Association for Care Leavers Networks in Africa
Towards a world where every care leaver survive and thrive
The Association for Care Leavers Networks in Africa (ACNA) was established in 2021 as a regional youth led-platform to coordinate efforts by national care leavers organizations /Associations /Networks in Africa advancing and advocating for the rights and welfare of children/ young people with care experiences.
who we are
The Association of Care Leavers Networks in Africa (ACNA) is a Pan-African, youth-led movement connecting care leavers and care-experienced initiatives across the continent. We exist to ensure that care leavers young people who grew up in orphanages or alternative care are seen, heard, and empowered not only as partners in shaping Africa’s child care reforms, but also as individuals equipped to survive, grow, and thrive in their communities.
As the first African collective of independent care-experienced voices and organizations, we unite under a shared vision: that care leavers deserve continuous support beyond the walls of care and the age of formal exit. Our approach centres on lived experience leadership, recognizing that those who have been through the care system are best placed to lead change, identify gaps, and design solutions that are practical, relevant, and impactful.
We combine lived experience with a human rights approach to address the complex challenges care leavers face ranging from trauma and social exclusion to barriers in education, employment, and access to opportunity. Many care leavers also confront heightened risks, including exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking, both during and after care. By amplifying their voices and advocating for systemic change, we ensure care leavers are recognized, protected, and supported, with child protection embedded in both policy and practice.
At ACNA, we understand that change cannot happen alone. That is why we actively collaborate with governments, civil society, communities, and partners to create meaningful pathways for care leavers to achieve their full potential. We work to ensure that care leavers are:
- Affirmed in their inherent dignity and agency
- Heard and centered in policies and decisions that affect their lives
- Equipped to lead, innovate, and thrive within their communities
Care leavers are not simply advocates, they are agents of change, evidence of systemic gaps, and leaders of their own futures. ACNA exists to ensure that their journeys are supported, their voices amplified, and their rights protected, so that leaving care is not the end, but a new beginning
‘Real change for care leavers requires all of us governments, civil society, communities, and partners to work together to dismantle barriers, protect rights, and ensure opportunity’’
Mission statement
To coordinate efforts by care leavers’ organizations, networks, and individuals across Africa to advance and advocate for the rights and welfare of children and young people with care experiences
How we work
We bring together care-experienced leaders from all the five regions of Africa – namely – North, West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa to drive systemic change through:
- Empowerment: Building the leadership, confidence, and collective voice of care-experienced young people and their networks.
- Research: Generating evidence grounded in lived experience to shape better policies and practice.
- Advocacy: Influencing laws, funding, and social systems to protect rights and ensure care leavers can integrate fully into society.
- Pan-African Coordination: Uniting care-experienced movements across Africa to speak as one, act as one, and reform care together.
We leverage a unique combination of lived experience and human rights advocacy to challenge harmful systems, inspire change, and build a future where every young person leaving care is seen, heard, and supported to thrive.
What We Do
At ACNA, we believe that transforming the care system requires more than good intentions; it requires coordinated action, evidence, and justice. We work through four interconnected pillars that bring together lived experience and human rights advocacy.
1.Empowerment and leadership
We empower care-experienced individuals and networks to lead change strengthening their capacity to advocate, organize, and drive reform from within their communities. Because care-experienced people are not just beneficiaries of change; they are the architects of it.
2️. Research and knowledge
We generate and use evidence to inform policies, practice, and public understanding of care.
Through participatory and collaborative research, we document lived experiences, expose systemic gaps, and amplify data that drives reform across Africa.
3. Policy and advocacy
We advocate for laws, policies, and frameworks that protect care leavers’ rights and dignity.
Our advocacy ensures that children leaving care are supported to integrate into communities with justice, accountability, and inclusion at the core of every system.
4. Access to Justice
Ensuring survivors of harm within the care system find safety, healing, and accountability
5. Governance and Coordination
We strengthen governance structures to protect and advance the rights of care leavers. As a Pan-African movement, ACNA unites care leavers initiatives into a single, powerful continental voice, ensuring accountability, harmonized advocacy, and the meaningful inclusion of African care leavers in shaping the global care reform agenda.
Why It Matters
Across Africa and the world, millions of children remain trapped in institutional care, a system that decades of research have shown to inflict profound and enduring harm. Globally, 2.7 million children live in residential or institutional settings, with around 650,000 in sub-Saharan Africa. These are not merely numbers they are children already vulnerable, forcibly separated from their families, and stripped of the networks and relationships that anchor human development. Institutional care compounds this vulnerability, isolating them from community, denying them attachment, identity, and belonging, and exposing many to neglect, abuse, and intergenerational trauma.
Yet the world expects them to “transition” seamlessly into adulthood. Care leavers some as young as 18, others even younger are released into societies that are unprepared, unsupported, and indifferent. They leave without structured guidance, safety nets, or pathways to stability. Absent from policy, invisible in law, and erased from social programs, they are left to navigate life alone, burdened by the scars of childhood institutionalization. Many become ensnared in cycles of homelessness, school disruption, unemployment, suicide, exploitation, and violence.
Governments are rightly moving toward family- and community-based care alternatives, acknowledging the undeniable failures of institutions. Yet while policy rhetoric evolves, the material and social realities of care leavers remain largely ignored. These young people are not abstractions they are living evidence of systemic failure. Their lived experience exposes the moral and structural deficits of the care system, yet their insights remain absent from decision-making tables, perpetuating invisibility and neglect.
At ACNA, we unite in our belief and through the lived experience of care leaversthat this cycle of abuse and neglect must end. Combining lived experience with a human rights approach, we use advocacy and targeted action to ensure care leavers are no longer left to navigate life alone, but are recognized, protected, and empowered to thrive, with child protection embedded in both policy and practice.
We work to ensure care leavers are:
- Affirmed in their inherent dignity and agency
- Heard and centered in policies, frameworks, and decisions that shape their lives
- Equipped to lead, innovate, and catalyse systemic change in their communities
Membership
ACNA brings together care-experienced individuals, networks, and allies who share a common vision: a continent where every young person leaving care can survive, thrive, and belong. We believe that transforming care systems requires collective effort from those with lived experience to the institutions that serve them.
We offer two membership categories, designed to create space for leadership, collaboration, and systemic change.
- Individual Members
Care-experienced young people, advocates, and allies who share ACNA’s mission and actively contribute to advancing care reform across Africa.
They participate in campaigns, dialogues, and leadership programs that strengthen their voice, visibility, and capacity to influence change.
Criteria:
- Have lived experience of care, or demonstrate active commitment to advancing the rights and well-being of care leavers.
- Uphold ACNA’s values of dignity, inclusion, accountability, and solidarity.
- Participate in ACNA programs, advocacy, or community learning spaces.
- Commit to non-discrimination and respect for diversity.
- Network Members
National or regional collectives of care leavers that bring together care-experienced individuals to drive advocacy and peer support in their countries.These networks may be formally registered organizations or informal groups working toward registration. Through ACNA, they connect with other networks across Africa, coordinate campaigns, and contribute to a stronger Pan-African movement for care reform.
Criteria:
- Composed primarily of care-experienced individuals.
- Lead or support national advocacy for care leavers’ rights and inclusion.
- Align with ACNA’s Pan-African Charter and principles of shared leadership.
- Demonstrate transparency, accountability, and collaboration.
Strategic partners
Organizations, NGOs, and institutions that design or implement programs supporting care leavers’ transition from care to independence. These may include development partners, child protection agencies, or research institutions committed to child and youth well-being. ACNA provides them with a platform to collaborate with care-experienced leaders, co-design evidence-based solutions, and ensure programs are informed by lived experience and human rights principles.
Criteria:
- Implement or support programs that benefit care leavers or children in alternative care.
- Commit to ACNA’s values and child rights–based approach.
- Demonstrate willingness to engage in co-learning and co-creation with care-experienced leaders.
- Operate transparently and respect ACNA’s non-political, non-religious stance.
- Aligned with our engagement charter
Kenya
Zimbabwe
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”