As
the 43rd G7 Summit gets underway in Italy, the United Nations Child Fund (UNICEF) has sent a
six-point agenda to the governments across the world for action to protect
refugee and migrant children and ensure their wellbeing, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The
43rd G7 summit, NaijaAgroNet gathered
would hold between May 26 and 27, 2017 in Taormina (ME), Sicily, Italy.
Disclosing
this, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth, said the call has become
imperative for the governments to adopt its six-point agenda due to global rise
in refugee and migrant children since 2010.
“These children need a real commitment from governments
around the world to ensure their safety throughout their journeys. Leaders
gathering next week at the G7 should lead this effort by being the first to
commit to our six-point agenda for action,” Forsyth said.
The
UNICEF agenda, Forsyth said, include protection of child refugees and migrants,
particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence; End
the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating, by introducing a
range of practical alternatives; and keep families together as the best way to
protect children and give children legal status.
In
addition, UNICEF agenda comprised keeping all refugee and migrant children
learning and give them access to health and other quality services; Press for
action on the underlying causes of large scale movements of refugees and
migrants; and Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and
marginalization in countries of transit and destination.
Further, UNICEF also urged the public to
stand in solidarity with children uprooted by war, violence and poverty, by
supporting the six-point agenda for action.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that UNICEF
promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, and works in 190 countries
and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing
special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the
benefit of all children, everywhere.
Isaac
Oyimah/GEE