IMPACT on child protection in Africa, March 2010

This issue of of IMPACT presents ways in which Save the Children are working in Africa on child protection, within the framework of Save the Children’s Child Protection Global Initiative, which became operational in 2009. As in other parts of the world, African children are overwhelmingly affected by abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. Of the 30 countries around the world in conflict, an estimated two-thirds of these are in Africa.The report highlights some of the key interventions being used to support children – reunification, counselling, judicial reform, establishing child friendly spaces and social security systems. All of these efforts involve the education of children, their families, local communities and national governments on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the commitments made by governments across Africa to protect their children.