SpaceX will provide 750 Starlink satellite internet systems to childcare institutions across 16 countries worldwide, including nine African countries, through a grant to US-based non-profit Both Ends Believing (BEB). The initiative aims to improve internet connectivity in residential childcare facilities and support efforts to move children from institutional care into permanent family placements.
The grant, estimated to be worth nearly $1 million, will provide participating facilities with reliable broadband internet, many of them for the first time. The initiative also represents an expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink philanthropic programme, which has previously focused on connecting schools, hospitals and underserved communities.
An estimated 5.4 million children worldwide live in institutions. Across Africa, governments are working to make institutional care a temporary measure of last resort. However, many countries still lack reliable data on the number of children living in these facilities, their circumstances and the available pathways for family reunification or alternative family-based care.
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), in its 2023 Continental Study on Children Without Parental Care in Africa, estimated that approximately 35 million African children are without parental care. The study also found that more than 70% of African countries lack explicit, comprehensive policy frameworks to protect these children and called for their inclusion in national data systems.
BEB President Bruce Graham said reliable internet access is essential to improving the visibility and protection of children in residential care. He noted that connectivity can help governments identify children, monitor facilities and support efforts to reunite them with families.
The nine African countries set to benefit from the initiative are Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. BEB will distribute the Starlink systems through its local teams and government partnerships.
The connectivity will support the deployment of Children First Software (CFS), BEB’s child welfare platform. The system enables governments and childcare providers to register children, digitise records and improve case management. It is also designed to support efforts to trace biological relatives and accelerate the transition of children into permanent family care.
Sandra Chikan, Vice President for Northern Nigeria at ASOHON, said many childcare facilities still rely on paper records that can be damaged or lost, making it difficult to establish children’s identities and family backgrounds. She said internet access would help facilities maintain updated records and improve family tracing.
SpaceX will provide participating institutions with Starlink hardware, shipping, installation support and 12 months of high-speed internet service at no cost. After the initial period, facilities will be eligible to continue receiving the service at a significantly subsidised rate.
The initiative comes amid wider efforts to strengthen child protection systems across Africa. In 2024, the ACERWC adopted General Comment No. 10 on Article 25 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which states that institutional care should only be used as a temporary measure of last resort. It also calls on governments to register and monitor childcare institutions and maintain up-to-date records.
Both Ends Believing operates in more than 20 countries and has supported governments and childcare providers in digitising records for tens of thousands of children. The organisation has also contributed to efforts that have helped thousands of children move from institutional care into families.
