On September 16th at the United Nations in New York, the Stewards of Children Prevention Toolkit app was launched during a session on “Solutions to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for Children”.

As part of the launch we managed to get some of the larger screens in New York’s Times Square to be showing the Childhood.org logo along with the download information to advertise the app. Check this out!

The idea for this app was born one year before at a similar UN event about the importance of children’s rights chaired by HRH Queen Silvia of Sweden. Queen Silvia is the founder of World Childhood Foundation, an organization whose mission is to defend children’s rights to a happy and safe childhood, free from sexual abuse and exploitation. At the end of the event, Queen Silvia gave Ericsson a challenge – to create an app that would help protect children from sexual abuse.

That request found its way through to me and the eLearning team, so we set up a development group including Members of the World Childhood Foundation along with another charity Darkness to Light an organisation set up to provide education on child sex abuse in the US.

Working together with both organizations we have developed the “Stewards of Children Prevention Toolkit”. This is a first-of-its kind mobile application that equips parents, teachers and caregivers with the skills and resources necessary to recognise, prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.

The main goals of the app is to:

• Provide “time of crisis” information

• Connect users to local support services

• Raise awareness of CSA and the need for training around prevention

• Encourage users to enrol in the Stewards of Children full course

The app helps by teaching the facts and about how sexual abuse can take place. How to eliminate isolated, one-on-one interactions with children. How to empower children to talk to you, and how you can talk to them about safe personal boundaries and abuse. It teaches you how to recognise signs, reach out to kids who show them, and how to react responsibly to disclosures, discoveries and suspicions. These steps help to protect children and our communities from sexual abuse.

We’ve developed both Android and iOS versions of the app and both are available right now. If you visit www.socapp.org you’ll be directed to the appropriate store for your device, either iTunes or the google play store.

Please download and use the app, and any help you can give in spreading word can make a difference. If you know of individuals and organisations that work with kids or have contact with them then please forward them the link www.socapp.org.