Child Leaders meet with Mainstream Media to Highlight their Rights Issues

 

BHUBANESWAR: A first-of-its-kind ‘State Level Children’s Engagement with Mainstream Media’ event was held successfully at Bhubaneswar today, where 25 children from across 4 districts of Odisha met with senior journalists from over a dozen media organizations. The media and the children exchanged useful reflections on the state of the children in Odisha and addressed the need to highlight the problems and challenges facing the development of children’s rights, to education, health and protection. The event was organized by Save the Children, an International NGO which works in over 120 countries around the world.

Children constitute about one-third of Odisha’s population and they are constantly deprived of their rights and entitlements and are not encouraged to participate in the planning and decision-making process which seeks to provide redressal to their problems. “The government, society, parents and guardians each have a role to play to provide children the scope to exercise their rights but they must also provide children a space to speak up. The media has a big responsibility in coming forward with news where child rights are addressed -- educating people and posing a moral pressure on the duty bearers,” said Dayanidhi Das, Executive Editor, O TV News.

Several child leaders emphatically presented their issues which had been identified during the child rights mappings previously conducted at the village level before the media representatives. Save the Children and its local partners are implementing a project called ‘Children’s Alliance for Realization of Child Rights’ in 120 villages in Puri, Boudh, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts of Odisha. The project aims to ensure full and meaningful participation of children in planning, implementation and monitoring of child development programmes. The Children’s Alliance for Child Rights has been piloted in 4 districts of Odisha where children’s capacity have been built to participate in the School Management Committee and meetings where adults are taking a major on issues related to them.

“Literature too can cooperate in developing creative pieces like stories, poems, cartoons, songs etc. with a moral on protecting various child rights – right to education, ending child marriage, right to development, no to child labour, right to survival and right to participation,” added Das Benhur, Editor ‘Pilanka Sambad. “And therefore children too could write their own pieces reflecting children’s issues.”

“Child leaders had an opportunity to interact directly with the media who can play a key role in advocating for ensuring the child rights -- through both print and electronic media. This created a common platform for both children and media persons to work together in the future to bring out key rights issues and educate the common masses as well as the government to effectively implement the laws and legislation benefitting children,” opined Sasanka Kumar Padhi, State Program Manager, Save the Children.

Addressing the gathering, Devendra Tak, National Manager, Media and Communications, Save the Children said. “The future and strength of the nation lies in a healthy, protected, educated and well developed child population, which is already the biggest in the world. Media must come forward to highlight issues related to inequality in their development to ensure that children from the most marginalized sections of society are not continually left out.”

Among others, Sandeep Pradhan from BBC World News, Ranjan Mohanty, State Representative in NCPCR, Biswajit Das and Subranshu Panda from Sambad, Ramakanta Mahanada from Samaj, Nilambar Rath from Academy of Media Learning, Priyanka Parida from O TV, S. Venkat Raman from MBC TV, Deepak Mohapatra from Pragativadi, Paresh Nayak from Kanak TV, Abhisek Mohanty from Orissa Age, Writer Sarat Nayak, NGO partners like YCDA – Boudh, Jana Kalyan Santha – Kalahandi, Lokdrusti – Nuapada and Open Learning System – Puri, child rights activists participated in the event. Shyamal Kishore Das from Save the Children anchored the program.