Morocco & Sierra Leone Forge Child Rights Partnership.

In a powerful display of cross-border solidarity, child rights advocates from Morocco and Sierra Leone have joined forces. The National Observatory for Children's Rights (ONDE) of the Kingdom of Morocco and Sierra Leone's Children’s Forum Network (CFN) signed a landmark Cooperation Protocol on November 21-22, 2025, in Rabat, establishing a formal partnership to protect and empower children in both nations.

The agreement was formalized by Professor Ghizlane Benjelloun, Vice-President of ONDE, alongside representatives from Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs. This partnership brilliantly connects ONDE’s deep expertise, honed through Morocco's celebrated Children’s Parliament, with the CFN’s grassroots network that has reached children in all 16 districts of Sierra Leone for over two decades.

This collaboration arrives at a pivotal moment for Sierra Leone, aligning seamlessly with its ambitious institutional reforms. The nation's recent legal strides including the 2024 law against child marriage and the ongoing advocacy for the 2025 Child Rights Act-provide a strong foundation. Together, these efforts underscore a shared vision: to move beyond seeing children as passive beneficiaries and instead recognize them as active, essential contributors to social and economic development.

The protocol outlines a robust, two-pronged approach focusing on immediate action and sustainable system-building. The partners will launch joint advocacy and public campaigns targeting urgent issues like violence against children, early marriage, FGM, school dropout, and mental health challenges. These awareness efforts will be backed by concrete capacity building, including comprehensive training programs, sharing educational tools, and exchanging proven best practices.

A central ambition is to fundamentally strengthen how children participate in society. This means enhancing existing structures like school clubs and community bodies across Sierra Leone's districts, with an eye toward developing a future national framework for child participation.

To ensure this agreement delivers real results, the framework includes strong governance. A Joint Steering Committee (JSC) will be established to steer the partnership, craft annual action plans, and monitor progress through biannual meetings. The collaboration will also come to life through study visits, including a planned exchange that will bring Sierra Leonean child leaders to Morocco.

Financially, the model is designed for sustainability. Each institution will cover its own operational costs, while specific projects will be funded through separate agreements and joint fundraising with international partners. The Protocol is effective immediately and will remain in force for five years, renewing automatically each year thereafter.

This landmark agreement is more than a bilateral pact; it is a milestone in South-South cooperation. By creating a powerful collaborative model, it sets a strong foundation for

shared leadership on child rights, perfectly positioning both nations as they prepare to host the 2027 African Children’s Summit.

Correspondent-Kelvin Mark Kargbo

Communications Unit, Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs

Email: mkelson367@gmail.com

Tel: +232 80644582