This is the monthly update of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Learning Platform published in September 2022. 

In this video, Anne Kinuthia, shares how social work practitioners from Kivuli, a residential care service provider in Kenya, used a simple, fun, and non-threatening activity called My Say to help children, families and staff, surface and process their emotions during the organization’s transition.

Why is it so important to consider mental health and emotional well-being in child care and child protection? How can we address mental health needs in a non-clinical environment?

The escalating human trafficking menace across the Horn of Africa region should be tackled as a matter of urgency to avert social turmoil and instability, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement during World Day Against Trafficking of Persons.

Children are increasingly involved in sand mining in East Africa. The illegal sand trade occurs in mostly remote areas, hidden from sight and out of reach of anti-child labour advocacy campaigns. That makes it hard to determine the exact number of youngsters involved.

My father left my mother while she was pregnant – she gave birth when he had already left. People call me “daughter of a bitch”. They disturb and hurt me so much. They say they will chase me because I am a foreigner. I am suffering. These are the words of Emma* – a 13-year-old girl from Beni, a city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) near its border with Uganda.

There exists a gap in care leaving literature about the extent to which the labelling and stereotyping of care leavers during their time in residential care facilities affects their transitions into adulthood. This paper presents an analysis of interviews conducted with care leavers from six childcare facilities in Zimbabwe (n = 30).

This short document describes the process of ensuring Kafaalah is considered as a family-based alternative care option within Kenya and the work to promote best practice within the model. It describes the journey of developing a framework and standard operating procedures, beginning with the launch of the Kenyan Guidelines on the Alternative Family Care of Children in 2014. Changing the Way We Care worked with many partners and shares the learning on Kafaalah through this document. Changing the Way We Care is a global initiative implemented by Catholic Relief Services, Maestral International, and other global, national and local partners working together to change the way we care for children around the world.

This webinar hosted by the ESARO Regional Learning Platform, provides nine lessons learned on care reform from the COVID-19 pandemic with examples from Malawi, Uganda and Kenya.

This webinar provides nine lessons learnt on care reform from the COVID-19 pandemic with examples from Malawi, Uganda and Kenya.