News

The Cyber Security Authority (CSA), in collaboration with UNICEF Ghana, has commenced a review of measures aimed at strengthening Ghana’s response to Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA), with stakeholders advocating for a more inclusive and effective approach to child online protection.

The call was made during a two-day Validation Workshop for the Safe Online Project, which brought together representatives from key government institutions, the telecommunications sector, child protection organisations and other partners to review findings and recommendations from the project’s formative and summative evaluation.

Held at the Hephzibah Christian Centre, Aburi, the workshop provided a platform for stakeholders to examine the evaluation outcomes, share practical experiences and identify priority areas that will support the improvement of systems for preventing and responding to OCSEA in Ghana.

The evaluation findings, lessons learned and recommendations were presented by Stefano Schwarz, Evaluation Team Lead, Child Frontiers, and Amy Weiss of Child Frontiers. The discussions involved contributions from Mr Jonathan Letsa, Child Online Protection Lead, CSA; Miho Yoshikawa, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist; representatives from the Cyber Security Authority; UNICEF Ghana; and other national stakeholders working within the child protection and digital safety space.

Stakeholders emphasised the need for future child online protection interventions to be more inclusive and responsive to the realities of all children, particularly underserved groups. Discussions highlighted the importance of ensuring that children with disabilities are adequately considered in protection efforts, while also increasing attention towards boys as part of prevention, awareness and response initiatives.

The engagement also focused on reviewing and prioritising recommendations, identifying follow-up actions and strengthening collaboration among institutions responsible for safeguarding children in Ghana’s digital environment.

The evaluation assessed the performance and contribution of the Safe Online Project towards strengthening Ghana’s systems for preventing and responding to OCSEA. It covered project implementation phases from 2018–2021 and 2023–2026, using a theory-based mixed-methods approach guided by the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria.

Evidence for the evaluation was drawn from secondary data, interviews with 53 key informants and an online survey involving 118 trained frontline workers.

The workshop concluded with stakeholders agreeing on priority recommendations and next steps to guide future interventions by CSA, UNICEF Ghana and other relevant institutions.