African Movement for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (AMPCAN)
AMPCAN is a non-governmental organization registered in 2008 with a mission to improve the welfare of Ghanaian children and to enhance opportunities for the development of their full potential. AMPCAN envisions a Ghanaian society in which the rights of children are upheld and valued. Consequently, it works in partnership with others to promote the rights of children and their protection from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation
In pursuit of this mission, AMPCAN emphasizes awareness creation, research, advocacy, participation and partnerships, drawing on a rich pool of technical support and expertise from the ANPPCAN Regional Office, other African Chapters, local professional staff and others to spearhead child protection initiatives in Ghana.
Broadly speaking, AMPCAN seeks, among others: to act as a national centre for the protection and prevention of child abuse and neglect; to facilitate the promotion, defence and advocacy of children’s rights in accordance with the UNCRC, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) & the Children’s Act; to collaborate and network with other like-mission organizations to create awareness on child abuse and child protection issues in Ghana; to provide legal aid and, where necessary, institute litigation for child victims of abuse and neglect or those in conflict with the law; to empower communities to protect their children from abuse and neglect; and to work to address the basic causes of abuse and neglect including poverty.
AMPCAN’s current activities include work with schools to create awareness on child rights and participatory approaches to responding to abuse and neglect. This work is done through child’s rights advocacy with school administrators and teachers, Child’s Rights Clubs for children and youth, and referral to services such as legal support, counselling, medical and support services.
AMPCAN partners with Children International, the Ministry of Education, PLAN Ghana and other organizations to provide books to schools in vulnerable communities to enrich school libraries and to provide much needed school materials and access to updated technology.
AMPCAN cooperates with the Department of Social Welfare(DSW) in the regulation of residential care facilities in Ghana; contributing to the development and refinement of Minimum Standards for Residential Care Institutions and National Adoption Policy. Relative to this, AMPCAN has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DSW to monitor the national deinstitutionalization program with the support of UNICEF. AMPCAN is a member of the National OVC committee that provides direction to programming and interventions for improving the situation of vulnerable children and youths in Ghana.
AMPCAN is the local affiliate of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) a pan African network founded in 1986 to promote child rights and child protection in Africa. Through its Regional Office, AMPCAN participates in professional exchanges between 22 Chapters in Africa for skills development and hands-on training aimed to enhance practices in home countries. This activity has been supported by the Fredskorpet organization in Norway.
AMPCAN participates in the Girl Power Project funded by the Dutch Government. The project seeks to bring about significant change in the areas of protection, education, participation and economic empowerment for over 15,000 girls and young women in Ghana. This project targets selected communities in the Upper West, Eastern and Ashanti Regions of Ghana.
AMPCAN is a recognized representative of Child Helpline International and is working with other Ghanaian stakeholders to strengthen the child protection and referral systems in the country through reactivation of the Ghana Child Helpline. Partners for this project include DOVVSU (Ghana Police), Department of Children, DSW, Ministry of Education, UNICEF, members of the Child Abuse Network, and the NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child. The Ghana Helpline will provide a toll-free abuse response platform for the children of Ghana to be heard and assisted on abuse and neglect through emergency assistance, linkage to medical, justice, counseling (including peer-to-peer counseling), and networking of youth advocates.
AMPCAN seeks corporate partnerships in addressing the basic causes of abuse and neglect through participatory interventions that empower individuals, families and communities to enhance incomes, improve parenting and recognize and uphold the rights of the child.
In pursuit of this mission, AMPCAN emphasizes awareness creation, research, advocacy, participation and partnerships, drawing on a rich pool of technical support and expertise from the ANPPCAN Regional Office, other African Chapters, local professional staff and others to spearhead child protection initiatives in Ghana.
Broadly speaking, AMPCAN seeks, among others: to act as a national centre for the protection and prevention of child abuse and neglect; to facilitate the promotion, defence and advocacy of children’s rights in accordance with the UNCRC, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) & the Children’s Act; to collaborate and network with other like-mission organizations to create awareness on child abuse and child protection issues in Ghana; to provide legal aid and, where necessary, institute litigation for child victims of abuse and neglect or those in conflict with the law; to empower communities to protect their children from abuse and neglect; and to work to address the basic causes of abuse and neglect including poverty.
AMPCAN’s current activities include work with schools to create awareness on child rights and participatory approaches to responding to abuse and neglect. This work is done through child’s rights advocacy with school administrators and teachers, Child’s Rights Clubs for children and youth, and referral to services such as legal support, counselling, medical and support services.
AMPCAN partners with Children International, the Ministry of Education, PLAN Ghana and other organizations to provide books to schools in vulnerable communities to enrich school libraries and to provide much needed school materials and access to updated technology.
AMPCAN cooperates with the Department of Social Welfare(DSW) in the regulation of residential care facilities in Ghana; contributing to the development and refinement of Minimum Standards for Residential Care Institutions and National Adoption Policy. Relative to this, AMPCAN has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DSW to monitor the national deinstitutionalization program with the support of UNICEF. AMPCAN is a member of the National OVC committee that provides direction to programming and interventions for improving the situation of vulnerable children and youths in Ghana.
AMPCAN is the local affiliate of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) a pan African network founded in 1986 to promote child rights and child protection in Africa. Through its Regional Office, AMPCAN participates in professional exchanges between 22 Chapters in Africa for skills development and hands-on training aimed to enhance practices in home countries. This activity has been supported by the Fredskorpet organization in Norway.
AMPCAN participates in the Girl Power Project funded by the Dutch Government. The project seeks to bring about significant change in the areas of protection, education, participation and economic empowerment for over 15,000 girls and young women in Ghana. This project targets selected communities in the Upper West, Eastern and Ashanti Regions of Ghana.
AMPCAN is a recognized representative of Child Helpline International and is working with other Ghanaian stakeholders to strengthen the child protection and referral systems in the country through reactivation of the Ghana Child Helpline. Partners for this project include DOVVSU (Ghana Police), Department of Children, DSW, Ministry of Education, UNICEF, members of the Child Abuse Network, and the NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child. The Ghana Helpline will provide a toll-free abuse response platform for the children of Ghana to be heard and assisted on abuse and neglect through emergency assistance, linkage to medical, justice, counseling (including peer-to-peer counseling), and networking of youth advocates.
AMPCAN seeks corporate partnerships in addressing the basic causes of abuse and neglect through participatory interventions that empower individuals, families and communities to enhance incomes, improve parenting and recognize and uphold the rights of the child.
African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN)
The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) is a pan African network that promotes child rights and child protection in Africa. It’s mission is to enhance, in partnership with others, the prevention and protection of children from all forms of maltreatment, thus, ensuring that the rights of children are realized.
The organization was founded in 1986 in Enugu, Nigeria, during the First African Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect whose theme was Child Labour in Africa. It is registered as an international NGO and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ANPPCAN has observer status with the African Union (formerly Organization of African Unity, OAU since 1990) and similar status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.
The organization has an extensive reach in Africa with 26 national chapters each providing specific services to children. The national chapters coalesce to form a strong child rights network in Africa through which the organization runs national as well as regional child protection programmes.
ANPPCAN conducts two types of activities, at the continental level since ANPPCAN is a continental body and at the national level as required by Kenya’s legislation. The organization’s activities are anchored on promoting the rights of children in Africa and fall into four broad areas, that is, research, documentation and monitoring, networking and establishment of chapters and capacity building.
Over time, ANPPCAN has also made grand achievements in the promotion of the rights of children and this has seen the organization receive international recognition. In this regard, the organization has been honoured for its exemplary work on children and awarded the Kellogg's Child Development Award, known as the Kelloggs Award, (2004) and the first African Union Award for Children’s Champion in Africa (2006).
Besides, ANPPCAN has an unparalleled long history of lobbying and advocating for the rights of children. This is done both at the national and at the continental level. In this area, ANPPCAN picks immediate issues of concern affecting children and then mobilizes stakeholders to deliberate and seek solutions to the issue (s). This is done through national and regional and international forums or conferences. Issues such as orphaned-hood, street children, child sexual abuse, Early Childhood Education and development (ECD) children in armed conflicts, among others, have been discussed and a way forward found through such forums.
It’s through such regional forums that ANPPCAN has been able to lobby and push for national and regional child protection instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Also nation specific laws and policies have been enacted and implemented in order to accord the African child the necessary protection.
ANPPCAN commits to redouble its efforts in providing services to children in Africa and also work towards ensuring that a conducive environment as well as the necessary infrastructure, programmes and services is in place, thus, presenting children with opportunities for their full development.
The organization was founded in 1986 in Enugu, Nigeria, during the First African Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect whose theme was Child Labour in Africa. It is registered as an international NGO and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ANPPCAN has observer status with the African Union (formerly Organization of African Unity, OAU since 1990) and similar status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.
The organization has an extensive reach in Africa with 26 national chapters each providing specific services to children. The national chapters coalesce to form a strong child rights network in Africa through which the organization runs national as well as regional child protection programmes.
ANPPCAN conducts two types of activities, at the continental level since ANPPCAN is a continental body and at the national level as required by Kenya’s legislation. The organization’s activities are anchored on promoting the rights of children in Africa and fall into four broad areas, that is, research, documentation and monitoring, networking and establishment of chapters and capacity building.
Over time, ANPPCAN has also made grand achievements in the promotion of the rights of children and this has seen the organization receive international recognition. In this regard, the organization has been honoured for its exemplary work on children and awarded the Kellogg's Child Development Award, known as the Kelloggs Award, (2004) and the first African Union Award for Children’s Champion in Africa (2006).
Besides, ANPPCAN has an unparalleled long history of lobbying and advocating for the rights of children. This is done both at the national and at the continental level. In this area, ANPPCAN picks immediate issues of concern affecting children and then mobilizes stakeholders to deliberate and seek solutions to the issue (s). This is done through national and regional and international forums or conferences. Issues such as orphaned-hood, street children, child sexual abuse, Early Childhood Education and development (ECD) children in armed conflicts, among others, have been discussed and a way forward found through such forums.
It’s through such regional forums that ANPPCAN has been able to lobby and push for national and regional child protection instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Also nation specific laws and policies have been enacted and implemented in order to accord the African child the necessary protection.
ANPPCAN commits to redouble its efforts in providing services to children in Africa and also work towards ensuring that a conducive environment as well as the necessary infrastructure, programmes and services is in place, thus, presenting children with opportunities for their full development.