A non-governmental agency, Save the Future of Children Initiative (SAFIN) says it is launching a project tagged Protecting Children Against Trafficking and Abuse (PCAT) to address challenges confronting the children and end violence against them by 2030.

Going by the incessant attacks on children which call for proactive measures to ameliorate, the group in its response says it designs the PCAT Nigeria project to come up with a workable and effective solutions to the problems and as well empower victims' families.

Speaking at the pre-launch meeting organised by the stakeholders of the agency in Ilorin to commemorate the 2022 Children's Day, Oyedeji Olufemi, the CEO of the agency, explained that PCAT was an initiative SAFIN and that the organisation will be advocating for the establishment of structure and mechanism to prevent and respond to issues of violence against children particularly the child rights implementation.

In his speech titled “Children Deserve To Live Happily, Feeling Save and Love” Olufemi, noted that PCAT Nigeria project was premised on SDG 16.2 and a global agent to end violence against children in 2030 with SDGs 1,2,3,4,5, and 8.7 as enablers.

He further clarified that part of the objectives of the project is to strengthen the capacity of SAFIN team and community members (child right implementation community caregivers and other stakeholders ), to be able to safeguard and respond to violence against children.

The strategies to adopt according to him is in line with the global standard to curb the menace, this include; implementation and law enforcement, embarking on sensitization campaign against societal norms that promote children violence, educate parents on skills to nurture children in a rightful manner, and above all, support parents and caregivers living in poverty with IGA intervention while children will undergo hands skills and talent hunt programs so as to strengthen family income and economic base.

Other ways of tackling the problem are; to support victims of violence, provide basic education and end poverty to reduce vulnerability, child abuse, and trafficking.

Members of the organisation at the meeting submitted that adequate sensitisation should be given to the general public on how to stem the trend, the need for religious leaders to lay more emphasis on child upbringing, and the consequences of such evil acts in their preaches, they added that all hands must be on deck if we must end violence against the future leaders.