Child Protection Training of Trainers

From 15th to 25th November 2022, Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) conducted a ten-day child protection ‘Training of Trainers’ course, at Humanitarian Peace Support School in Nairobi, Kenya. Led by the EASF Police Component and sponsored by Royal Kingdom of Denmark, 24 Police Regional facilitators participated in this training.

In addition to enhancing training capabilities on child protection issues in PSOs, the course also provided participants with knowledge and skills on the rights, protection and welfare of children in situations of conflict. EASF works to mainstream child rights, child protection and child care in conflict prevention, peace-making, post conflict reconstruction processes and to ensure that the needs and voices of children are adequately taken into consideration in PSOs.

“Beyond child protection, which is an important subject in the context of PSOs, this ToT course was intended to increase the number of regional trainers with a view to ensuring that Member states now take the lead in training and preparing their personnel for deployment in peace support missions”, said Dr Leah Barasa, Head of Civilian Component, representing EASF Director at the closing ceremony.

Research and field experiences indicate that conflict impacts children differently and disproportionately. This calls for deliberate measures to ensure that child protection is integrated into all African Union PSOs’ mandates, policies and functions. Ensuring peace and security in Africa is at the heart of the AU’s peace agenda. To ensure the realization of the rights, protection and welfare of girls and boys, the AU has put in place, laws, policies, mechanisms and tools that if properly implemented will ensure protection of children.

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