The African Movement of Working Children and Youth (AMWCY) has made literacy possible for over half-a-million children and girls in Africa. The Movement was born in 1994 in the Ivory Coast when a group of illiterate girls living in extreme poverty and forced labor began gathering together and organizing themselves to claim their rights. They also drew up a declaration listing 12 priority rights for children. The purpose of this child-led organization is to protect working minors through the establishment of local benefit societies, awareness campaigns to influence public opinion, and negotiations with political authorities.
The small initiative has now become a self-sustained Movement, present in 27 African countries, with over one million members and sympathizers. AMWCY focuses on protecting children in the face of ill-treatment and abuses committed in society, promotes courses that offer social formation and emotional support to working children, and encourages their schooling, literacy and health education.