Mr George Nyakora

Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo

Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo, Executive Director of the Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN), is a Custodian of the AfricaWide
Movement for Children (AMC). Mrs Ayo-Odongo has worked in the development field for over 15 years and has particularly gained extensive knowledge and experience in advocating for vulnerable groups such as the el-derly and children. Read more

Mr Eric Shemweta Guga

Mr Eric Shemweta Guga is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Eastern Africa. He is a child rights activist and the coordinator of the Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF), a national coalition of more than 100 NGOs working with children on child rights issues in Tanzania. Read more

Mr MacBain Mkandawire

Mr MacBain Mkandawire is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Southern Africa. He is the Executive Director of Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), a local NGO in Malawi that works on a number of issues including HIV and AIDS, drug and substance abuse, mental health, women and girls’ empowerment, youth development, care and support for HIV and AIDS affected persons among others. Read more

Mr Léon Bertrand ENAMA

Mr Léon Bertrand Enama is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Central Africa. He is a teacher and educator of human rights in Cameroon. A lawyer by training, he has gained extensive knowledge on human
rights issues through his past work experience. Read more

Dr Ali Mohamed Osman

Dr Ali Mohamed Osman is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing North Africa. He is a human rights activist, researcher and an Assistant Professor at the Nile Valley University.

Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé

Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing West Africa. He is a child rights activist and the Executive Secretary of the Africa Bureau of Envarts SOS Déshérité International that covers 19 African countries. Read more

Dr Atangcho Nji Akonumbo

Dr Atangcho Nji Akonumbo, an Associate Professor of Law and the Vice-Dean in Charge of Research and Cooperation at the
University of Yaounde II, is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC). Read more

Custodians of the AfricaWide Movement for Children

Newly elected custodians of the Movement

Mr George Nyakora is the President of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC).

He is a Kenyan citizen who has worked for the past 28 years in senior management posts with international and local NGOs. His experience spans many countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia, in the areas of training; human resource and organisational development; strategic planning; long term and rights-based development planning; managing child-focused programmes; emergency response programmes; conflict resolution; HIV/ AIDS; creating humanitarian corridors in conflict situations; development of early warning systems; monitoring and evaluation; and contingency planning with rural/ urban communities. Mr Nyakora is currently the Regional Training Director for SOS-Kinderdorf International, East Africa Regional Training and Resource Centre in Kenya. He also acts as a key member of the Regional Emergency Task Force, which works closely with Governments in East and the Horn of Africa during emergencies to help build capacities of national staff.

Mr Nyakora is currently a Summer Lecturer on Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation at the Ludwig Boltzman Institute of Human Rights, University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has given lectures to practicing advocates in Kenya under the Law Society of Kenya programme on Continuous Legal Education on Children’s Rights and Rights-Based programming and on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is an avid researcher and has participated in the development of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers for several African countries.

Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo

Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC) representing the Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN).
She is the Executive Director of UCRNN. She has worked in the development field for over 15 years and has particularly gained extensive knowledge and experience in advocating for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children. In the last five years she spearheaded several advocacy initiatives at national, regional and international levels particularly on child rights concerns.
Mrs Ayo-Odongo has been extensively involved in technical services at national and regional levels. Some of these engagements include: evaluation of the child labour programme and facilitating the development of a national child labour policy for the KURET Initiative in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, evaluation of the mental health programme for Mental Health Uganda, Team Leader for the Child Protection Advocacy Report for the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), Team Leader for the Contextual Analysis on the Situation of Children for the International Child Support Programme, facilitating the development of a National Child Participation Guideline for Uganda, and contributing to the generation of a national Situational Analysis Report on the situation of children.

She has an MSc degree in Development Management (Open University-UK) and an Honors degree in Social Sciences (Makerere University-Uganda), and has participated in several professional development courses in political and policy advocacy training, project planning and management among others

Mr Eric Shemweta Guga

Mr Eric Shemweta Guga is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Eastern Africa.

He is a child rights activist and the coordinator of the Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF), a national coalition of more than 100 NGOs working with children on child rights issues in Tanzania. He has experience and extended knowledge and skills on issues pertaining to protection and promotion of children’s rights accumulated from over 12 years of extensive work with community, national and international organisations, including the United Nations.

Mr Guga is known for his strong facilitation skills and innovative ideas in Tanzania which led to the formation of the National Children’s Council, a participation platform named- “Junior Council of the United Republic of Tanzania” and the establishment of TCRF. He has contributed a lot to a number of existing programs including the Most Vulnerable Children Response Initiatives, the Complementary Basic Education in Tanzania and Child Protection System Strengthening initiatives which are in operation in Tanzania.

Mr MacBain Mkandawire

Mr MacBain Mkandawire is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC) representing Southern Africa.

He is the Executive Director of Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO), a local NGO in Malawi that works on a number of issues including HIV and AIDS, drug and substance abuse, mental health, women and girls’ empowerment, youth development, care and support for HIV and AIDS affected persons among others.

He serves as Vice Chair in the Executive Committee of the Civil Society Coalition on Quality Basic Education (CSQBE), a network of civil society organisations working in the education sector in Malawi. Mr Mkandawire is also the National Representative and Contact Point for the Southern Africa Child Rights Reference Group, a group initiated by Save the Children. In addition to this, he is the National Coordinator of the National Child Helpline Services of Malawi, a programme of the Government of Malawi. He is also the Regional Coordinator for Africa of the Pan Commonwealth Civil Society Network on HIV and AIDS. From 2008 to 2010 he was the Regional Representative for Africa and Board Member of Child Helpline International.

Mr Mkandawire holds a Master of Science degree in Leadership and Change Management from the University of Leeds Metropolitan in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor’s degree in Education (Science). His research interests are in mental health, HIV/AIDS and youth development. He has also done research in the areas of girls’ education and sexual abuse of children.

Mr Léon Bertrand ENAMA

Mr Léon Bertrand Enama is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), for Central Africa.

He is a teacher and educator of human rights in Cameroon. A lawyer by training, he has gained extensive knowledge on human rights issues through his past work experience.

Mr Enama has been actively engaged with civil society organisations (CSOs) at the national level. He has led several CSOs in the fields of teenagers’ reproductive health and malaria. From 2004 to 2009, he has been very much involved with the Cameroon Red Cross, serving as a Permanent Secretary of the Red-Cross in the capital city Yaoundé. Since 2006, he has been a member of two coalitions: the Cameroon Education for All Network (CEFAN), a coalition of CSOs working on education-related issues, and the Cameroon Coalition of CSOs for Children’s Rights (COCADE) where he is a member of its management board. Since 2010, Mr Enama has been a member of the Management Board and the Executive Secretary of the International Day of African Childhood and its Youths in Cameroon (IDAY – Cameroon), a member of IDAY International which is a platform for CSOs dealing with children’s rights to education.

Dr Ali Mohamed Osman

Dr Ali Mohamed Osman is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing North Africa.

He is a human rights activist, researcher and an Assistant Professor at the Nile Valley University. He is the Director General of the Society Studies Centre, an independent research and academic institution in Khartoum, Sudan that aims at strengthening the capacity of civil actors in areas of poverty reduction, resettlement, human rights advocacy, gender equality and the promotion of peace.

He graduated from Omdurman University in 1991. Dr Osman was part of many initiatives in the areas of capacity- building and project evaluation. He has published 10 articles in referred journals.

Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé

Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Western Africa.

He is a child rights activist and the Executive Secretary of the Africa Bureau of Envarts SOS Déshérité International that covers 19 African countries. Prior to this, he was in charge of humanitarian affairs in the office of ENVARTS-International in London, UK. He has also served as a representative of the International Red Cross in Lisbon, Portugal.

Mr Cissé is the President of the Malian Coalition for the Defence of the Rights of the Child (CMDRC) that has a membership of 78 national and international organisations. He also serves as Vice President of the International Observatory of Prisons (IOP) Office that is based in Lima, Peru. He is a member of the committee to monitor the agreement of collaboration to fight child trafficking between Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Ivory Coast. Mr Cissé is a member of the High Council for the fight against AIDS that is chaired by the President of the Republic of Mali.

He has a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Universiades Lusofona de Humanidades é Tecnologias (ULHT) in Lisbon, Portugal and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He has published on juvenile justice and prison overcrowding.

Secretariat of the AfricaWide Movement for Children

Mr. David Mugawe

Executive Director,The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

Vacancy Announcement

3rd Pan African Forum on Children

African Governments' Commitments to Children

AMC Updates

Messages from the African Union Commission

Custodians of the AMC

Announcement!

New Publication

Custodians of the AfricaWide Movement for Children

Newly elected custodians of the Movement

Newly elected custodians of the Movement

Mr George Nyakora is the President of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC). He is a Kenyan citizen who has worked for the past 28 years in senior management posts with international and local NGOs. His experience spans many countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia, in the areas of training; human resource and organisational development; strategic planning; long term and rights-based development planning; managing child-focused programmes; emergency response programmes; conflict resolution; HIV/ AIDS; creating humanitarian corridors in conflict situations; development of early warning systems; monitoring and evaluation; and contingency planning with rural/ urban communities. Mr Nyakora is currently the Regional Training Director for SOS-Kinderdorf International, East Africa Regional Training and Resource Centre in Kenya. He also acts as a key member of the Regional Emergency Task Force, which works closely with Governments in East and the Horn of Africa during emergencies to help build capacities of national staff. Mr Nyakora is currently a Summer Lecturer on Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation at the Ludwig Boltzman Institute of Human Rights, University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has given lectures to practicing advocates in Kenya under the Law Society of Kenya programme on Continuous Legal Education on Children’s Rights and Rights-Based programming and on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is an avid researcher and has participated in the development of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers for several African countries.

Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo Mrs Stella Ayo-Odongo is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC) representing the Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN). She is the Executive Director of UCRNN. She has worked in the development field for over 15 years and has particularly gained extensive knowledge and experience in advocating for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children. In the last five years she spearheaded several advocacy initiatives at national, regional and international levels particularly on child rights concerns. Mrs Ayo-Odongo has been extensively involved in technical services at national and regional levels. Some of these engagements include: evaluation of the child labour programme and facilitating the development of a national child labour policy for the KURET Initiative in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, evaluation of the mental health programme for Mental Health Uganda, Team Leader for the Child Protection Advocacy Report for the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), Team Leader for the Contextual Analysis on the Situation of Children for the International Child Support Programme, facilitating the development of a National Child Participation Guideline for Uganda, and contributing to the generation of a national Situational Analysis Report on the situation of children. She has an MSc degree in Development Management (Open University-UK) and an Honors degree in Social Sciences (Makerere University-Uganda), and has participated in several professional development courses in political and policy advocacy training, project planning and management among others

Mr Eric Shemweta Guga Mr Eric Shemweta Guga is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Eastern Africa. He is a child rights activist and the coordinator of the Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF), a national coalition of more than 100 NGOs working with children on child rights issues in Tanzania. He has experience and extended knowledge and skills on issues pertaining to protection and promotion of children’s rights accumulated from over 12 years of extensive work with community, national and international organisations, including the United Nations. Mr Guga is known for his strong facilitation skills and innovative ideas in Tanzania which led to the formation of the National Children’s Council, a participation platform named- “Junior Council of the United Republic of Tanzania” and the establishment of TCRF. He has contributed a lot to a number of existing programs including the Most Vulnerable Children Response Initiatives, the Complementary Basic Education in Tanzania and Child Protection System Strengthening initiatives which are in operation in Tanzania.

Mr MacBain Mkandawire Mr MacBain Mkandawire is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC) representing Southern Africa. He is the Executive Director of Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO), a local NGO in Malawi that works on a number of issues including HIV and AIDS, drug and substance abuse, mental health, women and girls’ empowerment, youth development, care and support for HIV and AIDS affected persons among others. He serves as Vice Chair in the Executive Committee of the Civil Society Coalition on Quality Basic Education (CSQBE), a network of civil society organisations working in the education sector in Malawi. Mr Mkandawire is also the National Representative and Contact Point for the Southern Africa Child Rights Reference Group, a group initiated by Save the Children. In addition to this, he is the National Coordinator of the National Child Helpline Services of Malawi, a programme of the Government of Malawi. He is also the Regional Coordinator for Africa of the Pan Commonwealth Civil Society Network on HIV and AIDS. From 2008 to 2010 he was the Regional Representative for Africa and Board Member of Child Helpline International. Mr Mkandawire holds a Master of Science degree in Leadership and Change Management from the University of Leeds Metropolitan in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor’s degree in Education (Science). His research interests are in mental health, HIV/AIDS and youth development. He has also done research in the areas of girls’ education and sexual abuse of children.

Mr Léon Bertrand ENAMA Mr Léon Bertrand Enama is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), for Central Africa. He is a teacher and educator of human rights in Cameroon. A lawyer by training, he has gained extensive knowledge on human rights issues through his past work experience. Mr Enama has been actively engaged with civil society organisations (CSOs) at the national level. He has led several CSOs in the fields of teenagers’ reproductive health and malaria. From 2004 to 2009, he has been very much involved with the Cameroon Red Cross, serving as a Permanent Secretary of the Red-Cross in the capital city Yaoundé. Since 2006, he has been a member of two coalitions: the Cameroon Education for All Network (CEFAN), a coalition of CSOs working on education-related issues, and the Cameroon Coalition of CSOs for Children’s Rights (COCADE) where he is a member of its management board. Since 2010, Mr Enama has been a member of the Management Board and the Executive Secretary of the International Day of African Childhood and its Youths in Cameroon (IDAY – Cameroon), a member of IDAY International which is a platform for CSOs dealing with children’s rights to education.

Dr Ali Mohamed Osman Dr Ali Mohamed Osman is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing North Africa. He is a human rights activist, researcher and an Assistant Professor at the Nile Valley University. He is the Director General of the Society Studies Centre, an independent research and academic institution in Khartoum, Sudan that aims at strengthening the capacity of civil actors in areas of poverty reduction, resettlement, human rights advocacy, gender equality and the promotion of peace. He graduated from Omdurman University in 1991. Dr Osman was part of many initiatives in the areas of capacity- building and project evaluation. He has published 10 articles in referred journals.

Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé Mr Mohamadou Lamine Cissé is a Custodian of the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC), representing Western Africa. He is a child rights activist and the Executive Secretary of the Africa Bureau of Envarts SOS Déshérité International that covers 19 African countries. Prior to this, he was in charge of humanitarian affairs in the office of ENVARTS-International in London, UK. He has also served as a representative of the International Red Cross in Lisbon, Portugal. Mr Cissé is the President of the Malian Coalition for the Defence of the Rights of the Child (CMDRC) that has a membership of 78 national and international organisations. He also serves as Vice President of the International Observatory of Prisons (IOP) Office that is based in Lima, Peru. He is a member of the committee to monitor the agreement of collaboration to fight child trafficking between Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Ivory Coast. Mr Cissé is a member of the High Council for the fight against AIDS that is chaired by the President of the Republic of Mali. He has a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Universiades Lusofona de Humanidades é Tecnologias (ULHT) in Lisbon, Portugal and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He has published on juvenile justice and prison overcrowding.
Secretariat of the AfricaWide Movement for Children
Mr. David Mugawe Executive Director,The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)