UNICEF Organises 2-Day Media Dialogue in Gombe On Child Poverty in Nigeria

Our Editor

Worried by the rising child poverty in Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is to hold a Media Dialogue for media practitioners.

The dialogue will bring together experts, members of the academia, government officials, policy makers and stakeholders in the North East to address the problem.

The two-day Media Dialogue, which will hold from March 12 and 13, 2024, at Evolution Hotel, Gombe, will draw media participants from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba States under the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office.

According to the Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (2022) report, 63 percent of Nigerians – 133 million Nigerians – are multidimensionally poor, while the MPI report provides an additional focus on child poverty in Nigeria.

The MPI report says two-thirds or 68 percent of Nigerian children (0–17) are multidimensionally poor, and when measured by the linked child MPI, which adds specific indicators for children under 5, this rises to 84 percent.

At the dialogue, participants will learn how child poverty is a major threat to children’s well-being and future, including how it adversely impacts national, and regional socio-economic development.

Participants will discover what approaches government and stakeholders can employ to address child poverty in Nigeria and specifically in Bauchi Field Office states.

The training will equip media participants with the knowledge on child poverty and will be expected to employ their respective media platforms to engage public and policy action towards tackling child poverty in the BFO region.

Resource persons will include UNICEF technical experts, representatives from the government, and academic experts.