PRESS RELEASE

1 MAY 2011

AFRUCA CELEBRATES TEN YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO AFRICAN CHILDREN

AFRUCA – Africans Unite Against Child Abuse was established in May 2001 to campaign against the abuse and exploitation of African children. Since then, we have gained a sound reputation as the premier charity promoting the welfare of African children in the UK.

“Many African children, young people and their families in the UK experience different forms of challenges. Our strongest achievement has been our ability to build sound partnerships with a range of agencies right across the country to help meet their needs and priorities”, said Debbie Ariyo, AFRUCA Founder and Chief Executive.

Since our inception in 2001, we have played a leading role in efforts to raise awareness and advocate for the needs of children who are trafficked into the country for different forms of exploitation. Many agencies were unaware of the issue of the trafficking of children for domestic slavery during these early stages of our work. In March 2002, AFRUCA issued a press release to alert the authorities to the phenomenon. Since then, we have provided assistance to dozens of victims of trafficking with a Comic Relief grant in 2009. Our drama project to support victims while getting them to learn new skills is the first of its kind in the UK. At the same time, we continue to work with others to influence changes in policy and in sensitising the African community to the issue. Through our efforts and those of other players, we were pleased to see the enactment of a new law – Section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 which introduced a new offence of holding someone in slavery or servitude or requiring them to perform forced labour. We are happy to have been involved in a number of prosecutions of people involved in human trafficking and exploitation.

The branding of children as witches is a growing phenomenon in the UK. With funding from Trust for London, AFRUCA has played a leading role in helping to draw attention to this terrible problem while working with agencies to support affected families. We have been very vocal in advocating for changes in policy and the law to criminalise the branding of children as witches. The establishment of a National Working Group on Witchcraft and Safeguarding by the Minister for Children, Tim Loughton is a direct result of AFRUCA’s advocacy role in this area.

Our concern about the disproportionately high number of African children being referred into the child protection system as a result of abuse linked to cultural and religious practices led us to design, develop and implement a Child Protection Training and Awareness programme for African Parents. With a major grant from the Big Lottery Fund and funding from other donors, this programme is being run in four local authorities across London, Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool. Over 1700 African parents have taken part in this programme since 2007. A recent Independent Evaluation Report of the London element of the programme described it as: “having a resounding impact on many of the beneficiaries”. Our own internal assessment showed that 90% of participants found that the programme has helped to raise their parenting skills and their knowledge of child protection regulations.

In order to help raise the skills levels of practitioners who work with African children and their families and ensure appropriate levels of intervention, AFRUCA launched a National Training and Advice Programme for Practitioners in 2007. This enables us to deliver a series of training courses for agencies and their staff across the country as well as strengthen our involvement in child protection case work via the provision of advice and assessments. Over 1000 practitioners have participated in our range of training courses since 2007. 

Demand for our work in the North of England led to us establishing a Regional Office in Manchester in April 2009. Since then, our work in the North has grown exponentially. Between September 2009 and March 2011, over 740 African parents across the North of England took part in our Child Protection Training programme. Requests to this office for work by faith organisations in Yorkshire to support members of their congregation led to us establishing a Working with Faith Organisations in Yorkshire to Safeguard African Children project. Through this new Big Lottery funded programme, AFRUCA will provide in-depth support to 10 faith organisations each year in Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford to train staff and members, develop, implement and monitor their child protection policies as well as provide advice and support on child protection to parents who require it.

Our achievements are not limited to the UK. Between 2008 and 2010, we worked in partnership with a Ghanaian NGO – Youth Alive to meet the needs of over 300 street children through the provision of access to education, training and health care.

In pushing forward with our aims of meeting the needs of African children in the UK and in other countries, in December 2011, AFRUCA will launch the commencement of the work of its sister organisation in Nigeria. The AFRUCA Foundation for the Protection of the Rights of Vulnerable Children will work to promote the welfare of children in Nigeria.

In celebrating our 10th year of supporting African children and promoting their safety and well-being, we wish to express our deepest appreciation for the overwhelming goodwill and support we have received over the years from our various partners, including other African organisations, the UK government, local authorities and regional agencies, our funders, supporters and sponsors, other charities across the UK and in Africa and most importantly the children, young people and the families that make our work worthwhile. We will continue to work hard to deliver the same levels of services to support and meet the needs of our children in years to come.

Note to Editors

1.AFRUCA is the premier charity promoting the rights and welfare of African Children.

2.AFRUCA has been shortlisted for the UK Charity Awards 2011 under the category of “Children and Youth” for its Child Trafficking Programme. Winners of the awards will be announced at an event on 9 June 2011.

 3.From June to December 2011, AFRUCA will hold a series of events in England and Nigeria to celebrate its 10th anniversary in the UK as well as the commencement of its operations in Nigeria.

4.For further information about the different activities holding as part of the anniversary celebrations, click here

5. For further information about AFRUCA and its work, interviews etc please contact AFRUCA Founder and Chief Executive Debbie Ariyo on 0207 704 2261 or email Debbie@afruca.org