The Free Pentecostal Fellowship of Kenya (FPFK), through the Linda Mtoto Project, has trained Busia-based journalists on children’s rights protection.
Speaking after the 2-day training for the journalists on children’s rights protection, Everline Achieng, coordinator of the Linda Mtoto project, said journalists are well positioned to ensure the community is well informed on matters of children’s rights protection.
“We want the media practitioners to help in sensitising the community on the protection of children’s rights. These are people who have a platform with many followers, including on radio and television, and this gives them an opportunity to reach a large mass of people on the same.They also need to have the knowledge of understanding how to handle these cases when they encounter them in their day-to-day activities,” she said.
Achieng noted the sensitivity in some of the cases of violation of children’s rights, stating the need for coordination between the journalist and other stakeholders in addressing matters.
“Some of the cases involving violation of children’s rights are very sensitive. This calls for the journalist being an informant on how they can handle those issues with the entities assigned with the responsibilities of protecting the rights of the children. This will also help to guarantee their safety as they provide assistance to those who are abused in the communities,” she said.
She further noted that Busia County is experiencing an increase in violations of the children’s rights, which she attributed to the level of poverty and being at the border.
“We have had cases in this county where the poverty among many families has caused many parents to neglect their children. Many young children have been exposed to child labour. The courts in Busia County have been helping us to fight this problem. Following the recent judgment, the court has declared itself as the defender of the children which is a good gesture and source of hope to our children,” she said
Bishop Richard Emojong of the Free Pentecostal Fellowship of the Kenya Teso region acknowledged there are challenges in handling the issues of children, expressing his hope that the actions will help to protect children.
“When it is known that you are the one who reported, you will be subjected to threats and accusations that you are going beyond your responsibility as the church. Matters of children’s rights are everyone’s responsibility regardless of what you do and who you are,” he said.
He also noted that the matters children don’t recognise the religion issues as they cut across. He added that they are engaging everyone to ensure the safety of children.
“As the church, we don’t talk about religion when we speak about children’s rights. We have done sensitisation to many pastors and imams from different mosques so that they can also use their place of worship to advocate for the protection of children’s rights. Since the Linda Mtoto project began, we have seen a decline in these cases, but we are not yet where we want to be,” he said.
Journalists who were trained stated that they have been informed much on the rights of the children and how they can be part of the team to protect them.
They said the training has been an eye-opener on how they can play a crucial role in the war against violation of children’s rights.
“Many times, we have encountered these cases, but due to a lack of enough knowledge, we have not been able to know how we can handle the issues. The training has given us a clear roadmap on how those cases can be handled so that we can also be the agents of change in our community,” said Patrick Okumu of Emuria FM.
Elias Eteba from the Busia border said that they will be helping the community by engaging them through topical discussion on the children’s rights.
“We cannot run away from this involving child protection. We are going to use our platforms to ensure that we sensitise the community on the importance of protecting the rights of our children so that we can have a safe space where everyone’s rights are observed,” he said.
Victoria Magar from Busia Border Radio said she has been trained on how to handle a story on the rights of children without exposing them.
“Some of us were not well informed on how we can write a story without harm to an affected child. The training has equipped us with knowledge on how to handle these stories in a correct manner as we help to protect the rights of our children,” Magar said.
By Rodgers Omondi
