Children take over the waves on June 16 reaching over 4million listeners

Child aged 5-10-year-old discussing their health and protection issues with guest Kailahun District Photo Credit: Miona Swaray SCI

In commemoration of the Day of the African child, Save the Children provided a media platform for children across Sierra Leone to raise their voices; speak out, network and share information on issues affecting children.

Children in Freetown, Pujehun and Kailahun aged 5-18 years engaged local radio stations with nationwide coverage for three hours to advocate and raise awareness on children’s education, health and protection.

The discussions were informed by key findings from the Rapid Assessment (an assessment Save the Children conducted in April to know the impact of COVID-19 on children) and recommendations from the Pan African Report which launched in June.

Children from 5-10 years old, shared their knowledge on corona, the effect it has had on them and what they fear most sitting at home during this period. 

Child aged 11-15 year-old discussing their health and protection issues with guest  Pujehun District Photo Credit: John Swaray SCI

The 11-15-year-old also spoke on similar issues. they shared techniques on how to keep learning at home and proffered advice to their peers on how to stay safe from the pandemic and predators.

The 16-18-year-old invited a teenage mother, who was a victim of teenage pregnancy during Ebola to share her experience. They delved into the Rapid Assessment findings and Pan African Report and called on authorities to pay attention to the findings and act on them.During the three-hour simultaneous nationwide radio broadcast, hundreds of children called in from across the country and were given the opportunity to voice their concerns, read poems, sing songs, and tell interesting stories or jokes.

Children aged 16-18 year-old discussing their eduaction, health and protection issues Freetown Photo Credit: Abdul Sillah SCI

Our reach:  Data from the radio stations indicate that we were able to reach 70 percent of the country’s population 4.9 million people, while community radios in Pujehun reached over 173,000 and Kailahun over 15,000 respectively both covering half of their population.