A day after Kenya marked the International Children’s Day and pledged its commitment to boost access to education and social safety for children.
The theme of this year’s International Children’s Day called upon governments to ensure that all children could receive education and protection, and unlock their full potential.
Kenya’s top Mobile Network Operators have signed Kenya Child On line Protection Industry Charter that aims to ensure online safety for children.
The Charter dubbed ‘WecareKenya’ promises to focus on child on line safety and also to foster a safe culture of responsible internet users through awareness programmes and integrating children’s right into corporate policies.
The Mobile Network Operators took on a series of commitments to leverage the power of mobile technology in providing various solutions to social and economic challenges. Being World Children’s Day, all the network operators present signed the Kenya Child Online Protection Industry Charter, promising to focus on child online safety protection in their business concerns.
Christopher Wambua from Communications Authority says children are at a high risk of being exposed to unsafe internet environment.
According to Wambua the Communication Authority and the government has been at the forefront of protecting the children from dangers that are present in the internet environment like cyber bullying, stalking or engaging in destructive games that lead to loss of life by creating awareness programmes.
GSMA in collaboration with Kenya’s Mobile Network Operators launched the We Care Campaign this morning; the first in Africa and second in the world after the Latin America launch.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report released on Tuesday that refugee school-age children in Africa are facing numerous challenges to access education.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO assistant director-general for education, said children’s right to receive education should be protected no matter where they are from, where they live and what legal paperwork they carry with them.
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“Half of the world’s forcibly displaced people are under the age 18. Many may not see the inside of a classroom for years, however, those who are lucky to be going to school are learning under very dire circumstances,” Giannini said.
According to the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report, there is a severe shortage of teachers while many in displacement settings lack any formal training, with overcrowded classrooms and linguistic differences adding to the pressure.
The Africa Report on Internal Displacement last year revealed that over 12.6 million people in the continent have been displaced by conflict, violence or disasters, with at least 37 out of 55 member states of the African Union facing the risk of failing to meet national and regional development goals unless the issue of internal displacement is addressed.
Despite challenges refugee children undergo, Mohamed said, education provides the displaced and migrants with a protective and stable environment, and is also the best way of building resilience as well as providing opportunities for identifying and enhancing the skills, values and attitudes needed to facilitate their integration into the host community and their eventual re-integration back to their countries.