Directorate of children services representative Charles Ondongo, leads pupils of Mukuru Primary School, Nairobi, in the official launch of the Safe Community Linkages for Internet Child Safety (Safe CLICS) programme. Photo courtesy of ChildFund Kenya.
ChildFund Kenya has launched Ksh 115 million project to help fight Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) in Kenya.
The three-year project is being funded by Ending Violence Against Children to strengthen the capacity of government agencies to prevent and respond to online child sexual exploitation and abuse and will target at least 200,000 children.
The initiative dubbed Safe CLICS was launched on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in partnership with Life Skills, Childline Kenya, Directorate of Children Services.
The Safe Community Linkages for Internet Child Safety (Safe CLICS) project will target the Counties of Nairobi, Mombasa as well as some parts of Kiambu and Kilifi.
“We decided to start with Nairobi and Mombasa counties and this was informed by the data we have on the rise of online child sexual exploitation and abuse that increased when Covid-19 introduced internet learning as a requirement.’’ Alice Anukur Child Fund Country Director said.
In Nairobi, the project will be implemented in seven Sub-Counties which include: Emakasi Central, South and West, Kibra, Langata and Starehe. In Mombasa and Kilifi counties the project will cover Jomvu, Nyali, Kisauni, Mvita, Likoni and Mtwapa Sub Counties respectively.
The Project Coordinator, Beatrice Muema explained this project will support the Directorate of Children Services to develop a National Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) manual, and child-friendly outreach too, support increased communication and collaboration between Government stakeholders and other technology companies.
WeProtect’s 2021 Global Threat Assessment report indicated that online child sexual exploitation and abuse has rapidly increased in Africa, with about 57% of the report’s Southern and Eastern Africa respondents sharing OSIEA incidences. In 2020, Kenyan law enforcement received 14,434 Cyber Tips from the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nearly 13% increase over 2019. Anecdotal evidence suggests cases are mainly occurring in Nairobi and Mombasa.
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