On June 16, 1976, thousands of black school children took to the streets in Soweto, South Africa, to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds were shot down and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand injured.
To honor their courage and memorialize those killed, the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) established the Day of the African Child (DAC) in 1991.
Since then, DAC has become an important day of commemoration across Africa, focusing on protecting and promoting children’s rights.
DAC theme for 2023 was The Rights of the Child in the Digital Age, addressing issues of inequity that range from lack of access to technology to the global issue of lack of safeguards for children in the digital world.
Kenya Works Commemorated DAC 2023
Kenya works partnered in four different community celebrations reaching 1,500 people in total with the messages of safeguarding children’s rights.
Kenya Works Donates Computers to MCEDO School in Mathare Supporting the Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment
Defending children's rights in the digital space includes ensuring access to technology for learners in the most vulnerable communities.
Kenya Works has been partnering with one such school, MCEDO, located in the Mathare slums, to provide school lunch since 2019. We recently donated several desktop computers to the school so they could outfit a computer lab. With 520 students, MCEDO had zero computers. Many students have never seen an actual computer; IT curriculum has consisted of photographs of equipment and screens.
Bridging the digital divide means all children are prepared to participate in the digital economy so they can build a better future for themselves and their communities.