By Matthew Ukachunwa
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed dissatisfaction concerning what it described as a global “pullback on child rights.”
Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office expressed the dissatisfaction on Thursday while addressing Lagos State legislators in commemoration of year 2025 World Children’s Day.
The event, a Policy Dialogue and Art Exhibition by Children, took place at Lagos State House of Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
“Globally, we are seeing a pullback on child rights.
“Funding is being slashed just when children need it most. This funding cuts mean 4.5 million more children could die by 2030.
“Six million more children could be out of school by 2026. And while over 200 million children desperately need help, the money to reach them is disappearing,” the UNICEF authority said.
Lafoucriere expressed hope in the ability of Lagos State government to provide remedy to the pullback situation, stressing: “This is the world we are operating in right now. But it does not have to be our Lagos story.
“I have been in Lagos long enough to know what you are capable of. When you commit to something, you deliver. Your birth registration numbers are the best in Nigeria. When you decide that children matter, you prove it.”
She pointed out that though the children who participated at the event came from various parts of Lagos, different schools, different circumstances, they share something in common: they all have rights.
She said that the children share the right to education, to health, to protection, to clean water, to be heard equally, stressing that the rights are not favours granted them when budgets allow, but that those are their rights.
“The children will tell you about their peers going to school hungry, about schools with no toilets, on water, no books. They will tell you about violence they have endured or seen their friends endure. And others will tell you that nobody asks them what they think, even when decisions are made about their lives,” the UNICEF chief told the Lagos State legislators.
Highlighting the theme of this year’s World Children’s Day which is: “My Day. My Rights,” the Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, pointed out that the theme is not a slogan or theory about children, but their actual realities.
According to her, the important thing is that those children were there at Lagos State House of Assembly Complex because they believe the lawmakers can help them.
“They believe you will help! You are sitting in the House of Assembly, the place where laws are made, budgets are approved, and priorities are set.
“You have the power to change their lives today,” Lafoucriere said.
She impressed it on the legislators that every child they invest in becomes a healthier, smarter, more productive adult.
She also said that every child that the lawmakers protect is one less person trapped in poverty or crime.
*Every child you empower becomes a leader who builds a better Lagos.
And so, when the children finish speaking, we would love to hear specific commitments from our Honorable Members on when to fix that school or expand digital learning including in remote and hard-to-reach communities, when to build that health center or expand that health insurance scheme, when to create space for children’s voices in your decisions, and so on,” the UNICEF officer emphasized.
Lafoucriere assured the legislators that UNICEF is ever ready to support Lagos State in fulfilling the rights of every child.