On behalf of ISPCAN, it is my great honor to welcome each of you — government leaders, practitioners, researchers, advocates, and partners — to come together with a shared purpose: to strengthen child protection systems and to build a future where every child is safe, valued, and able to thrive. Welcome to the first ISPCAN Regional Rise Up Policy Forum and Huddle 2.0!

This gathering represents more than a conference. It is a commitment to learn, to collaborate, and advance meaningful reform.

Across Africa and around the world, children represent our greatest opportunity for growth, innovation, and human capital development. Yet too many children continue to face abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence. Prevention financing remains structurally weak. Coordination across sectors is too often fragmented. Political Will must be continuously strengthened. This event was designed precisely to confront these realities with solutions co-created by harnessing the strengths of each nation.

Our ISPCAN Huddle 2.0 begins with one powerful premise: from one child’s story, we can illuminate an entire system. By examining a real, de-identified case, we move beyond theory into lived experience — into the moments where identification faltered, where coordination could have been stronger, and where prevention might have changed the trajectory. But we do not stop at learning. We translate insight into reform. We move from case reflection to fiscal modeling, from multidisciplinary discussion to policy design, from professional development to national infrastructure planning

The Rise Up Policy Forum builds on that foundation. Over two days, we will shift from the individual case to national systems: how to build sustainable prevention financing; how to align ministries across health, justice, education, social development, housing, and finance; and how to create the political and fiscal architecture necessary to protect children at scale.

This is not an abstract dialogue. It is an opportunity to change the health and future of a nation. It is about children, but also about GDP growth and human capital. It is about the measurable cost of inaction and the quantifiable value of prevention. It is about ensuring that child protection is recognized not only as a moral imperative, but as a strategic national investment.

ISPCAN serves as a bridge between research and practice and as catalyst for sustained reform. Through this regional model, we aim to support governments in developing prevention financing strategies, strengthening data systems, trialing reform bundles, and building an enduring regional network for learning and accountability. Most importantly, we must ensure that the lessons from these three days do not remain in this room. They must become action—translated into policies drafted, budgets reallocated, champions mobilized, and systems strengthened.

From one child’s story, we can reimagine and build stronger national prevention infrastructures. Through regional collaboration, we will cultivate a learning community that strengthens sister countries. When every nation succeeds, there is no place where perpetrators can hide.

With the support and vision of the Government of Uganda, our trusted partners at AfriChild Center, IIDC and The Haruv Institute, we begin developing a new way forward — one that enables nations to learn from one another and lead lasting reform. We invite you to join us in strengthening nations and building internal capacity. We stand beside you as partners, working to ensure that every country has the tools, research, and effective systems needed to Rise Up to End Child Abuse and Neglect. ISPCAN remains committed to establishing an African Regional Hub so that the knowledge shared, the practical resources developed, and the learning continues — until we get it right.

Sincerely,