Child Online Africa (COA) in Collaboration with the Head of State Award Scheme - Ghana is set for this year’s Hike for the child online campaign which takes off on Friday, October 22, 2021. The campaign is a charity cause, an initiative to spark up discussion and support for the safety and well-being of children online in Africa. The first edition of the initiative in 2019 witnessed the Executive Director of the Child Online Africa (COA) embarking on an expedition to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest and tallest mountain in Africa and the only free-standing mountain in the world. 

This year’s edition will be a combination of exploration, research at the Shai Hills Game Reserve, and hiking to the summit of Mountain Afadja, the tallest mountain in Ghana located in the Volta Region from 22nd October 2021. This year’s edition will bring a whole new exciting experience to the campaign as over 100 young Gold Award participants of the Head of State Award Scheme carry out an exploration and research activity at the Shai Hills, Princess Town, and Lake Bosomtwi concurrently as part of their 2021 Gold Award Challenge. 

There will be group works and discussions as well as project presentations on Why we need to protect children online. These discussions are going to be happening at stated 3 different Regions concurrently where mobile phone ownership among individuals of age 5 and older stands at 73.7%, 47.4%, and 54.5% respectively according to the Household Survey on ICT in Ghana by the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana.

It is also expected a group of young professionals and managers from different field of professions will take on the challenge of hiking and camping with the stars at the summit of Afadjato in the Volta Region. 

The landmark partnership between Child Online Africa (COA) and the Head of State Award Scheme (HOSA) is in furtherance of the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) as a continuum to the Child Online Protection campaign across Africa. With the hashtag #OnlineSafety4Gold, we hope this campaign will raise the necessary awareness on the need to have all stakeholders handy and involved in the efforts being made in Africa to keep children safe while they are online.