UNICEF Collaborates with Anambra State to Educate Citizens on Healthcare and Other Issues

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a sensitisation exercise in partnership with the Anambra State Social Mobilisation and Technical Committee, to educate citizens on issues affecting their health and well-being, as well as those of children in the aftermath of flooding.

During the launch of the sensitisation exercise held on Saturday, the Project Desk Officer, Mrs Grace Onwukwe, noted that one of the adverse effects of flooding is economic hardship, which often leads to the outbreak of diseases. She expressed UNICEF’s concern for children affected by flooding and their protection, adding that parents should be watchful over their children in government-reserved internally displaced persons camps, where people affected by flooding are usually quartered.

Mrs Onwukwe also highlighted the dangers of post-flooding economic hardship, which could lead to parents dispatching their children to become housemaids or hawkers. She noted that some of these children would be subjected to child labour, abuse, and other forms of inhuman treatment, including molestation by paedophiles.

The UNICEF facilitator, Mrs Chinese George-Ileka, who also spoke during the event, urged internally displaced persons (IDPs) to dress decently as a way to prevent sexual violence.