Day Of The African Child
16TH June 2022 is the day that has been earmarked to celebrate the African child internationally. We at African girls Hope foundation are delighted to share in this day. It is a bitter sweet day for us. Whereas we are joining the rest of the world to celebrate the resilience of the African child we are broken as recently we lost one of our girls to cancer. May her soul rest in glory.
This year’s theme Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy and Practice since 2013 is very close to our hearts because we work with minorities, the refugee girls and women. Most of these girls and women suffer violations and severe harmful practices silently.
Despite the efforts by the Kenyan government and UNICEF developing and adopting policies and enacting laws to protect children, thousands are still exposed to violence and abuse, harmful practices, lack of parental care and sexual exploitation. Children also face specific risks during and after emergencies such as floods, droughts, conflicts or epidemics. An emerging threat for children is online abuse and exploitation. The increase in cyber crimes has become a major cause of concern after the Covid-19 pandemic which brought about technological advancement and more exposure.
A research done by Kenya’s ministry of labour and social protection in 2019-2020 indicates that around one in two young adults in Kenya experienced violence as a child, according to the 2019 Violence Against Children Survey. Another survey found that 46 per cent of 18 to 24-year-old women faced at least one type of violence – physical, emotional or sexual – during their childhood, as well as 52 per cent of young men in the same age group. The prevalence of child marriage among girls stands at 23 per cent.
It is against this backdrop that we at AGHF join in together with the rest of the world to condemn harmful practices. We stay committed to keeping our girls and the other children safe from harmful practices.
We stay committed to the believe that every child should benefit fully from quality education, every child should be protected against violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse, and every child should free from the impact of armed conflicts and other disasters or emergency situations. African children’s voices and views are important and matter!
Dr. Grace Faraja
African Girls Hope Foundation.
