 The United Nations International Day of Families is observed globally on May 15 as a way to raise awareness on the different kinds of struggles that may impact the basic family structure anywhere in the world and to reflect on the role families play in development. The theme for this year is families' new technologies. Civil society organisations are advocating for increased investments in the strengthening and unification of families as a way to record greater developmental outcomes. As the world contends with some economic, social and political challenges, civil society actors are seeking greater consideration to the role of family in development and peaceful coexistence in the society. Joining me to discuss is Ayodeji Adilopo, the Deputy Country Director of SOS Children's Villages, an international, non-governmental family and child focused organisation that provides direct services for children at risk of losing parental care and those who have lost parental care. Good afternoon, you're welcome to the news. Good afternoon, thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. In your opinion, what are the major threats the family system in Nigeria is confronted with today which impacts on national development? Thank you very much. The challenges that face families in Nigeria today are quite enormous and they range from, you know, socioeconomic factors and other social factors include disasters, you know, and violence and escalating violence such as wars, insurgencies and conflicts all around the country. Talking about socioeconomic factors, you recall that in the last couple of months or years in the country we've been experiencing harsh economic conditions including high inflation and unemployment. Now these have a way of impacting on the abilities of families to be able to provide for themselves and when families are not able to provide for themselves, you know, it also affects, you know, their survival and their development. What happens thereafter is that children are separated from their families while their families are not able to consistently provide for them. So on the economic front, you see that currently, currently the challenges we are facing is a threat to families and ultimately to children. On the other front, like I mentioned, you know, last year there was a huge disaster as a result of the flood that we had in the country that affected about 30 states in the country. And that was a major, you know, event that separated families that brought about, you know, untold hardship on families. And these are also part of the things that families are confronting. We at SOS Children's villages, what we do is to continue to provide a enabling environment for children to grow, which essentially is talking about families. We believe that children should be able to grow in their own families and that where this is not possible for certain reasons, a very suitable option should be made available for the development of children. All right. Sorry, I don't want to cost you on this, but we need to, you know, take it a bit faster because of the news. Let me just go on the second question concerning the theme of this year's International Day of Family. Is families a new technology? In your opinion, what is the place of technology in the strengthening of families for national development? Thank you very much. You see, COVID-19 has changed a whole lot of things. And it has brought about change in the way education, which is very vital for the development of children and also in social interaction. So it's very important that when we're talking about families and technology, it's very important that families have access to technology, particularly vulnerable families so that they can take advantage of the opportunities that are there for education of children. One of the ways, sustainable ways, we can change the plight of children is by giving them quality education, which is one of their rights. So talking about technology and families, we need to be able to grant access to these digital tools as well as the skills they need to use them, even the caregivers themselves. So all stakeholders must invest in ensuring that families have access to technology, which in turn will help development of families and children. Okay. Lastly, I just want to want you to expand on what the National Assembly said last year. One National Assembly, they began a process for the review of the Child Rights Act 2003. And some are of the opinion that the law is limited to issues relating to issues relating to family system. What's your take on this? Thank you very much. It's let's start by saying it's a good thing that the House of Assembly, the legislature is looking at reviewing the Child Rights Act, which is very old. So I think we should start by commenting that effort. However, this is a call that the review should be holistic. We should look at all matters. The Child Rights Act is is a legal tool at the Federation that looks at matters that relate to children. And one area that also need to be looked at critically is the issue of alternative care, which was not effectively dealt with in the original document. So this is a call to government to also look at including alternative care matters, which looks at vulnerable children who are not able to live with their family. How can they better be cared for in other arrangements that there is need to deal with the issue of institutionalization, which has been shown not to be the best for children. So there is a call on the government to please make this review holistic. This is an opportunity we have to do something for the children. So we are calling on them to do more than just changing a few things, but looking at the holistic review of the document for the betterment of the Nigerian child. All right. Thank you so much, Mr. Ayo. We are going to invite you in a subsequent bulletin to ask you more questions concerning the family units because it is a very wide unit. Thank you for joining us.