Africa’s child population will reach 1 billion by 2055, making it the largest child population among all continents. Based on continuation of current coverage, more than 300 million of Africa’s 730 million projected births through 2030 will not be attended by skilled health personal. Changing demographics and a growing population in Africa will require an additional 4.2 million health workers above current growth to meet WHO minimum standards and an increase of 1.3 million primary school teachers to meet the best sub-regional performers’ pupil-teacher ratio by 2030.

Source: Unicef

ABOUT

WHO WE ARE

Mtoto News is an Integrated information and media company that is leveraging technology to improve the lives of children by making them visible. Established in February 2017 and registered by the office of the Attorney General, Mtoto News was born out of a need to fill a gap of lack of a platform that is dedicated in reporting children issues and giving children a platform to voice their concerns.

We aim at making significant change in the lives of children by making them visible in political, corporate, economic, social and development discourse. We are leveraging technology to reach and connect policy makers, project implementers and children.
Our online platforms and communities are designed to trigger conversations on children and come up with solutions, within the shortest time possible.Best Interest of the Child and Child Participation are at the core of our business, hence we ensure to bring in Children voices in every conversation.

OUR MISSION

OUR VISSION

A world where children are seen as players and not spectators.

OUR MISSION

Making Children Visible.

OUR GOAL

To improve child wellbeing by leveraging technology.

OUR OBJECTIVES AND VALUES

OUR OBJECTIVES

1. To provide a platform for child participation.
2. To improve ethical reporting in the Best Interest of the Child.
3. To provide a problem-solving platform where child sector practitioners can engage and collaborate.

OUR VALUES

1. Child participation is in our DNA.
2. We will put the Best Interest of the child first in all our work.
3. We shall endeavor to be Transparent in everything that we do.
4. We will provide Quality services.
5. We will remain Objective in everything that we do.
6. Our work shall be guided by Evidence.
7. We shall adhere to the ‘Do no harm’ principle.

The core of our organisation is an approach that puts the best interests of the child first, while our DNA is child participation. Our vision is a world where children are seen as players and not as spectators. We do this by:

Curating, creating, and circulating

content on children in different ways, including audio, video, written materials, and infographics. We also train journalists on ethical reporting of children’s stories, considering the child’s best interest, and safeguarding.

Child Participation

We believe that children should be seen as players and not spectors and hence we capaciate children, create platforms and allow them to participate. We are working to create child led initiative where children take lead in matters that affect them using digital technology

Research and Data

Research has a way of making children who are invisible, more so child led research. Mtoto News is working to enable children to be able to inform policy, program and practice using children voices, child led and child informed research.

1 .Training We train children to use digital platforms to speak for themselves Mentorship

2 .Following the training is a three-month mentorship program where there is a pairing of children with experienced journalists who hone their skills

3 .Platforms .During the mentorship, children are provided with a platform to publish their stories and engage decision-makers in different capacities.

4 .Virtual Child Participation Forums We hold regular child participation forums where children can express themselves and interact with decision-makers.

CHILD FRIENDLY MATERIALS

We are designing and developing tools and platforms to enable children to participate in various activities from an informed perspective. The tools include:

Games
Training
Portals
Booklets
Animations

We have partnered with Save The Children and Graca Machel Trust to develop an online gaming platform to help children learn about their rights and the African Union Processes

Data is the new gold. Unfortunately, the children sector does not utilize the vast amount of data available on children. Mtoto News works with child-focused agencies and government agencies to clean, understand, and visualize the data. In addition to this, Mtoto News has partnered with Data Science platforms to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) models using available data. We believe that children should be at the center of solving their problems; hence we endeavor to introduce children to data science and AI at a young age. Our annual growing digital report details the impact of digital media on children.

We believe in the power of collaboration; hence, Mtoto News works to build media capacity to report in the child's best interest. Consequently, after building media capacity, to create a community of journalists, we make a database of child-focused journalists who focus on reporting children's information. This community of journalists has been behind children's impact stories in their respective countries.