The theme for International Women’s Day 2026 is “Give To Gain.” It is a global call to action reminding us that when we invest in women, through support, visibility, resources, mentorship, and opportunity, everyone benefits. Progress for women creates progress for communities, industries, and future generations. This year at The Safety Chic, we are honouring […]
This year at The Safety Chic, we are honouring 48 remarkable women working across the child safety and child protection ecosystem around the world. These women are leaders, innovators, advocates, and educators who are dedicating their work to protecting children and advancing safer environments for the next generation. Across countries and disciplines, they are:
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- Leading organisations advancing child protection
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- Designing programs, products, and solutions that keep children safe
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- Training professionals, parents, and communities
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- Driving research, advocacy, and policy change
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- Championing the rights and well-being of children everywhere
Their work spans every dimension of child safety, including online safety, physical safety, child abuse prevention, injury prevention, war and crisis protection, child safety education, rights advocacy, policy implementation, and so much more.
This list is not ranked, nor is it exhaustive. It is simply a snapshot of the extraordinary women whose work continues to strengthen the global movement for child safety.
In the spirit of “Give To Gain,” we are giving these women the recognition, visibility, and celebration they deserve, because when we uplift women working to protect children, the entire world gains.
Dear women in child safety and child protection, today we celebrate you and hope this list helps you discover one another, connect, and collaborate, because collaboration is essential to amplifying child safety globally.
But first, take your flowers.
Happy International Women’s Day 2026
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- Nicola Ashcroft
Nicola Ashcroft is a mom of two and Co-Founder of Zootom. Nicola is on a mission to create safer online spaces for kids. What started as a heartfelt conversation on a family holiday turned into Zootom, a platform designed to protect kids and teens while empowering them to explore the digital world responsibly.
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- Dr Solange Swiri Tumasang
Dr Solange Swiri Tumasang is an educator, peace lecturer, social entrepreneur, leadership coach, gender and child protection advocate and philanthropist. She is the founder and General coordinator of the Network of women-led CSOs in Cameroon (NEWOLEC), an organization regrouping over 100 women leaders of organizations and has as its objective the Socio-economic, professional and personal development of women. Through this network, the lives of over 500 young girls have been impacted through empowerment initiatives and mentorship programmes. She is currently coordinating 50 women leaders who are mentoring young girls in the community on career choices, leadership, personal and professional development, entrepreneurship and community engagement. Dr Tumasang also founded Kids for Kids Cameroon, which is entirely dedicated to the welfare and protection of children.
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- Dr Muzvare Betty Makoni
Dr Muzvare Betty Makoni is the Founder & CEO, Girl Child Network Worldwide. She received the World’s Children’s Prize in 2007 for her long struggle for girls in Zimbabwe to be freed from abuse and to have the same opportunities in life as boys. Through the Girl Child Network (GCN), Betty has built three safe villages for particularly vulnerable girls and started 500 girls’ clubs with 30,000 members, mostly in rural areas and in poor townships. Betty saves girls from child labour, forced marriage, abuse, trafficking and assault. She gives the girls food, clothes, medical care, a home, the chance to go to school, and safety. Above all, she gives the girls courage to demand respect for their rights.
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- Dr Maithili P Joshi
Dr Maithili P. Joshi is a child safety advocate and paediatrician focused on child safety, injury prevention, and psycho-education. She works to educate parents on creating safe environments, including teaching simple, non-threatening communication and establishing safety boundaries for children. She emphasises direct, non-threatening communication and building foundational trust to ensure child safety.
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- Dr Princess Olufemi-Kayode
Dr Princess Olufemi-Kayode is a human rights activist and the founder of Media Concern Initiative for Women & Children. She became an Ashoka fellow in 2007. She is the Executive Director of Media Concern for Women and Children Initiative (MEDIACON), a non-profit organisation that provides trauma counselling, legal advocacy, and crisis intervention for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.
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- Kristi McVee
Kristi McVee is a Child Safety and Abuse Prevention Expert. She spent 10 years in the police force as a specialist child interviewer and a senior detective constable. When she retired from the force, Kristi believed there was a better way to help. By taking a proactive, preventative-focused approach, rather than a reactive approach, she could help prevent child abuse in the first instance and hopefully break the cycle of trauma that victims are so often subjected to.
7. Michelle Pratt
Michelle Pratt is the Founder of Safe in the Seat. She is a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST), Mom of Two, and Founder of Safe in the Seat. She helps parents cut through the confusion of car seat safety with expert guidance, practical tools, and zero judgment.
8. Satta Sheriff
Santa Sheriff is the Founder & Executive Director of Action for Justice and Human Rights, a children- and youth-driven NGO that advocates for and ensures access to justice and respect for Human Rights in Liberia. She is a strong advocate for children, as her own mother was married as a child. She is a Human Rights Activist and a staunch champion for justice who has been working to defend children’s and women’s rights since age nine. In 2016, she founded Action for Justice and Human Rights (AJHR). Today, AJHR is working to hold the Liberian government accountable to Human Rights, advocating against sexual violence, creating awareness and providing safe space, resources and psychosocial support for survivors of sexual abuse.
9. Dr Sai Bhavani
Dr Sai Bhavani is a Paediatrician and Neonatologist.. She specialises in comprehensive care for newborns, infants, and children. Based in India, she has a background from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, with expertise in neonatology, nutrition, and pediatric neurology. She has an online presence on Instagram where she shares insights on child health and paediatrics.
10. Kimberly King
Kimberly King is a body safety educator and author. She focuses on prevention education, aiming to help kids stay safe from abuse and exploitation. Her work focuses on child safety, body safety, and empowering children to speak up, emphasising education over fear. She advocates for proactively discussing topics that are often considered taboo to protect children. She is the author of I Said No! A Kid-to-Kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private.
11. Jemima Kasonga Mwamba
Jemima Kasonga Mwamba is a children and Women’s Rights Advocate and a UNICEF Young Reporter from DRC. She is an advocate for children’s and women’s rights. Her mission is to give youth a voice, protect the most vulnerable, and create lasting impact in my community. She leads initiatives on gender, child protection, positive masculinity, and the prevention of gender-based violence, while strengthening the skills of young leaders. Her journey is reinforced by specialised training in sexual harassment and abuse prevention, PSEA, digital storytelling, community leadership, gender, and community sensitisation.
12. Hadja Idrissa Bah
Hadja Idrissa Bah is a Children’s rights activist & past President of the Guinean Children’s Parliament. She began advocating for children’s rights at the age of 12 in the Guinean Children’s Parliament; at 15, she was elected president of this parliament in 2016. Today, she continues her activism within several organisations, including the Francophone West African Young Feminists Network, which she often represents through her interventions at major gender equality events; she also serves as a Board member of Equipop France. From 2019 to the present, she has been a regular contributor to the health program “Priorité Santé” on RFI while studying communication at ECS Brussels. She has advised President Emmanuel Macron on women’s issues.
13. Rosalia Rivera
Rosalia Rivera is the founder of CONSENTparenting
. She is a child sexual abuse prevention expert, consent educator, and host of the AboutCONSENT podcast who teaches parents how to educate their children on body safety, boundaries, and consent. To end child sexual abuse and help parents raise empowered children. She specialises in helping parents (including survivors) teach body safety, boundaries, and consent to children. She shares resources and education on Instagram at @consentparenting. She is a child sexual abuse survivor turned thriver, speaker, and advocate. Rivera’s work includes creating CONSENTwear and promoting proactive, age-appropriate conversations about safety to break intergenerational cycles of abuse.
14. Kanga Rasi
Kanga Rasi is the Deputy Director of Campaign & Advocacy at Brave Movement Kenya. She is a social justice advocate who has dedicated her career to working towards a more just and equitable world. Kanga has worked with international, regional, national, and grassroots organisations on issues related to health, education, gender equality, climate change, and governance. She has worked extensively on gender-based violence, reproductive rights, education, and women in leadership over a span of nine years. She works with Brave Movement, an institution that works on ending childhood sexual violence and affects policy/community systems across Africa.
15. Lauren Book
Lauren Book is a best-selling author and internationally renowned child advocate, and survivor of child sexual abuse. Because of her experience, she founded Lauren’s Kids along with her father, Ronald Book, in 2007. Under Ms Book’s leadership, the nonprofit organisation works to create a world where the exploitation of children is not tolerated. Over her years of service to victims of abuse, Lauren and her father have passed numerous Florida laws to protect victims and end the cycle of future abuse, including the nation’s toughest mandatory reporting laws, child safety zones and ending the Statute of Limitations for prosecution of sexual crimes committed against children. In addition to her advocacy work, Book is committed to empowering children to protect themselves against abuse by teaching in-school curricula that provide children with the necessary tools to act as the first line of defence against abuse.
16. Thandekile Mtshizana
Thandekile Mtshizana is a South African human rights activist and a SAPS Officer. African human rights activist and a SAPS Officer. She became known in 2024 after her daughter, a seven-year-old girl known publicly as Cwecwe, was involved in a widely reported abuse case at a private school in Matatiele, Eastern Cape. Since then, she has spoken out for justice and safety for children in schools across South Africa. She has been raising public awareness on child protection in education settings.
17. Mabel Abel-Onaiwu
Mabel Abel-Onaiwu is the founder and CEO of the She Safety and Health Initiative (SHE-SHI). Based in Lagos, Nigeria, the organisation focuses on building safer, more sustainable workplaces. She is a dedicated safety professional (PDIPQHSES, WSO) committed to ensuring workers return home safely. With a distinguished military career spanning over a decade and professional certifications in safety, health, and communication, she is etching her legacy in the annals of time, empowering young girls, women, and communities across Africa to realise their full potential. At the heart of Ambassador Mabel’s advocacy is the firm belief that safety is not a privilege, but a fundamental right that every individual deserves. Her legacy is already evident in the empowered children, safer and more resilient communities, healthier women, and stronger systems that are emerging as a direct result of her work.
18. Jillian van Turnhout
Jillian van Turnhout is an Irish children’s rights advocate, former Senator, and former Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance; works on policy related to online child sexual abuse, corporal punishment, child wellbeing & early childhood care. She was nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad in May 2011. She stepped down from her role as Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, and served as Leader of the Independent Group (Taoiseach Nominees), member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, and Chair of the Oireachtas Children’s Future Health Group until the conclusion of the 24th Seanad in April 2016.
Carole Hewison has been an accident prevention specialist for over 20 years. Firstly at Community Child Health and then as Project Director with the Whoops! Child Safety Project, which she started from a blank piece of paper back in 2000. At present, in her role at the First and Foremost, she targets the children’s workforce to enable her to reach EVERY child, parent/carer/grandparent and professional from disadvantaged backgrounds, communities and situations. In the past, she has developed and delivered training to children aged 5-19 years around keeping safe, bullying, risky play, home and fire safety, and assisted in the development of courses for parents/carers and professionals alongside my team. Her passion is to eradicate childhood deaths and disability from preventable incident and working with the workforce across the region, we can achieve this together. The work she does to equalise life chances has a profound effect on the safety (morbidity and mortality) of all children across both the North East of England and the rest of the UK and Ireland.
20. Alicia Kozakiewicz
Alicia Kozakiewicz is an American television personality, motivational speaker, and advocate for Internet safety and missing persons. Kozakiewicz is the founder of the Alicia Project, an advocacy group designed to raise awareness about online predators, abduction, and child sexual exploitation. She is also the namesake of “Alicia’s Law”, which provides a dedicated revenue source for child rescue efforts. Kozakiewicz has worked with television network Investigation Discovery to educate the public on, and effect change for, issues such as Internet safety, missing people, human trafficking, and child safety awareness education. At the age of 13 in 2002, Kozakiewicz became the first known victim of child abduction via Internet luring that received widespread media attention.
21. Memory Vanessa Banda
Memory Banda is a girls’ activist and defends girls against forced marriage and sexual violence in Malawi. Growing up in an underprivileged area, she witnessed her peers getting pregnant from rape, being forcibly married, and having to leave school. Her own sister faced this fate at just 11 years old. Determined to change this situation, Memory began advocating for girls’ rights at the age of 13. She mobilised her classmates and led a campaign to end child marriages in the region. Thanks to her efforts, her community became the first in Malawi to ban this practice. Her campaign helped raise the minimum legal age for marriage from 15 to 18 years. In 2018, she founded foundation4GirlsLeadership (F4GL), a female-led nonprofit that provides training to girls and works to strengthen their rights, promote their access to education and reproductive health services, and end early marriage.
22. Nice Nailantei Leng’ete
Nice Nailantei Leng’ete is a Kenyan human rights activist, advocating for an alternative rite of passage (ARP) for girls in Africa and campaigning to stop female genital mutilation (FGM). In her work with Amref Health Africa, Leng’ete has saved an estimated 17,000 girls from undergoing genital mutilation and, for many, childhood marriages. She was named by Time magazine in 2018 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
23. Irene van der Zande
Irene van der Zande has been a global child safety educator and advocate for more than 30 years. She founded Kidpower International, which has trained more than 5 million people worldwide in skills that prevent bullying, abuse, and other forms of violence. She is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured in numerous news outlets, conferences, and Kidpower publications, including the “Kidpower Book for Caring Adults” and “Kidpower Safety Comics.”
24. Emma Mumma
Emma Mumma is an international child rights advocate championing Child Rights, Anti-Human Trafficking, & Social Justice. She is a dedicated Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a specialist in Human Rights, Child Protection, and Anti-Human Trafficking. She is committed to creating child-friendly judicial practices and driving impactful policy reforms. She played a pivotal role in the review of the Children Act 2022, Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act, Victim Protection Act, and Protection Against Domestic Violence Act in Kenya. As a Legal Researcher at the Judiciary of Kenya, she contributed to developing child-friendly judicial practices, ensuring the effective implementation of laws affecting children.
25. Dr Joan Nyanyuki
Dr Joan Nyanyuki advocates for ending violence against children by tackling social/cultural drivers. She was the Executive Director of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), a Pan-African centre for policy advocacy and dialogue on African children’s rights. Dr Nyanyuki is Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children and Chairperson of the African Partnership to End Violence. She has championed human rights, gender justice, equality and women’s rights in strategic leadership roles in national and international NGOs. She has a wealth of progressive experience in human rights research and advocacy and organisational leadership through her past roles as Amnesty International’s Regional Director in East Africa and the Great Lakes Region, as Executive Director of the Coalition on Violence against Women, and at the Independent Medico-Legal Unit. Dr Nyanyuki began her career as a medical doctor, working with survivors of torture and sexual violence before transitioning into human rights and gender equality work.
26. Cheryl Perera
Cheryl Perera is a children’s rights activist. Cheryl is a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Order of Ontario appointee, and WEF YGL, an international children’s rights advocate, social entrepreneur, acclaimed public speaker and the Founder and President of OneChild. She is empowering children and youth to take action against the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) through preventative education, survivor empowerment, advocacy and mobilisation for institutional reform and policy change. Her new idea shakes up traditional ‘child protection’ efforts by centring young people and encouraging them to take their place as changemakers on issues that involve them directly.
27. Vithika Yadav
Vithika Yadav is an Indian human rights activist, child Rights, education & digital safety Advocate who has worked in the areas of human trafficking, slavery, gender rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the future of education. She is currently the Managing Director of Designathon Works, a Global foundation on a mission to enable children to design a better world for themselves and for the planet. She is also a child protection expert in South Asia under the Purple Foundation. She is known for her work with Love Matters India, which is India’s leading digital initiative on sexual and reproductive health for all genders and sexualities. She also founded TeenBook, India’s comprehensive life skills education resource for adolescents, parents and educators. She is an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College and THNK School of Creative Leadership in Amsterdam. She is also a TEDx Speaker and has delivered talks at IIT Roorkee, TEDxJIET, SIMS Pune Hague Academy and TEDx Dubai.
28. Katherine Martínez
Katherine Martínez is a Venezuelan lawyer, activist, and human rights defender. In 2008, she founded the NGO Prepara Familia, which is dedicated to defending the human rights of hospitalised children and adolescents with chronic conditions at the J. M. de los Ríos Children’s Hospital in Caracas, as well as those of female caregivers. In 2024, she was recognised as one of the most influential women in the world on the BBC’s 100 Women list.
29. Edith Utete
Edith Utete is the first Zimbabwean female lawyer to work in Cyber Security. She is a Cyber-Smart Parenting and Business Consultant, Child Online Protection and Digital Wellness Advocate. She has a drive to empower tech-users to have wholesome and beneficial relationships online and with their devices. Edith is a mother of 4 children and is driven by her passion to see families, children, students, and schools thrive in this Digital Age. Experienced Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the legal services industry in the public and private sectors. She is a strong consulting and training professional skilled in Broadcasting and Cyber Laws, Intellectual Property, Labour Laws, Strategic Planning, Legal Research, Corporate Event Planning and Public Service Legislation. Founder of DigitalAgeConversations, a social enterprise that promotes safe and responsible internet use for children, parents, educators, and businesses. She is the Zimbabwe Chapter Lead for Women in Tech Africa. Promoting the participation of women and girls in STEM education and careers. She is also a founding member of Women in Law Connect, promoting the celebration, inspiration, promoting the celebration, promoting the celebration, inspiration, and empowerment of female lawyers/law students/law graduates. Cyber-Smart Parenting and Business Coach and Consultant. Award-Winning Best Selling Author. Speaker. Trainer. Mentor.
30. Michelle Yao
Michelle Yao is the co-founder of Cyberlite, an educational organisation based in Singapore and India focused on digital wellbeing, cyber safety, and AI education for children. As a dedicated child online protection advocate, she works on educating families and children on digital safety, providing tools to navigate the digital world securely. She works to equip families, educators, and students with tools to navigate the digital world safely and critically. She develops programs to promote safe online habits for children. She focuses on teaching responsible use of AI tools. She promotes healthy digital habits and resilience through educational resources. She operates across the Asia-Pacific region to provide localised, actionable safety knowledge. She is focused on empowering children and parents with knowledge regarding internet safety. She promotes secure and responsible AI usage for young users.
31. Dr Karnnika Seth
Dr Karnnika A Seth is an internationally renowned cyber law expert & the founder of Seth Associates. She supports initiatives in women’s empowerment and online child safety and trains law enforcement to combat cybercrime. She is part of an expert panel of UNICEF working on child safety in the online world. The World Bank and UNICEF have sought her views on women’s laws in their work on online Child Protection. Dr Seth authored the e-filing manual to support the e-courts mission project of the Supreme Court of India and a legal toolkit, Child victims of cybercrime, for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in 2018.
32. Petrider Paul
Based in Tanzania, Petrider Paul is a youth advocate, girls’ rights defender, and a 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders Award winner. Her initiative focuses on empowering gender-based violence (GBV) survivors to champion change, while she also works to end child forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), and teenage pregnancies. She is passionate about empowering women and girls as a way to fight gender-based violence. Her activism was sparked by the early marriage of a friend when Paul was 15. Paul began her journey as an activist after being selected to be a Queen’s Young Leader in 2016. In Tanzania, the law of marriage act is different for boys and girls, and makes it legal for a girl to get married when she is 15 while the age limit for boys is 18.
33. Silvia Roxana Piceda
Silvia Roxana Piceda is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Together with Sebastián Cuattromo (a survivor of clerical sexual abuse), they founded the civil association – Adults for Children’s Rights. Their goal is to raise public awareness of childhood sexual abuse and to create peer support groups. She is an Argentine activist, author, and co-founder of the non-governmental organisation Adultxs por los Derechos de la Infancia (Adults for Children’s Rights). She is a survivor of child sexual abuse and works to raise awareness, prevent abuse, and support other survivors. In 2012, alongside Sebastián Cuattromo, she founded Adultxs por los Derechos de la Infancia, an organisation dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse and breaking the silence surrounding it. Piceda has publicly shared that she was sexually abused between the ages of 9 and 11 by people close to her home. She has spoken about the complicity of society and the justice system in silencing such abuse. She co-authored the book “Somos Sobrevivientes: Crónicas de abuso sexual en la infancia” (We are Survivors: Chronicles of Child Sexual Abuse). She is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is a prominent voice in advocating for the rights of children and in the fight against impunity for sexual offenders
34. Lesley Taylor
Lesley Taylor is a Community Worker with an extensive career in child safety, abuse prevention and national advocacy. As a volunteer with NAPCAN (National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) for 8 years, NT Manager for 10 years and National Manager for a further 5 years, Lesley has a long history with NAPCAN and in promoting the well-being of children. Based in the Northern Territory, Lesley designed a range of innovative child abuse prevention resources and programs and delivered these to thousands of people in hundreds of urban, rural and very remote communities across Australia. This work has enabled Lesley to be actively engaged in national social policy campaigns and strategy planning initiatives to reduce the risk of child maltreatment.
35. Jaha Dukureh
Jaha Dukureh is a Gambian women’s rights activist and anti-female genital mutilation campaigner. Dukureh was subjected to female genital mutilation in the Gambia when she was a little more than a week old. She is the founder and executive director of Safe Hands for Girls, an organisation working to end FGM, and was the lead campaigner in The Guardian’s End FGM Guardian Global Media Campaign. In April 2016, she was named to the 2016 Time 100 list. Dukureh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in February 2018, has won the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, and is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa. A feature film about Jaha’s life was released by Accidental Pictures and The Guardian. Her memoir, I Will Scream to the World, was published by Kensington Books in 2024. Dukureh’s activism led to the banning of female genital mutilation in The Gambia.
36. ‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Louise Guttenbeil-Likiliki
Ofa-Ki-Levuka Louise Guttenbeil-Likiliki is a prominent Tongan women’s rights activist, filmmaker, and the Director of the Women & Children Crisis Centre (WCCC) in Tonga, established in 2009. She works to protect children from abuse through advocacy, policy development, education, and strengthening national child protection systems. She has been instrumental in advocating for strengthened national child protection systems and supporting the implementation of the National Child Protection Policy in Tonga.
37. Dr Abigail Amankwa-Boateng
Abigail Amankwa-Boateng is a Paediatric Resident and Public Health professional committed to ensuring that every child grows up healthy, safe, and supported. Her work bridges clinical care, community engagement, and child-focused advocacy, with a strong emphasis on strengthening the systems that protect children long before they enter the hospital. With over five years of clinical experience, she has witnessed how many preventable childhood illnesses originate outside healthcare facilities. This has shaped her commitment to extending care beyond the bedside through school health programmes, caregiver training, parent education, and community-based outreach. She is the Co-Founder of Happy Kids Health Hub, where she designs and leads child health education programmes, caregiver and nanny training, and school-based initiatives that make accurate, practical health information accessible to families, educators, and organisations. She also supports institutions in planning and delivering impactful community health outreaches focused on maternal, child, and adolescent wellbeing. Beyond clinical and community work, she engages audiences through media, training platforms, and public speaking to address child safety, nutrition, development, digital wellbeing, and preventive health. Her work aligns closely with global priorities on child wellbeing, health equity, and family-centred systems of care.
38. Jennifer Kaberi
Jennifer Kaberi is a child development specialist and an international development work professional with a passion for children. Her vision is to transform Africa’s story through empowering children to speak for themselves, data-driven solutions, and technology that is Afrocentric. She believes this will result in a positive outcome in Africa that touches not only socioeconomic development but also humanity. Jennifer has spent over 10 years working in the child development sector on an array of community, district, national, and international projects. In 2017, Jennifer founded Mtoto News, an online platform to improve the lives of children through technology. Mtoto News uses the power of media and data to provide a platform for children to participate in developing solutions to the challenges that face them. Jennifer holds a B.A. from the University of Nairobi and an M.A. in Child Development from Daystar University. Jennifer Kaberi, a prominent figure in child protection and digital citizenship, is actively pioneering initiatives in digital parenting and child empowerment across Africa. Through her work, she advocates for a balanced approach that fosters both online safety and the responsible, empowering use of technology for the next generation. Her efforts are vital in shaping a safer and more enriching digital experience for families.
39. Professor Ann Marie Skelton
Professor Ann Marie Skelton is a South African jurist and children’s rights activist. She was the chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child from 2023 – 2025. She is a professor of private law at the University of Pretoria, where she is the UNESCO Chair in Education Law in Africa, and she also holds the Chair in Children’s Rights in a Sustainable World at Leiden University. An expert on child law, Skelton rose to prominence as a practising human rights lawyer and advocate, first in non-profit organisations and then through the strategic litigation programme of the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law, which was formerly headed by Skelton. In addition, through the South African Law Reform Commission, she has played a significant role in post-apartheid child law reform in South Africa, including as chair of the committee that drafted the Child Justice Act of 2008.
40. Jane Searle
Jane Searle is the Chief Executive of Child Matters and is an advocate for child protection in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Jane began her career as a barrister and solicitor before joining the New Zealand Police, where she qualified as a detective and worked on the Child Abuse Team. Since joining Child Matters in 2015, Jane has been a fierce advocate for change, challenging government agencies to move beyond discussion and take action in preventing child abuse. She sits on multiple government advisory groups and boards, including serving as a school board member, ensuring that child protection remains a priority at every level of society. Through her leadership, Jane continues to drive national conversations and empower communities, reinforcing the message that protecting children is everyone’s responsibility.
41. Eva Díaz Bethencourt
Eva Díaz Bethencourt is a Specialist and Human Rights Lawyer at Protect Children. Eva worked as a lawyer in Spain and then completed a Master’s Degree Programme in International Law and Human Rights at ÅAU. Eva is passionate and strongly committed to the defence of human rights and gender equality. At Protect Children, Eva is leading the Global Our Voice Survivor Survey and managing the Justice Initiative Nordic Hub. She also conducts analyst work within Project Arachnid and conducts innovative research on online child sexual abuse material offending as part of the Research team.
42. Berinyuy Naomi Kibula
Berinyuy Naomi Kibula is a safeguarding and child protection specialist from Cameroon with extensive experience in youth educational outreach programs. She leads comprehensive safeguarding initiatives across Francophone Africa, focusing on vulnerable populations, including refugees and persons with disabilities. Her work has impacted over hundreds of beneficiaries through various youth protection programs.
43. Justa “Mama J” Mwaituka
Justa “Mama J” Mwaituka is a Tanzanian advocate and co-founder of the Kiota Women’s Health and Development (KIWOHEDE) organisation. She is recognised for her work in creating a safe “nest” for vulnerable Tanzanian youth and empowering adolescent girls. KIWOHEDE: Along with co-founders, she established this organisation to support young people. She has been recognised as a “Safe Hero” in Tanzania for her efforts in protecting children and adolescents. She serves as the Executive Director of her organisation. Mama J has participated in high-level regional forums, such as those addressing trafficking in persons in Eastern Africa. Her work, often in collaboration with initiatives like DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe), focuses on education, preventing violence, and economic empowerment for girls.
44. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio was the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children from May 2014 to April 2020. Between 2002 and 2012, she served as Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the first woman elected for this post. She joined the Council of Europe in 1969 and worked in different capacities in the human rights protection mechanism set up under the European Convention on Human Rights. In 1998, she was elected Deputy Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights. Throughout her mandates, she focused her work on the fight against discrimination and violence and the promotion of the rights of the most vulnerable groups, especially children. She launched the Council of Europe programme “Building a Europe for and with children”, advocating for a holistic and integrated approach towards the issue of eliminating all forms of violence against children and respect for children’s rights.
45. Dame Mary Dinah
Dame Mary Dinah is a name synonymous with compassion, leadership, and transformative change. As the Founder and CEO of the Mary Dinah Foundation, one of Africa’s largest international NGOs, she has dedicated her life to improving the health and well-being of women and children affected by armed conflict, particularly in the North-eastern region of Nigeria. Established in London in 2006, her foundation has become a beacon of hope for countless individuals facing unimaginable hardships. At the heart of her work is the ZERO HUNGER PROGRAM, a ground-breaking initiative that has provided over 42 million meals to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees across Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. This program has significantly reduced illnesses and deaths caused by malnutrition, offering a lifeline to those living in crisis zones. Beyond hunger relief, Lady Dinah is deeply committed to child protection and addressing gender-based violence, collaborating with global partners like UNICEF and UNHCR to drive generational change. Her journey of impact began even earlier with the creation of JOB-LINK, Nigeria’s first private job centre, which connected over 10,000 young people to meaningful employment opportunities in partnership with Microsoft Philanthropies. In 2023, she launched the Mary Dinah Scholarship for Refugees, providing fully funded higher education opportunities for refugees in Cameroon, empowering them to build brighter futures.
46. Chloe Setter
Chloe Setter is a well-respected senior policy professional with more than a decade of experience in international child rights across a variety of sectors, including big tech, international NGOs and membership organisations. She is a Subject expert on child safety, with a demonstrable track record of successful advocacy in legislative and policy change, as well as project management. She excels at building and maintaining meaningful relationships with a range of stakeholders, including governments, multilateral organisations, the private sector, law enforcement, child protection professionals, funders, users and families. She is deeply passionate about child and youth participation to drive positive and sustainable change. She loves building strong, effective and happy teams who can deliver for children and families.
47. Júlia Wachave
Júlia Wachave is a Mozambican social activist and human rights defender who plays a key role in protecting women and children, particularly in the conflict-affected region of Cabo Delgado. She is at the forefront of providing humanitarian aid, including psychosocial support, to internally displaced women and children in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado. She acts as the coordinator for organisations focused on the protection of women and girls, addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and its impact on families. She conducts training for women, focusing on legal rights and empowering them to identify and report violence, which directly impacts the safety of children within those households. She is a recognised advocate for incorporating psychosocial assistance into humanitarian aid to help communities deal with the trauma of violent extremism.
48. Dr. Samantha Nutt
Dr. Samantha Nutt (Sam) is a medical doctor with more than fifteen years of experience working in war zones. Committed to peace, human rights and social justice, she has worked in some of the world’s most violent flashpoints with War Child Canada, the United Nations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burundi, northern Uganda, Ethiopia and the Thai-Burmese border. Over the course of her professional career and as the Founder and Executive Director of War Child Canada, Dr Nutt has spearheaded efforts to provide direct humanitarian support and long-term programming to war-affected children and their families, and to promote greater awareness in Canada concerning the rights of children everywhere. Her work on behalf of war-affected communities around the world has been widely recognised.
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