Children are considered the future of the country…so when exactly should they be included as active participants for the country’s future?
The Department for Community Development and Religion is actively pursuing approaches that will include this at least 20 percent of PNG’s population.
A week ago, the Department, in partnership with NICTA, signed an MOU with NBC and Big Rooster to use the Think Tank Quiz as a platform for questions surrounding children’s issues.
Secretary Anna Solomon said the idea here is to see if children understand things like the Lukautim Pikinini Act, gender-based violence, disability and elderly.
The department will also go on to set school debates around the country, leading to the final debate at the children’s forum in November.
Solomon urged media to make this known to the children.
“I want children to be aware that they are meeting and that this is their forum. They are coming together in November to discuss issues affecting them – like GBV, school fights; so we need to set that platform for them leading up to the forum,” she said.
The same department signed another MoU yesterday with two media outlets – TVWAN and NBC Radio, in partnership with UNICEF.
This time, it’s for a monthly show called WANTOK, which aims to inform the public about its policies and project implementation on the ground throughout the country.
Solomon said with lack of knowledge on child protection and community development, these departments were lowly prioritised with very low budgets, in turn posing a challenge for officers, especially in districts.
This show, she says, will shift focus from NCD and go out to rural areas where it matters.
“We are interested in real stories that will change people’s lives having positive mindset,” she said.
This step forward has attracted the interest of bodies like the UNICEF.
UNICEF representative, Olushola Ismail, said this would go towards building a protective environment for children in PNG.
He said many perceive child protection as a narrow program but it is in fact a broad area.
He also stated that media is a powerful movement and this partnership would tell a better story.
Loop PNG file pic