BEB African Summits invites 10 countries to collaborate on improving child welfare processes
KAMPALA, Uganda, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BEB hosted their first-ever BEB African Summit, November 6-8, bringing together senior government officials responsible for child welfare, their IT leaders, and our Country Managers represented from 10 African countries.
Until now each country has operated largely in a silo, with limited knowledge of how other countries on the continent are addressing their common challenge of safely moving children living in institutions into families. BEB accelerated the impact of the software as countries new to CFS learned how those more established with the system are using the technology to transform the way they work for children. Key highlights and learnings from the summit include the following:
The significant challenge of child trafficking is common across West African country partners including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. These country leaders will form a working group to determine how CFS-generated data can identify trafficking “hot spots” and patterns of abusers.
The city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, shared an update on the Kibebetesay Orphanage, which houses all abandoned children in Addis. The home is now fully utilizing CFS, and all children in the orphanage are registered with digital profiles. 170 Ethiopian families that wish to adopt are also registered in CFS, and 26 adoptions have already taken place with the help of the software. The Minister for Children for Addis expressed that she will now mandate the implementation of CFS for all orphanages in the city and believes this could eventually lead to its implementation across all of Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa.
This summit built a common community throughout BEB’s African partners and will now hold virtual meetings with participants on specific areas of common interest.
Margaret Elizabeth McKissack
Vice President, External Affairs
SOURCE Both Ends Believing
