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The Joining Forces Alliance for Africa roundtable consisted of stakeholders and students from different high schools. It was particularly important to have the children there because it’s about protecting children.
These minors who had school uniform were given an opportunity to ask questions and air their thoughts concerning issues that affect them. All the NGO members of the JFOA were present headed by their respective regional heads. What we call NGO heavyweights.
It was a broad consultative forum that set the stage for broad all-rounded talks that would sharpen child protection policies and strategies. When given an opportunity to speak the minors and the youth raised pertinent issues which helped the attendants see from their perspectives.
“Our parents and guardians make decisions for us that affect our futures significantly without involving us. For example girls should not be ejected from school and married off to old men yet they’ve not been asked what they want. Other girls are taken by their parents to encounter FGM without their consent. We have the right to choose what we want too and that should be respected,” said one female student.
Other students were concerned about online sexual harassment and cyberbullying which is slowly rising in Kenya. The government of Kenya had to counter this vice by launching an online game called Cyber Soljas which was meant for kids ranging from the age of 4 to 14.
In 2020 there was a rise in digital learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the closing of schools. As a result students used the internet more often. However there were cyber bullies who took advantage and were targeting children as young as the age of three.
The children who attended the roundtable asked what was being done by the JFOA and other stakeholders to keep them safe from cyberbullying. Mona Aika, a Child Protection specialist for UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa, said that they were urging governments to focus more funds towards the protection of children especially online.
“We conducted a research some time ago which revealed that various African governments had dedicated less than 1% of their budgets to child protection. At the same time large portions of these budgets were allocated to paying hefty salaries to leaders. African governments should prioritize child protection over other things by allocating significant funds towards the same,” noted Aika.
