June 17-18, 2026

This AP article describes how Nigerian troops rescued seven children and two women who had been kidnapped during an attack on an orphanage in Kogi State in April 2026.

This qualitative study explores the experiences of street children in Benin City, Nigeria, finding that family breakdown, poverty, abuse, and lack of parental care are key drivers of children leaving home. It shows that once on the streets, children adopt various survival strategies, including informal labor, begging, crime, and substance use, and calls for coordinated government and community action to strengthen families and support reintegration.

This study examines the challenges of deinstitutionalization (DI) in Ghana, particularly for child trafficking survivors, highlighting how structural, socio-cultural, and economic factors hinder safe reintegration into family-based care. It finds that while policies promote alternatives to institutional care, effective DI requires sustained investment in community services, poverty reduction, and trauma-informed support to prevent re-trafficking and ensure long-term child well-being.

This study examines the disconnect between Ghana’s child protection laws and their implementation, arguing that the gap stems from tensions between global rights-based frameworks and local, duty-oriented cultural practices rather than resource limitations. It proposes a hybrid governance approach that aligns formal legal systems with traditional kinship structures and promotes culturally responsive practice to strengthen child protection outcomes.

This study examines institutional care policy and operations in Nigeria using a qualitative literature review, with a focus on how children’s rights frameworks shape child welfare practices. The study concludes that Institutions can be improved but Institutional care should not be the last resort.

This article tells the story of Nigerian missionaries Olusola and Chinwe Stevens, who have spent three decades rescuing babies and young children in central Nigeria from harmful traditional beliefs that label them as “cursed” and sometimes lead to

This article reviews global evidence on the impacts of institutional care versus family-based alternatives and examines how these findings inform foster care reform in Ogun State, Nigeria. It synthesizes research from 2009–2025 to identify key developmental outcomes, implementation lessons, and policy priorities for transitioning away from institutional care.

This article describes how, in Ghana, government officials report that more than 60,000 children are currently living and working on the streets of major urban centres, a situation described as a national emergency due to its links with deepening child poverty and multidimensional deprivation.

The piece argues that Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, is mishandling the growing crisis of street children by relying mainly on enforcement actions — such as rounding up boys seen begging or washing windscreens along busy roadways