This article offers an extensive theoretical and analytical interrogation of dominant trafficking discourses, with particular emphasis on Ghana, Nigeria, and the wider West African sub-region. It argues that prevailing global and national anti-trafficking frameworks often obscure children’s agency, misrecognise culturally embedded practices such as fostering and labour migration, and produce unintended harms through criminalisation and rescue-oriented interventions.

This qualitative study examines how young care leavers in Ghana are involved in decisions about their transition from residential care, revealing that despite national and international policy commitments, their participatory rights are often neglected. Findings show that care leavers frequently feel excluded or manipulated in key decisions, highlighting the need for more inclusive, rights-based approaches that recognize them as active partners in planning their post-care futures.

This mixed-methods study, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from all 15 counties in Liberia, examines the drivers and scale of children living in street situations through interviews with children, parents, government, UN, and civil society actors.

This evaluation of Save the Children Finland’s Child-Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP) programme (2022–2025) found that it improved access to social protection, strengthened government systems, and supported better parenting practices across six countries in Africa and Asia. The programme showed strong results—especially through its parenting component, which improved caregiver engagement and child development outcomes—while highlighting the need for greater government ownership to sustain long-term impact.

This study examines how socio-psychological factors influence parents’ attitudes toward fostering children in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, using a correlational design and survey data from parents in urban and rural communities. Findings show that family communication patterns and disciplinary beliefs significantly predict positive attitudes toward fostering, highlighting the need for sensitization and education initiatives led by government and social welfare organizations.

This study explores the informal foster care practices of the Igbo ethnic group in South-East Nigeria, revealing both its cultural value in providing family-based care and the challenges it faces. Findings highlight the lack of regulation, data, and support services, underscoring the need for greater involvement of government agencies and social workers to ensure children’s safety and well-being.

In the piece, the Association of Orphanages and Homes Operators of Nigeria (ASOHON) Southern Nigeria chapter calls for stronger collaboration between orphanage operators, government agencies and other stakeholders to build a more inclusive, family

This article provides a critical examination of the Child's Rights Act in Nigeria, with a focus on strengthening foster care through the codification of the United Nations (UN) Guidelines on Alternative Care. It analyzes the existing legal framework governing foster care in Nigeria, identifying gaps and limitations that hinder the effective protection and care of children living in foster care arrangements.

This endline report reviews changes in child trafficking and child labor across four districts in Sierra Leone between 2019 and 2024, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data. It summarizes major findings, outlines key recommendations, and provides an overview of the study’s methodology and program phases from baseline to endline.

This article analyzes how Nigeria’s statutory, customary, and international laws intersect to shape adoption and legitimacy, revealing inconsistencies, cultural resistance, and systemic weaknesses that undermine children’s rights. It calls for legal harmonization and reforms grounded in child-centered and rights-based principles to create a more inclusive and secure framework for recognizing parenthood.