The UNICEF’s unique
social media platform to engage with communities on issues that affect them, known as U-Report, now has
over 2 million registered responders in Nigeria, reports ITRealms.
U-Report uses simple Short
Message Service (SMS) messages and social media to reach communities around the
country and provides an opportunity for community members to share their
opinions and drive positive change. U-Report relies on volunteer community
members, mostly young people, serving as U-Reporters to provide information
through conducting polls on issues that affect their communities. It is also an
important tool for sharing information through message alerts.
Including the more than 2
million Nigeria U-Reporters, the U-Report platform reaches communities in 39
countries around the world and has grown to almost 4 million since it was first
launched in 2011.
The
first U-Report poll in Nigeria was
sent out in April 2014 and since then, 169 polls have been run and more than
150 alerts issued on the Nigerian U-Report platform in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo,
Pidgin and English. The topics include health, education, safety and security,
Internally Displaced Persons, water and sanitation and violence against children,
with results disseminated to Government and other relevant agencies.
Since
its inception in Nigeria, UNICEF’s main partner on U-Report has been National
Youth Service Corps (NYSC) which has been a key player in the recruitment of
responders. All states in Nigeria are represented on the platform, with the
highest number of U-Reporters registered in Jigawa state.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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