences, as the organisation marked 40 years since it became an independent country office in Rwanda.

Evans Mwendwa, managing director of Radio O and TV O, said children often have few opportunities to speak about problems they face at home and may have few people they feel able to approach, sometimes leaving teachers as their main point of contact.

He said children are sometimes included in discussions without being given a chance to express their own views, calling for child-friendly media programmes where they can speak about issues affecting them. He also said children should be involved in creating content about their lives rather than being featured only as subjects.

Mwendwa said protecting children should be a responsibility shared by parents, neighbours and the community, as there has been progress in giving children more space to speak about issues affecting them.

Participants said journalists would benefit from better access to UNICEF’s research, surveys and data when reporting on children. They said this would help them cover issues such as nutrition, education costs and school dropout, and give them access to experts who can provide more information on these issues.

They suggested more engagement with television, radio, digital and social media, along with more training and support for journalists, and proposed involving more media organisations, including women media owners’ associations.

Dan Ngabonziza, Managing Director at Kigali Today, said more needs to be done for the country’s young population, with different stakeholders working together to ensure children are well fed and get the support they need.

"The media should work more closely with UNICEF on children’s issues, using television, radio, digital and social media to give children’s rights greater coverage and identify gaps in the issues affecting them. I have worked in journalism for nearly 20 years, covering business and human-interest stories, particularly those involving children and their rights.

"I have seen first-hand how UNICEF has been working to save the lives of children in refugee camps after the Genocide against the Tutsi. It’s an amazing job,” Ngabonziza said.

Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF Country Representative to Rwanda, acknowledged the need for more engagement and said UNICEF would take the concerns raised by journalists as recommendations as it develops a media engagement plan.

"We have the experts. UNICEF can talk on the issues of children and young people confidently, with expertise and in a balanced and credible manner. Journalists can approach UNICEF for data and expert sources,” she said.

She said UNICEF also needed to do more to engage directly with media organisations so journalists could access research, data and experts more easily.

Four decades of progress

Dominic Muntanga, UNICEF Deputy Representative, said the organisation’s work over the past four decades had contributed to changes in children’s lives, mostly in survival and education.

He said the number of children who did not survive to their fifth birthday fell from 175.6 per 1,000 live births in 1992 to about 36 today, with vaccination among the factors contributing to the decline.

Primary school attendance, he added, increased from about 47 percent in 1992 to about 93 percent today.

Muntanga said UNICEF has worked on positive parenting, online safety and the treatment of children who come into conflict with the law.

"Diversion programmes keep such children away from adult offenders, while an equivalency programme gives more than 1.1 million young people who dropped out of school a chance to return to learning. Some of these children may have committed a crime, but they are not criminals,” he said.

Muntanga said UNICEF has invested more than $16 million in early childhood development over the past decade, helping attract more than $150 million in additional investment.

The organisation has supported the development of early childhood policies and guidelines, as well as centres that provide children with care, nutrition and stimulation while giving parents time to work, study or trade.

Van de Wiel said UNICEF’s priorities have changed as children’s needs have changed. Four decades ago, child protection included questions about how to care for orphaned children and whether they should be placed in institutions. Today, children face concerns including online safety and risks linked to artificial intelligence.

She said the organozation’s work is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989 and ratified by Rwanda in 1991, covering child rights, development and humanitarian needs. Its work has also included responding to emergencies such as COVID-19, cholera, floods and landslides.

Van de Wiel said UNICEF had supported government efforts to tackle stunting, including providing evidence used in national planning. She said Rwanda also became the first country in Africa to decide to provide multiple micronutrient supplements to every pregnant woman.

She said the United Nations agency was supporting the availability of the supplements and awareness among mothers and frontline workers, and efforts towards local production could help reduce government costs and create jobs.

"Stunting is a multidimensional issue, and we have to approach it from all angles. Poor nutrition can affect several generations,” she said.

Van de Wiel called for more research by local universities and research institutions to generate local evidence on the problems affecting children, including what is driving them, and provide evidence for future policies.

Ngabonziza said children should be considered in disaster preparedness because they are vulnerable during floods and other emergencies and may not be able to respond as quickly as adults.