UNICEF Botswana Youth (U) Reporting For Positive Social Change By Lorraine Kinnear
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n 1989, world leaders made a historic commitment to the world's children by adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international agreement on childhood. It’s become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children's lives around the world. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), now known as United Nations Children's Fund in Botswana, plays an instrumental role as guardian on matters surrounding the rights of children. The world today not only requires advocacy of children's rights; it allows the youth to be expressive on how organisations may contribute to the betterment of their lives. Taking us through UNICEF's sought-after programme, U-Report, Kabo Komanyane, Interim Communications Assistant of UNICEF, was previously the U-Report Program Coordinator. ABOUT U-REPORT U-Report is a platform designed specifically for young peo-
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ple aged between 10 and 24 in developing countries to speak about issues affecting them. This platform promotes citizen-led development and good transformation at the community level; through the utilization of the cellphone Short Message Service (SMS) and is also supplemented by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Young people's thoughts and ideas are collected and skillfully used to highlight actionable societal concerns through weekly poll questions. The platform also allows young people's voices to be heard on local and regional media by sending out alerts to relevant stakeholders about issues affecting them while also providing information to U-Reporters. One of the activities to highlight within the U-report program is the Digital Livelihoods Education Programme. Recently, UNICEF Botswana visited Nata Senior Secondary School, where they met with students involved in this program. The initiative gives young people an opportunity to leverage their talents, build digital and entrepreneurial skills and develop a design mindset. THE RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN | BUSINESS • COMMUNITY • IMPACT
