Regional Representative
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  EICYAC MEETING:
The EICYAC Meeting was perhaps the most important meeting because it shed some light on what my ‘job description’ was. The strategic plans and guidelines set helped me have a feel of what is expected of me and the African youth. It helped me come up with a regional plan that hopefully will suit the African youth. 
     
     
  TANZANIAN RNRE 
The other meeting was the Tanzanian RNRE. It was the first time I was meeting the youth with an EICYAC strategic plan and a RAP in mind. It was encouraging to see the youth’s readiness to work in their own countries to fight CSEC in whatever way they could. Everyone went back home with a pledge and a work plan to fight CSEC. Some wanted to either launch or continue with the make-IT-safe campaign. Some wanted to establish stronger youth groups in their organisations. Others wanted to increase awareness amongst the children and the youth in matters concerning CSEC. It was motivating to see the youth’s dedication and I am sure that with their cooperation the African youth network will be stronger.
     
     
  CYP SURVEY  
The child and youth participation questionnaires were handed out in mid May after the Tanzanian RNRE. The sub-regional coordinators and I have been following up on the groups on the survey progress. Some groups have managed to hand in their questionnaires while some other groups are still filling them in.  
From the questionnaires we have received, the attitude towards child and youth participation is encouraging and soon enough we will see the children and youth in these institutions participating at the highest level i.e. governance
     
     
  GAMBIAN RNRE
It was my first time to be in West Africa and i absolutely loved every minute of it.This meeting for me was an eye opener for me in the plight of the West African child in the fight against CSEC.In this meeting we were able to develop the idea of having e-groups that would enable us, the African youth to maintain communication with each other. It is in the Gambia that the youth the declared that they would launch the make-it-safe campaign once they arrived in their respective countries!A big milestone for the African youth!
     
     
 

GHANAIAN RNRE
This mission was a follow up of the West African RNRE that was held in Gambia . A review of pledges made in the last meeting enabled us to determine which activities were achieved and which weren’t and the challenges faced.

In the meeting a review of Africa’s experiences on Make-IT-Safe campaign was made and there was also an opportunity to feed in to the development of a Phase 2 of the campaign.Also the strategic direction/vision needed for the ECPAT network within West Africa was defined and the necessary support mechanisms to enable this vision identified. The meeting was a great success as the youth as well as the adults came up with brilliant ideas for the phase 2  of the make -it- safe campaign.At the meeting the research results for a survey done in Accra, Ghana on CSEC and boys was launched. It was a very interesting read and it shed some new light on boys being exploited sexually in the West African city.
     
     
 

Make -IT-Safe  Campaign in Nairobi KENYA
This project was launched in Kenya in December 2006.It was aimed at creating awareness about violence against children on cyberspace but more importantly it encouraged people to sign the make -safe petition initiated by ECPAT International. It also aimed at lobbyin g the cyber cafe owners to either monitor the content watched by children or ban pornography viewing in their business premises. The campaign was youth led and youth implemented.It attracted alot of youth who identified with the IT technologies more. The youth volunteers interacted with alot of youth and naturally there was mixed feelings about the campaign but generally the youth supprted the campaign as most of them had experienced first hand effect of these technologies-both the good and bad effects.