On 6 May, UNOAU organized a meeting with the AU Child Protection Adviser as a follow-up to a presentation made by the Adviser to the UNOAU on the 20^th of April which touched on issues relating to child protection, the work currently being undertaken by the AU on this issue, and the challenges that he faced in engaging with the UN and Agencies, Funds and Programs given that he was effectively running a “one-man-office”.

This follow-up meeting aimed to identify concrete areas of collaboration and the next steps of action. It was decided that UNOAU be included in the meetings of the stakeholder’s coordination group and to organize an orientation/training session for UNOAU staff on the topic of child protection to help mainstreaming the issue of child protection across all sectors of work of UNOAU. The AU policies on the subject matter were shared, and UNICEF contacts were exchanged to help strengthen collaboration in this regard. Further, it was decided to develop a plan to help clarify the timeline at which UNOAU expertise would be needed by the Office of the Child Protection Adviser. UNOAU will foster future collaboration with the AU Child Protection Office as well as with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.