In Côte d'Ivoire, celebrations were held in 24 cooperatives across the country. Local authorities, traditional leaders, and community members joined hands to address this critical issue.

Abengourou, in the Eastern part of the country, set the stage with a traditional Kété dance and speeches from local authorities and the Conseil Café Cacao member. Cooperative presidents and the Cocoa Horizons implementation team engaged in open discussions on child protection. Community service groups shared testimonials, while Salimata, a young girl, spoke about her positive experience with bridging class allowing her to reintegrate conventional schooling.
The event showcased children's talents through a lively "Kids Got Talent" show and an impressive performance by the local youth dance group, Yeta. A master storyteller captivated the audience, fostering excitement for all the kids.

The same week, the celebration continued with the Cocoa Horizons truck party in the village of Banguié 2, near Agboville. The truck transformed into a cinema screen after sunset and displayed a movie on child protection. Parents engaged in open discussions, sharing their concerns with our expert team.

A reading club has been established within the Amormorso community, a cocoa growing area within the Bosome Freho district of the Ashanti region. With about 50 students as pioneers, the club is to boost reading and further learning among the children.
The chief of the community Nana J.H Acquah who welcomed the club launch was hopeful more children would inculcate the habit of reading as a way of increasing and sharing knowledge. He further challenged the community members to make the education of their wards a priority especially in these times where digital transformation is vital.  

On the other hand, the audience was reminded that Africa is a continent rich in resources, and cocoa is one of its most valuable. However, this crop is often tainted because it is directly or indirectly associated with child labor. This raises the crucial issue of how stakeholders, including farmer groups, communities, cocoa farmers, processing companies, and civil/state societies, can contribute to child rights protection and promotion.

“It is essential not to treat child labor separately but to have a more holistic approach that takes into consideration the producer, their plantation, their family, and their community. This means promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting producers with concrete actions or projects to improve their income and living conditions’’. Mamadou Ly, Managing Director, Nyonkopa, Ghana.

The Cameronian team in collaboration with key government agencies organized a mass awareness campaign across the  South, Kouedjou, Littoral Region and Bafia, Central Regions. The activities included educational talks across schools on Child Labor and remediation. These coincided with the World Day against Child Labor on the theme, "Social justice for all. End child Labor’’. School children took turns to communicate heartwarming plays which captured the attention of parents and community members who made a pledge to protect their children from all forms of violence, exploitation, discrimination, abuse, neglect and promote their rights without discrimination. Every child was given an educational gift after the celebrations.

Ondo state is the largest producer of cocoa in Nigeria producing about 80,000 tonnes of cocoa every year. 
500 students across five schools - Ogbe High School, Imafon High School, Muslim College, Fiwasaye Girls College and Acquina College - in Ondo state were invited to join the celebration.
One of the activities of the day was a tree planting exercise at these schools as a way of sensitizing the youth on environmental protection and an invitation to take care of the trees to see them thrive the way they want to thrive.
Students were also invited to participate in a speech contest to open the discussion on challenges and solutions to build a bright future.
The events were organized in collaboration with the school authorities and community leaders.