Keeping children safe through protection and safeguarding.

Introduction

Every child has the right to grow up safe from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. In communities recovering from conflict and displacement, that right needs defenders — trusted adults, clear reporting paths, and neighbourhoods that watch out for their youngest members.

ACFO's child protection and safeguarding work strengthens exactly these defences, community by community.

Community-Led Protection Groups

At the heart of our approach are community-based child protection groups: volunteers selected by their own neighbourhoods and trained to identify, refer, and follow up on child protection concerns.

• Identifying children at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation
• Referring cases to social services, health facilities, and police child desks
• Following up to make sure children actually receive help
• Raising awareness in markets, churches, mosques, and schools

These groups work because they are local. A volunteer who lives three doors away notices when a child stops going to school or when a household falls into crisis — long before any outside organization could.

Safe Spaces for Healing

Children who have experienced violence or loss need more than referrals; they need places to be children again. Our child-friendly activities give boys and girls structured play, storytelling, and group activities led by trained facilitators who know how to spot distress and respond gently.

Working With Families

Most protection risks begin and end at home. Our positive parenting sessions bring caregivers together to talk honestly about discipline, stress, and the pressures of providing — and to practise approaches that keep children safe and relationships strong.

Protecting children is not one organization's job. It is everyone's job, every day.

Our Commitment

We continue to train volunteers, strengthen referral pathways, and stand with survivors and their families. A safe childhood is the foundation for everything else we do — education, health, and opportunity all depend on it.

Together, We Can Help More Children Build Brighter Futures.