Staff Reporter
With an objective to make Dimapur a child friendly city, ANMA integrated development association (AIDA), conducted one day workshop on ‘Media voices for children’, at AIDA, Don Bosco, here on Tuesday.
Speaking on ‘Right to information: children rights and ‘Promoting children’s rights through media’, Panel lawyer, Dimapur District Legal Services Authority (DDLSA), said that Children were most vulnerable categories in the Indian society, on which the constitution has introduced various provisions for promoting welfare of child.
He said it was the responsibility of every stakeholder to contribute to the protection of children, particularly media, being a stakeholder, shared the same responsibility.
He however, lamented that media has ignored the “responsibility and put more focus on selling sensational news”. He further said that children have become an easy target where mainland media were “more focused on issues related to child exploitation rather than covering actual child right matters, due to which whole affair, children’s privacy, rights, and emotions get neglected”.
Ngullie suggested that media being considered the fourth pillar of democracy and if used efficiently and ethically, can bring revolutionary changes in the life of people. He therefore encouraged the media to be the promoter of child’s rights and awareness.
He also spoke on the article 16 of the UN convention and rights of child, juvenile justice (care and protection), Act 2000, Press Council of India Act 1978, the Indian penal code, 1860 the criminal procedure code, 1973 and stressed on guidelines for media reporting on children.
Project coordinator, Child Friendly Dimapur (CFD) Garrol Lotha, gave a power point presentation on status of CFD, and said that the overall objective was to contribute to the promotion and enforcement of children rights in the urban areas of Dimapur. She also stressed on the implementing strategy, activities, formation of child rights club, capacity building programme and child rights club leaders training programme of AIDA.
The workshop witnessed discussion and action plan with media persons from different houses on how to work positively to protect and uphold the rights of children.
Earlier, the programme was chaired by civil society mobilization officer, CFD Gaisanglung, invocation by SDB, Associate Director, AIDA Rev. Fr. Angel Kuldeep, who also welcomed the gatherings and vote of thanks by civil society mobilization officer, CFD Mechietonu Agnes.