By Moses Nosike

In order to promote a society where the future of our children are safe, secured, groomed and provided skills for personal development, a child advocacy centre and non-profit organisation, Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre, has concluded capacity building sessions for child service providers.

The season with the theme “Strengthen service providers’ ability to identify, assess, and respond to the mental health, physical health, and psychological needs of child domestic workers in Lagos state”, was sponsored by Freedom Fund and funded by the US government.

In her goodwill message presented by Azeez Ajifowoke on behalf of the CEO, Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre, Bisi Ajayi -kayode commended child service providers for taking the time to focus on an issue that is often overlooked yet deeply urgent, the wellbeing and mental health of child domestic workers.

She said, “across our communities, countless children are engaged in domestic labour under conditions that expose them to emotional neglect, psychological trauma, exploitation, and in many cases, abuse. These experiences leave scars that are not always visible, but which profoundly affect their development, confidence, and future prospects. As service providers and frontline responders, your role in identifying, supporting, and protecting these children is invaluable.

On her part, Ngozi Mirian Arinze, said, “Case management simply refers to all step-by-step processes engaged in delivering relevant services to persons/clients in need. The process is collaborative, often requiring coordination between multiple stakeholders such as social workers, healthcare providers, legal aid, community and non-governmental organizations. This workshop represents more than a meeting of minds—it is a collective commitment to ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances, has the chance to grow up safe, supported, and emotionally healthy”.

Speaking on the importance of building effective referral pathways in child protection, the Chief Operation Officer, Street Project Foundation, Eduvie Olutimayin said, “effective child protection requires a coordinated multi-stakeholder response system. It also requires coordinated system connecting service providers to ensure children receive comprehensive, child-centered care without gaps”.

“On our side, we use the creative arts and the performing arts to engage young people, and in this case, children as well, in cross cultural dialog and to address social ills in the economy. So while we are here, we are partners with a child centered agency. We’re working on this project that is funded by the freedom fund to address the exploitation and abuse of child domestic workers in Lagos. We have the responsibility of awareness and sensitization, because we use the performance to capture people, to engage people emotionally on what is happening with child domestic workers.

The point of capacity building was very welcomed. I love when organizations work together. I love collaboration, we are very big on collaboration.