CHILD PROTECTION
A nation can only be as rich as its investment in child protection and welfare programs. Therefore a child rights centred approach to human development is crucial for sustained economic development of any country. In the spirit of Ubuntu, effective child protection demands that there are no territorial borders, because your child is only as safe as your neighbour’s child.
AICS promotes a rights based approach, believing that the first ring of protection is an empowered child. The persons and institutions with duty to protect a child must be capacity built through public financing.
Over the years, we have guided stakeholders to priority areas of interventions including child sexual exploitation, organized crime and violent extremism, child trafficking, child labour, neglect.
We provide one stop shop access to research reports that inform decision making and resource allocation including the Global status report on violence against children 2020 ; Children in Africa: facts & figures ; The 2019 Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) | UNICEF Kenya ; THE STATE OF THE UGANDAN CHILD: ACERWC
ONLINE SAFETY
Demand for online child safety measures has increased both in scale and complexity. More and more children have access to internet which exposes them to certain risks which include child abuse imagery, coercement into sending inappropriate images of themselves, online sexual grooming etc. AICS works to ensure that online platforms are safe for the children and that parents/guardians are aware of potential risks that children are exposed to. We lobby government policy makers, internet service providers, law enforcement agencies and the public to institute appropriate measures to prevent and effectively respond to online child abuse and exploitation.
Technology is meant to propel economic growth and increased interconnection amongst populations. In the COVID-19 context, the internet has become even more valuable as people are now forced to endorse it for work, school and communication. Millions of children are now forced to utilise the internet for learning as schools remain closed to ensure social distancing. Statistics reveal that 13-19% of children and youth, mostly those aged between 12 and 16years have had an experience of online sexual solicitation. AICS seeks to respond and prevent child online exploitation through strategic partnerships and collaborations.
AICS in collaboration with Terre des Hommes Netherlands and Childline Kenya developed a curriculum to train children aged between 8-12years on prevention and response to online child sexual exploitation (OCSE). These include OCSE_Curriculum_Training_Guide_for_Facilitators_KICD_Approved_Feb_ 2020.pdf and Student_Workbook_OCSE_Curriculum_KICD_Approved_Feb_2020.pdf.
You can also access indepth research report on online child safety OCSE_in-depth_research_report_final_1stJune2020 (Final).pdf and videos that you can use in training Episode 1 – Online Child Safety – Amani gets a smart phone – what next?