Due to the reoccurring and escalating cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, in 2018 UNICEF launched the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng Campaign to fight against the scourge. The E Seng Mo Ngwaneng social mobilization campaign launch was propelled by the findings of the last national study on Violence Against Children study conducted in 2018 highlighting that 9% of girls experienced sexual violence in childhood compared to 6% of boys who experienced sexual violence in childhood, 6% of girls and young women experienced pressured or physically forced sex reported a resultant pregnancy amongst other key findings.

The E Seng Mo Ngwaneng Campaign led by First Lady Mrs. Jane Masisi aimed to sensitize the Botswana society to collectively take responsibility for safeguarding children against sexual abuse and exploitation. Furthermore, the campaign aimed to engage the public, including community leaders to mobilize action on preventing and responding to violence against children. Additionally, the need to sensitize communities to identify and reject social and moral norms linked to violence against children was one of the key aim of the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng campaign. The campaign also focused on strengthening the capacity of frontline workers such as police and social workers to respond to any form of violence against children.

As a collaborative effort between the Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the campaign followed growing concern over increasing incidences of violence against children despite the first campaign.

To buttress that which the campaign aimed to achieve, UNICEF recently re-launched the campaign in 2023 to establish if it indeed impacted the lives of children and young people. To collect feedback on the campaign and hear what children had to say, a U-Report poll was conducted and Statistics indicate that 71% of young people are aware of the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng National Campaign and believe that the campaign made changes or impact to achieve its objectives, 44% of young people believe that the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng campaign has achieved the objective of community engagement to prevent violence against children whereas 21% indicated that they are not aware of the
campaign moreover, 53% of young people believe that the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng National Campaign played an important part in building the capacity of communities to prevent violence against children.

The E Seng Mo Ngwaneng National Campaign will continue to address the issues that affect children and visit towns and villages. To view the full results of the U-Report poll on the E Seng Mo Ngwaneng National Campaign visit https://botswana.ureport.in/