Safaricom, UNICEF Kenya and the Directorate of Children Services have launched a campaign dubbed Spot it, Stop it, to promote awareness on violence against children and to advocate for change.
The campaign kicked off in Nairobi County on 25th October with sensitization forums for various stakeholders. These include children, the Area Advisory committee for children services, the National Government Administrative organ, Education stakeholders and County Government officials. The campaign targets to reach all 47 counties in Kenya, but is starting with the high-risk counties.
The Spot it, Stop it campaign also calls for cases of violence against children to be reported to the relevant authorities by reaching out to any of the toll-free numbers for assistance. The numbers are 116, 999, 112 or child protection offices.
The prevention and response measures are based on the 2019 Kenya Violence Against Children Survey report and the National Prevention and Response Plan on Violence against Children 2019-2023.
As part of the campaign, children will also be informed on how to identify and report online abuse. The Directorate of Children Services and UNICEF will also distribute a child-friendly booklet on violence against children.
In November 2020, UNICEF Kenya and Safaricom announced a partnership to help Kenyan children in a range of areas including education, child protection and emergencies. Through the partnership, they pledged to work together to ensure children, especially the poorest and most marginalized, can access the Internet at school, are protected from violence and abuse.
Children were also provided with vital information on life-threatening situations like drought, floods and disease outbreaks such as COVID-19.