Minister of Culture oversees the Official Launch of the Activities of the Journalists’ Network, Friends of Children
Nouakchott
The Minister of Culture, Arts, Communication, and Relations with Parliament, and Government Spokesperson, Mr. El Houssein Ould Mdou, presided this evening, Thursday in Nouakchott, over the official launch of the activities of the Journalists Network Friends of Children, in collaboration with UNICEF.
The network aims to highlight children’s issues in the national media space in order to protect them from the dangers of digital violence and to raise community awareness of their fundamental rights regarding child care.
He indicated that the government is working on practical programs and realistic initiatives to enhance educational, health, and social systems, by coordinating efforts with partners to ensure the protection of children and the development of their abilities in a safe and stimulating environment.
He also noted that the culture sector, through coordination with the High Authority for Press and Audiovisual Media, has worked to strengthen mechanisms for professional regulation and oversight in order to protect the public space from harmful media practices without infringing on freedom of expression, in addition to launching a program to modernize public support and enhance journalists’ professional skills through training and digital transformation.
In turn, the head of the network, Mr. Mohamed Ould Khattat, explained that the establishment of the Network of Journalists Friends of Children meets the aspirations of journalists keen to contribute to enhancing and improving the situation of children in the country, particularly by raising public awareness of children’s rights and the laws protecting them.
He added that the role of journalism is to defend vulnerable groups, including children, as well as to serve social development in Mauritania, ensuring they have access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and justice.
For his part, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Mr. Al-Kabir Al-Alawi, explained that this initiative represents an important milestone in the context of the commitments made on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day, carrying with it a clear and sincere ambition to improve media coverage of child-related issues. He highlighted the importance of protecting the child’s identity, avoiding stigmatization, respecting human dignity, and carefully verifying information, considering these commitments as directly derived from children’s rights as stipulated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
He also emphasized the pivotal role that media professionals play in promoting children’s rights by addressing the most sensitive and precise issues centered around children.
The opening took place in the presence of the Director of Parliamentary Relations at the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Communication, as well as a number of invited guests and people intere