To commemorate the landmark Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, we’re highlighting the efforts of four African countries that have been building up to this landmark occasion to improve child well-being in partnership with Together for Girls for over a decade.

Each of these four countries, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria, has conducted a Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) and engaged in a Data to Action process to robustly measure the prevalence and nature of physical, sexual, and emotional violence against children at the national level and create evidence-based policies and programmatic solutions. Additionally, each of these governments has engaged civil society in crafting solutions to prevent and respond to violence, and each country is home to a growing Brave Movement platform.

In building global momentum to achieve our five policy asks, we joined child rights advocates and officials from the Ministry of Health, Social Protection, and Education for collaborative, preliminary discussions to influence each country’s final pledging commitments positively.

Significantly, Kenya and Uganda held child participation initiatives with civil society organizations, creating spaces for children to voice their experiences and insights. Of particular interest, children’s diverse experiences within institutional care were also captured, highlighting the need to establish child protection structures in these settings. Notably, unhoused children were absent from these consultations, highlighting a need to develop inclusive strategies that reach this vulnerable group.

Although survivors were not present in these preliminary discussions, meaningful survivor engagement was highlighted as essential to creating informed, empathetic, and effective policies for child protection. There was a deliberate effort by the Government of Kenya to include survivors, but their inclusion was not realized due to financial limitations. This emphasizes the need for stronger advocacy to underscore the importance of establishing national survivor councils. Civil society organizations can support survivors by ensuring resources are available for these survivor councils to engage with governments effectively. Support for survivors in terms of funding should, therefore, remain our top advocacy priority.

The Brave Movement, our survivor-led advocacy initiative, has had a great impact on the region in just 3 years. It’s now calling Member States to establish national survivor councils. Building up to this historic opportunity, the Brave Movement has been working with country partners to embed our framework of prevention, healing and justice into national, regional and global efforts to end the awful scourge.

Specifically in the African region, our success includes:

For the last 15 years, the Together for Girls partnership has worked with country partners to reduce the prevalence of violence through transformational, high-quality data. VACS data is the evidence base that has proven that sexual violence against children is a public health issue. With the support of civil society organizations, governments have built on this power of VACS data, developing national action plans in response to the country’s data. Health ministers from East, Central, and Southern Africa recently committed to VACS data as instrumental in all violence prevention efforts within the African region. The results of our Data to Action model are remarkable.

In 2019, Kenya conducted its second VACS. Comparative analysis of Kenya’s two VACS demonstrates an across-the-board reduction in violence against children, adolescents, and youth. These results demonstrate that with strong political will and evidence-based action, violence is preventable.

The prevalence of any childhood sexual violence experienced by 18-24 year olds:

• Political will: Various member states may prioritize issues differently. This disparity can hinder the establishment of a unified front in addressing childhood violence.
• Financial resources: Governments may have competing funding priorities that take precedence over funding violence prevention initiatives, making it challenging to secure the necessary resources for the CTAs.
• Cultural and social barriers: cultural attitudes toward violence against children and prevailing social norms may hinder open discussions and action on these issues. Addressing stigma is essential for engaging communities and encouraging survivor participation.
• Varied contexts: The varied sociopolitical and cultural contexts of member states in the region mean that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be effective.

Local communities and individual activists can contribute to advancing these policy goals in their own countries or region, and help in sustaining these changes. This requires a society wide approach that needs the buy-in of everyone in the country, right from the family set-up to the national government structures.

Raising awareness
Creating awareness about the commitments made by governments is crucial for sustaining changes. Communities can conduct educational campaigns to inform families about their rights and available resources, helping to create a supportive environment for child safety.

Building support networks
Activists can establish support networks that connect survivors to resources like counseling and legal assistance. These networks can provide mentorship and safe spaces for survivors to share their experiences. There’s also power in a unified voice with numbers

Engaging youth
Africa is experiencing a youth population boom. Leveraging on the power of this demographic by involving them in advocacy efforts is vital for sustaining momentum. Youth-led initiatives can raise awareness and amplify campaigns about violence against children, cultivating a society committed to child protection.

Hold duty bearers accountable
Building partnerships with local and national governments is important for long-term change. Activists can engage with policymakers to provide feedback and advocate for necessary reforms, ensuring that child protection efforts are effectively implemented.