Child Protection in Africa Union Peace Support Operations

Knowledge & Learning Event, 7-9 December 2015

Dakar, Senegal

Anthony Njoroge – Senior

Programme Manager, Child

Protection

Strengthening Child Participation in AU Peace Support Operations

Project

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Key Considerations

• Save the Children started training military personnel, with a focus on pre-deployment training of

peacekeepers, in Child Rights and Child Protection in Africa in 1998. Since the inception of these projects 11

years ago, approximately 91,156 military elements have been trained or sensitised, among which 29,760

peacekeepers and a total of 1,579 trainers were also trained.

• In 2012, Save the children collaborated with the East Africa Standby Force to develop a training curriculum for

peace keepers in an strategic direction to ensure African Union Troops are capacitated to prevent and

respond to abuse, exploitation, separation and all forms of violence as part of their protection of civilian

mandate.

• This curriculum builds into the AU’s Strategy on the Operationalization of the Standby Forces in all five sub-

regions on the continent with intention that each Region will be equipped to respond to conflict with a Standby

Force consisting of the Police, Army and Civilian components.

• Through this project, Save the Children intends to achieve sustainable action through the embedment of child

protection within the AU Structures and response to conflict.

Key issues the project has been seeking to address

• Insufficient research, data collection and analysis of Child Protection and the impact of conflict on children

before, during and after conflicts in Africa.

• The AU Standby Forces capacity to carry out Child Protection within their mandate of Protection of civilians in

peacekeeping within the Region

• A lack of a standardized approach to the protection and promotion of Child Rights by AU troop contributing

countries at national and regional training institutions.

Project goal

To institutionalize and strengthen Child Rights

and Protection components in Armed Force and

Peacekeeping Training Curricula and Structures.

Project description

Project objective 1: By 2015, the East and West African Standby Forces and Child Protection Sections in

AU Peacekeeping Missions utilize a knowledge and information management system

to generate and analyse data on children in armed conflict that strengthen Child

Protection interventions in Africa.

Project Results 1.Outcome 1.1: By 2015, monitoring systems at the peacekeeping training centres

are strengthened to track and monitor the effectiveness of CP trainings for civilian,

police and military personnel.

2.Outcome 1.2. A child protection knowledge management system is operational to

support learning and sharing of good practices on AU PSO before, during and after

conflict.

Project description

Project objective 2: By 2015 the Africa Standby Force has institutionalized a mandatory and standardized

Child Rights curriculum and established complimentary Child Protection structures.

Project Results 1.Outcome 2.1 By 2015, the African Union Peace and Security Department has

endorsed the Training Standards on Child Protection and the Child Rights and Child

Protection Training Toolkit for AU PSO and is utilized by EASF and ECOWAS-SF

Project description

Project objective 3: By 2015, EASF and ECOWAS Standby Forces in collaboration with Save the Children

and other partners have piloted the ASF Curriculum in at least 6 troop contributing

countries in East and West Africa.

Project Results 1.Outcome 3.1: In at least 2 troops contributing countries, the Child Rights and Child

Protection Training Toolkit for AU PSO has been institutionalised and is being taught

at the national level.

2.Outcome 3.2: In at least 4 Training Centres of Excellence, the Child Rights and

Child Protection Training Toolkit for AU PSO has been institutionalised and is being

utilized to roll out trainings