To engage children in terms of celebrating the Day of the African Child, MISA organized a media flash mob under its Children and the Media project on June 16, 2015. The flash mob took place at MISA offices in Windhoek, Namibia.
The aim of the event was to encourage children’s understanding of the celebration and the celebration’s focus, which was to enhance African countries’ efforts to eliminate child marriage. The event coincided with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter of the Right and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).
MISA’s activities on the Day of the African Child gained a great deal of coverage in the local media. Several media outlets such as the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), radio stations 99FM, Channel 7 and 1FM, television station One Africa Television and the country’s largest newspapers, The Namibian, Republikein and The New Era interviewed the children in regards of their thoughts of the Day of the African Child.
In addition, the children were invited to join the audience for NBC’s talk show program Talk of the Nation. During the show, they were given the opportunity to ask the UNICEF Representative to Namibia and the National Children’s Advocate questions about the welfare of children in Namibia and the issue of child marriage.
Altogether, the children enthusiastically answered journalists’ questions regarding matters such as child marriage and the importance of children’s rights. In their answers, the children emphasized the importance to educate both children and adults on African children’s rights.
