ChildFund Africa

I will be presenting at the Comparative International Education Society Conference next week along with my colleague, Bakary Seedy Dampha (Buba) on the results of our Education for Protection and Well-being program and our collaboration with Ministries of Education to integrate social-emotional learning into education reform. Please join us if you are attending CIES:

Happening Now! Our ChildFund International Regional Director, Chege Ngugi, is moderating a critical panel discussion on "A Holistic Approach to Health – Community Partnerships & Innovations for Health Equity" at the ongoing Regional Health Promotion Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. On the panel, we have Prof. Joyce Baliddawa – Researcher in Psychology & Community Health, Moi University; Prof. Judith Mangeni – Senior Lecturer, Epidemiology & Medical Statistics, Moi University; Vincent Okungu, PhD - Senior Health Financing Advisor, The END Fund; Dr. Aisha Liman – Global Health Advisor, Johanniter International Assistance and Kenneth Miriti – Reproductive Health Coordinator, County Government of Kilifi. Hosted by VSO and the Ministry of Health, Kenya, in collaboration with key development partners, this conference is bringing together policymakers, health workers, researchers, advocates, and development organizations to drive action toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in East Africa and beyond. #universalhealth #UHC #health #RHPC2025

I’m honored to be speaking at the upcoming Regional Health Promotion Conference 2025, hosted by VSO and the Ministry of Health, Kenya, where leaders, practitioners, and changemakers will discuss solutions for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in underserved communities. At ChildFund International, we see firsthand how poverty and exclusion create barriers to healthcare, especially for children and families. Achieving UHC requires collaboration, innovation, and community-led solutions that leave no one behind. Looking forward to sharing insights from our work and learning from fellow speakers and participants. #RHPC2025 #UniversalHealthCoverage #HealthForAll #ChildFund #VSO

👂Selon World Health Organization (OMS), 34 millions d’enfants dans le monde ont besoin de services de réadaptation pour traiter une perte auditive incapacitante. Beaucoup d’entre eux sont dans nos écoles, nos communautés, et rencontrent d’énormes défis dans leur apprentissage et leur développement. 💡Parce que chaque enfant malentendant mérite la chance d’entendre, d’apprendre et de s’épanouir, ChildFund Sénégal a soutenu les enfants du Centre Verbo-Tonal de Dakar en leur offrant une dizaine d’appareils auditifs, essentiels pour leur réhabilitation auditive et leur développement de la parole. À 9 ans, A.K. vit avec une surdité profonde (au-delà de 90 décibels). Il est en moyenne section et, à cause de ses difficultés auditives, a accumulé un important retard scolaire. Aujourd’hui, grâce à son appareil auditif offert par ChildFund Sénégal, il peut enfin entendre, progresser et espérer un avenir meilleur. "Ces appareils sont cruciaux pour ces enfants en situation de handicap, car entendre est la clé pour apprendre à parler. En permettant à ces enfants d’accéder à des aides auditives, ChildFund Sénégal contribue à leur éducation et ouvre la voie à un avenir plein de perspectives." Taysir Sham, audioprothésiste et audiologue. #Inclusion #ÉducationPourTous #SantéAuditive #ChildFundSénégal #ImpactSocial #HandicapAuditif

In The Daily Monitor Newspaper today, Our Child Protection & Advocacy Manager, Akite Lydia Jean shares insights on why we need to increase funding for children in Uganda. It is a no brainer that children in Uganda constitute 50.5% of Uganda's population. But have we done enough as leaders to secure their future? Akite warns that if the country does not address the growing concerns affecting children, Uganda will have a future population of young people struggling with various forms of violence. She explains more along with other child rights experts in the article below. UGANDA CHILD RIGHTS NGO NETWORK - UCRNN World Vision Uganda. Save the Children International ChildFund International ChildFund Africa Moses Otai Chege Ngugi Ekany Dillis Stanley Opus #Budgetingforchildren #Financing #Childrenfirst #BecauseWeNeedEachother

Le rapport final d’évaluation du projet PASSAJE a révélé des résultats significatifs : 🔹 Adoption de bonnes pratiques en Santé Reproductive et Menstruelle (SRM) chez les adolescents, à l’école et dans la communauté. 🔹 Réduction de l’absentéisme scolaire des filles (de 12,5 % à 5,4 %). 🔹 Sensibilisation accrue des communautés et renforcement de leur engagement. 🔹 Construction de 16 blocs d’hygiène sensibles à la Gestion de l’Hygiène Menstruelle (GHM). 🔹 Amélioration des performances scolaires des élèves bénéficiaires. En partenariat avec les ministères de la Santé (DSME) et de l’Éducation nationale, ChildFund Sénégal a partagé, ce vendredi 7 mars 2025, les résultats de cette évaluation finale du projet, mis en œuvre à Diourbel et Thiès de mars 2002 à février 2025. 💡 Des défis restent à relever : 🔹 Une plus grande implication des garçons dans ces dynamiques. 🔹 Une meilleure coordination locale pour renforcer l’impact. 🔹 Une pérennisation des actions et du financement pour garantir un changement durable. ChildFund Sénégal réaffirme son engagement aux côtés de l’État et des communautés pour consolider ces avancées et promouvoir le modèle PASSAJE à plus grande échelle. Allassane Drabo Mamadou Mbaye Mamadou SOW Haddy withK Maimouna Sow Amina Kane Ndeye Sow Mbow ONG PDEF Ministère Education nationale du Sénégal Ministère de la Santé et de l'Action sociale Fédération Kajoor-Jankeen ChildFund Deutschland #DSME #PASSAJE #Éducation #SantéMenstruelle #ImpactSocial #EngagementCommunautaire #ChildFundSénégal

International Women's Day What if you had no bank account, no savings, or no access to credit? What if every loan application you submitted was rejected because you had no collateral? What if there was simply no bank nearby? Or what if going to a bank meant filling out paperwork you couldn’t read or fully understand? For millions of women in Africa, this is their reality. While Sub-Saharan Africa has shown significant growth in financial inclusion over the past decade, much of it driven by mobile money, 60% of women (over 100 million) still lack access to formal financial services. Without finances, they have fewer opportunities to invest in businesses, educate their children, or build resilience against economic shocks. On this International Women’s Day, I am reflecting on the importance of financial inclusion and how we can eliminate barriers to finance for women. I am reminded of one of my recent visits to Guinea (Conakry), where I saw firsthand how ChildFund Guinea is helping women take control of their financial futures through Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs). VSLAs are built on trust and community. ChildFund provides an initial start-up fund to these groups. Women, in groups of 20, come together to pool their money into a shared fund, providing each other with small loans to invest in businesses, pay school fees, or manage emergencies. This system eliminates the barriers of traditional banking and creates financial independence on their own terms. And the numbers have been remarkable! Over the past 2 years, 243 VSLA groups in Kindia and Dabola regions, with 7,290 women, saved over USD 1,145,000! This further translates to over 58,320 family members being taken care of. Besides providing capital, VSLAs promote social cohesion, serving as spaces where women support one another in times of hardships like funerals, and provide a platform to create awareness on matters to do with child protection, health, and nutrition. ChildFund further trains these groups in business, financial management, and decision-making, and monitors the groups’ operations to ensure growth. With access to finance, these women are gradually breaking free from cycles of poverty and dependence (mostly on their husbands). They are starting and growing businesses, ensuring their children stay in school, providing food and healthcare for their families, and ultimately strengthening their communities from within. Financial inclusion isn’t just about numbers, it’s about power. When women have access to financial resources, they drive change within their families and communities. Happy International Women's Day! #IWD2025 #WomensDay #financialinclusion #accelerateaction #ChildFund #VSLA #womenempowerment @ChildFundInternational ChildFund Alliance

What comes to mind when you see a police officer in uniform? Authority? Protection? Intimidation? Now, imagine you're a child in distress, at a police station, reporting a case of abuse. Would you feel safe enough to open up? At Kathwana Police Station in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya, where cases of abuse, including female genital mutilation (#FGM) and #childmarriage are rampant, we meet Constable Glory Mukami, a Gender and Children's Officer. Instead of a uniform, she wears casual clothes. "Children fear when they see the police. The uniform scares them. They can only open up, speak the truth, and share the whole story when they feel safe and comfortable. That’s why I dress this way. Now they see me like their mother or an auntie." The environment matters. "Having a child-friendly space where the children can play as we talk builds trust. It helps them open up and talk about what they have gone through." “Initially when we would interview our children, they could not give the information in full. But since ChildFund Kenya came in and made it very, very friendly for children, right now, they give us more information that we need to investigate the cases.” It's the little things that make a big difference! At ChildFund International, we’re working to create safe, welcoming spaces where children can heal, share, and be heard. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/dC8YfDyu #childprotection #childfriendlyspaces #safespaces #justicesystem

“Kenya is a hotspot for online sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Many social factors, including poverty, drive children into livestreaming naked while soliciting for money online.” Watch as our Programs and Sponsorship Director, Dr. Issa Kipera, discusses this with the BBC News. https://lnkd.in/dGZFWKgM Safe Online ChildFund International ChildFund Africa ChildFund Alliance Lifeskills Promoters (LISP) Childline Kenya Joining Forces Alliance BBC News #onlinechildprotection #onlinechildsafety #onlinechildsexualexploitationandabuse #ocsea #oseac #protectchildrenonline #takeitdown

How we wound up for the weekend might interest and inspire you. In Sierra Leone’s Kono, Kenema, and Kailahun Districts, the Establishing Regenerative Organic Cocoa Agroforestry in Sierra Leone: Promoting Biodiversity and Farmer Livelihoods through a sustainable cocoa value chain, is a key action of the Agro-Tech Development Support Project, co-funded by the European Union and Tradin Organic and implemented by ChildFund International.  The two-year project worth € 215,628 has the objective of Sustaining and further expanding agroforestry through effective financial management with Village Savings and Loan Associations at Community Level. The project has begun transforming livelihoods and promoting sustainability in the cocoa sector. A key success? Strengthening financial resilience. So far, 25 of the targeted 50 Farmer Based Organizations have been structured into Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), collectively valued at 312,410 Sierra Leone Leones (€13,700). These groups have generated 585,935 Leones (€24,112) in total shares and a profit margin of 146,897 Leones (€6,045). Recently, officials from our donor partners, Delegation of the European Union to Sierra Leone—Federico Capurro, Infrastructure and Rural Development Programme Manager, Franko Manso Marah, Finance, Contracts, and Audit Officer, Jonathan Yambasu Bundu Communications Consultant—joined the ChildFund International team, including Isatu Venn, Programs and Sponsorship Director, Lahai Aruna, Advocacy and Child Protection Manager and the project’s lead, Victor Aitkins, the project’s coordinator, Michael Jah, one of the project’s officers, Samuel Forbes, Senior Driver, and Sahr Ngaujah, Communications Manager, and, on the Tradin Organic side, Soizic LEGRAND, Indigenous Agroeconomist to witness our collective impact firsthand. One of the project’s participants, 22-year-old Sitta, shared how the VSLA has changed her life: "Since joining this group, life has been smooth, and my pot hasn’t stopped boiling. I invested the loan I took from the group, and my business is really growing.” Other members of the group revealed they are using the loans from the VSLA to buy school materials for their children, pay hospital bills, university fees, as well as establish profitable businesses, and more importantly, from the proceeds from their businesses, put food on the table for their families each day. This is the power of sustainable development—where economic growth meets resilience, and communities are strengthened and sustained for the long term. #SustainableCocoa #EUinSierraLeone #ChildFund #VSLA #RegenerativeAgriculture #RuralEconomy #FinancialLiteracy #project #AgroTechDevelopment #Development #AgroForestry #VSLAs #SavingsGroups ChildFund Africa ChildFund Alliance ChildFund Australia ChildFund Brasil ChildFund Uganda ChildFund Mozambique ChildFund The Gambia ChildFund Sénégal ChildFund Guinea ChildFund Ethiopia ChildFund Kenya ChildFund Zambia