In a country where thousands dedicate their lives to protecting children from abuse, exploitation, and neglect, one question often goes unasked — who cares for the carers?
Cece Yara Child Advocacy Center, under the Nigeria Hotspot Program – Addressing Exploitative Child Domestic Work, sponsored by Freedom Fund and funded by Gift of the U.S. Government, recently convened a Capacity Building Session for Frontliners to answer that question.
The training, themed “Caring for the Carers: Building Resilience Among Frontline Child Protection Workers,” brought together social workers, counsellors, NGO staff, teachers, and community advocates across Lagos. These professionals form the backbone of Nigeria’s child protection ecosystem, yet they often face secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout without adequate support.
Through interactive sessions, participants learned trauma‑informed self‑care strategies, strengthened coordination and referral systems, and established a peer support network designed to sustain emotional wellbeing beyond the training room.
The initiative also birthed the Frontliners Safe Space, a dynamic network where service providers can connect, share experiences, and access peer support and crisis consultation. The Safe Space aims to evolve into a national platform fostering professional solidarity, wellbeing, and innovation in child protection practice.
According to the Lagos State DSVA (2024), over 60 accredited NGOs and CSOs provide child protection services in Lagos alone, with an estimated 30,000 active service providers nationwide. Investing in their resilience is not optional, it is foundational.
Cece Yara’s CEO, Mrs Bisi Ajayi Kayode emphasized that protecting children begins with protecting those on the frontlines. “Our frontliners carry the emotional weight of society’s most painful realities. By equipping them with tools for resilience, we strengthen the entire protection system,” she said.
The Nigeria Hotspot Program continues to champion collaborative, trauma‑informed approaches to end exploitative child domestic work and ensure that every child and every protector thrives.
