UNICEF Niger Polio Videos: Reaching the Last Child, and For Every Child a Leader

One of the programmatic foci of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Niger is to support the Government in improving coverage to reach children still not covered by routine immunisation, using immunisation as an entry point for health systems strengthening in all areas. Among their strategies is to promote dialogue that is prospective and child- and youth-centred by involving multiple stakeholders, promoting innovation, and fostering partnerships with United Nations agencies and development partners, the media, researchers and academics, the private sector, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, women- and youth-led organisations, youth role models, and social change leaders. They also operate at the subnational level, particularly in the regions of Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabery, and Zinder, which have the greatest number of children who are multidimensionally deprived, affected by emergencies, or otherwise marginalised.

An illustration of this focus and of these strategies is UNICEF Niger's action to reach millions of children with polio vaccine across the country during the National Immunization Days (NIDs) conducted in June 2019. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, La Fondation L'Occitane, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), this particular campaign was coupled with Vitamin A supplementation and deworming.

Two of the videos available within UNICEF Niger's YouTube channel depict this work. The videos, each under 2 minutes in length, are in French with English subtitles.

• Reaching the Last Child - Some children live in places that are harder to reach with polio vaccines than others. In Niger, frontline health workers deliver lifesaving vaccines no matter how difficult it is to reach the last child. Multiple advocacy and social mobilisation efforts are underway to mobilise parents and communities.
• For Every Child a Leader - In Niger, some pockets of resistance to polio immunisation still persist in some villages. Refusals are largely caused by ignorance, rumours, beliefs, illiteracy, and other social factors. In this context, support from traditional leaders is critical to help increase community acceptance and vaccination coverage.