By IJEOMA UKAZU
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has charged journalists with accurate reportage on child health issues with the aim to changing the narrative.
The two-day media dialogue holding in Ibadan, Oyo State organised for journalists in the South-West states was put together by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Lagos in collaboration with UNICEF.
The aim is to acquaint newsmen with the recently released Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS6) conducted by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with support from UNICEF.
While speaking on the overview of the MICS6 results across the South- West states,
UNICEF Monitoring for Report (M4R), Specialist, Oluwasola Olanipekun said “In South-West, under infant mortality out of 63 deaths per 1000 live birth, Ogun has 68, Ekiti 67 and Oyo 40 death rate, highest in the region. While Lagos has 15, Osun 17 and Ondo 31 with the lowest rates.”
Olanipekun points that it is necessary for the government of the region to map out strategies to strengthen the health system towards reducing the high rate of infant and under-five mortality.
Earlier, the Communication Officer for UNICEF, Mrs Blessing Ejiofor said that the importance of data in reporting could not be overemphasized.
According to her, “The objective of the workshop is to share with the media result of the most recent survey which would assist them to report and analyze the situation of children and women in South West Nigeria in an informed way that would be convincing to the public and speak to policy makers to cause a change.”
She noted that UNICEF expects journalists to work on data-driven stories and reports that highlight challenges faced by children and women in the society.
In his speech, the Director of NOA Lagos, Dr Waheed Isola welcomed participants and urged them to pay rapt attention to be armed with facts and figures needed in the reportage of issues affecting children and women.