Abidjan Il — "Jesus said to them: 'Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them'" (Matthew 19:14).

Father Raoul Kouamé, a priest from the Diocese of Agboville, a town in southern Côte d'Ivoire, was inspired by this verse of the Gospel and founded an organization called "Children Rights Watch Côte d'Ivoire", dedicated to children and to protect their rights.

"The idea came from school friends, we want to contribute to the development of the Ivory Coast," says Father Raoul Kouamé.

Starting from the premise that a nation is formed through education, the priest and his friends decided to focus their activities on upholding the rights of the youngest on several levels.

"We want to work in the field of school education, contributing to the support of minors whose parents are in economic need, especially in rural areas; we want to set up literacy centers and promote the reintegration of young people in difficulty into social life through vocational training", he emphasized. For the school year that opens on September 10, Father Kouamé's commitment is aimed at the Anzankouamékro area, in Iffou, in the center-east of the country, where textbooks will be made available to children and young people who cannot buy them. Father Raoul Kouamé, from Cote d'Ivoire, was ordained a priest on January 29, 2022 in the Italian diocese of Alexandria. His charity Children Rights Watch Côte d'Ivoire was officially founded on May 22, 2021 in Abidjan.