The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a community-based initiative targeting violence against children and promoting positive parenting in five communities in Zaria, Kaduna State, with plans to engage at least 1,000 parents.
Known as the Neem Tree Dialogue, the initiative will bring parents, traditional and religious leaders, young people and other community stakeholders together to discuss harmful practices affecting children and develop practical ways to improve their protection.
UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, announced the initiative at its launch in Zaria, stressing that protecting children from abuse, neglect and exploitation requires the involvement of families and the wider community.
Birukila said communities could not achieve lasting peace and development while children continued to experience violence and deprivation. She explained that positive parenting goes beyond changing disciplinary methods to recognising children’s rights, dignity, potential and the importance of listening to their voices.
She also urged traditional institutions to use their influence to challenge harmful practices and strengthen child protection, emphasising that the responsibility rests not only with government and development organisations but also with families, religious institutions and society at large.
UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Dr Willy Mamah said the programme would reach parents in Gelesu, Tudun Wada, Zaria City, Samaru and Kongo through storytelling, community dialogue, parenting sessions and other creative activities.
According to Mamah, the initiative was inspired by a book written by grassroots lawyer and advocate Maryam Marwa Abdu. The programme seeks to take the issues explored in the book into real-life community discussions, allowing participants to examine challenges affecting children and identify practical responses.
He said the initiative would focus on preventing violence against children, including child marriage, while strengthening the ability of girls and boys to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
Mamah explained that the parenting sessions would address positive communication, spending quality time with children, emotional literacy, constructive conflict resolution and knowing when and where to seek assistance.
He added that the programme was designed to give communities room to examine harmful practices, reinforce positive values and develop solutions they could take ownership of, rather than impose ideas on them.
The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice, the Women and Children Rights Empowerment Foundation, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the National Orientation Agency, alongside UNICEF.
Mamah said strengthening families and the community structures around children was central to preventing violence, urging stakeholders to support the programme and contribute to efforts to create safer environments for children.
The Neem Tree Dialogue is expected to provide a platform for sustained community engagement on parenting and child protection across the five targeted communities.
Source: THISDAYLIVE