Strengthening child protection policies and their implementation in Eastern Africa

EACRN works to strengthen child protection policies and their implementation across the region, COFH provides safe spaces for Somali women and girls to discuss the realities they face in their communities, and stakeholders from Kenya and Somalia come together to address the surge of organ trafficking cases.

Photo credit: The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (EACRN).

Welcome to the November edition of Freedom Collaborative's Africa newsletter. Earlier this month, the African Child Policy Forum launched its sixth edition of The African Report on Child Wellbeing, which provides a comprehensive and continental review and analysis of girls' situation in Africa. According to the report, Africa is home to 308 million girls under 18 years of age. Of these, 61 percent are under 10, and a quarter is in their early adolescence. Findings in the report show that girls living in Africa today are more likely to be victims of trafficking, sexual abuse, and labor exploitation. It also showed that they are discriminated against by laws relating to marriage and inheritance and likely to be poorer than boys.

As we reflect on the findings, we are grateful for organizations' work to safeguard and protect vulnerable children's rights across the region. We are once again pleased to highlight updates from our partners in Kenya.

The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (EACRN) signed an MOU with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to facilitate the development of the IGAD Child Protection Policy. It held multiple events to further efforts against child trafficking and exploitation. Candle of Hope Foundation (COHF) facilitated 4 Girls for girls' awareness campaigns in Berbera, Somaliland, in November, providing a safe space for women and girls to discuss their realities in their communities and support informed decision making. COHF and the Counter Human Trafficking Trust- East Africa (CHTEA) also have joined forces to lobby for policies and build the capacity of Somalia's federal government to address the alarming rise of cases of human trafficking for organ sale in recent times.

Thank you so much to EACRN, COFH, and CHTEA for your contributions and commitment to better your communities! This newsletter highlights initiatives in Kenya and Somalia. We are currently working on some exciting projects with partners in Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi, which we look forward to sharing in the December update!

Please keep sending your updates to us via our Facebook group or by email, so we can share them with the wider anti-trafficking community in the region and beyond.

Strengthening child protection policies and implementation in Eastern Africa

EACRN recently signed an MOU with IGAD to facilitate the development of the IGAD Child Protection Policy. As IGAD aims to develop its Child Protection Policy, EACRN will provide technical and financial support. The policy will give the IGAD countries in Africa a harmonized framework to monitor, implement key child rights focus areas, including addressing cross-border child trafficking and child sexual exploitation.

In addition, EACRN, in partnership with Trace Kenya, held three meetings in Mombasa targeting the Mombasa County Child Rights Network. The workshops were held under the theme Developing a Practical Pathway in Tackling Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Context of COVID 19 in Mombasa County. The meetings aimed to strengthen the county network in their fight to combat child trafficking. Children from Mombasa and other counties, as well as from Uganda, participated and received training on how to use the complaints mechanism under the ACRWC. Graca Machel Trust, based in South Africa, facilitated the training. Children's participation was vital to allow their voices, opinions, and recommendations to be heard and captured in matters that affect them, especially during the Covid period where children are still out of school.

EACRN also held a side event on child trafficking during the 35th session of the ACERWC- held on the 31st -7th of September. The African Committee of experts sits twice a year, in March and November. Due to the Covid pandemic, the session was held in September this year. EACRN held a side event, a culmination of 5 webinars held in August with the support of STTK, Uganda Child rights Network (CRNN), and Dwelling Places from Uganda to commemorate the World Day against Trafficking. The network highlighted the recommendations arising from the webinars targeting the East African Community, IGAD, and the African Commission on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Finally, EARCN undertook legal research on the East African Community Anti-Human Trafficking Bill and the draft IGAD Migration Protocol. The first research explores the legal framework in Eastern Africa on Child Protection and also looks at regional and international policies that touch on trafficking. The report further highlights the impact of Covid 19 on children, child trafficking, and online sexual exploitation of children. A link to the report is available on their website. The review and analysis of the draft IGAD Migration Policy provide a basis for analyzing the policy on international and regional levels. The study also provides recommendations for improving the policy, particularly in addressing migration in the context of IGAD and its relation to child trafficking and child sexual exploitation.

The Girls 4 Girls awareness campaign initiative

In November, Candle of Hope Foundation (COHF) facilitated four Girls for Girls awareness-raising events, including safe spaces for women and girls to have conversations around how to protect themselves from sexual and other forms of exploitation. In these meetings, participants had the rare opportunity to talk about issues and concerns in an open and safe environment, without the worry of being judged.

The sessions create an enabling environment that provides training for women, particularly young women, to engage in direct dialogue with more experienced female participants on matters and questions concerning reproductive health, sexual exploitation, and universal women's human rights.

Addressing rising cases of organ harvesting in Somalia through partnership

Although cases of human trafficking for the purpose of organ sale are not as prevalent in Somalia as compared to sex trafficking, there has been an alarming rise of cases in recent times. The sale of human organs has become a lucrative underground business.

COHF and CHTEA are working in partnership with Kenya and Somalia's relevant government agencies to sign and ratify pertinent international policies. The two organizations have also jointly shepherded several capacity-building sessions involving the Federal Government of Somalia to develop a training regime for police and judicial officers to identify and intervene on issues of human trafficking, including cases relating to organ harvesting. The below is an actual case the organizations worked on recently, and that demonstrates the need for better laws:

MOGADISHU: Fatiya is a 13-year-old girl who goes to work every day as a house help in Mogadishu's wealthy suburbs but lives with her mother in one of the most impoverished shanty suburbs of Mogadishu. She doubles up as one of the 'children hunters' who roam around Mogadishu streets to snap up children. This activity is criminal, but she is coerced and pressured by agents of a new organ trade syndicate. They have taken advantage of the cruel poverty that defines the lives of people in the shanty suburbs. Her involvement constitutes human trafficking for organ removal in many countries, a severe crime that could land her more than 30 years in prison. But at her age, she might not understand the risk of spending decades behind bars.

Fatiya works on an order basis. Each time she manages to take a child to the agents, she gets 1000 Somali shillings, that's approximately US$1.74. The "reward" is enticing enough to make a young, unsuspecting girl like Fatiya help the dealers of the illegal organ trade.

The latest order was botched after she "mistakenly" told her mother, who was extremely shocked, and reported the matter to the police. The police raided the syndicate house and managed to rescue 12 children who were reportedly going to be trafficked to Kenya for other destinations through the Mandera border. Through the collaboration of the police, COHF (Candle of Hope Foundation), and CHTEA (Counter Human Trafficking Trust-East Africa), the children were transferred to a safe house, and family tracing has begun. The perpetrators, however, are still walking free.

*This personal story has been published with the consent of the survivor. The names have been changed to protect identities.