Addressing The Issues of Children Affected By Armed Violence

• Swat Project

• Kacha Garhi (Peshawar) & Chota Lahore (Swabi)

• Jalozai Camp

Swat Project

The security situation in Pakistan deteriorated in the 2009 and was faced with the war like situation. Due to the military operation in Swat and Buner most of the people were compelled to leave the area and reside in camps and host communities in other districts. These IDPs and especially women and children were more vulnerable and faced the risks of abuse, exploitation, violence and discrimination not only during the conflict but during their displacement, and return to their places of origin. But the situation in Swat and Buner is still unpredictable. During the conflict schools, colleges and hospitals were destroyed leaving people especially women and children without proper services. Most of the houses are damaged and people had to make alternate arrangements. The social structure of the area was badly affected including the social services to facilitate the affected vulnerable children and women.

To overcome the situation SPADO, in partnership with UNICEF, has initiated child protection interventions in 10 UCs of Swat district including establishment of child protection centres, provision of educational, recreational, learning and psychosocial services to children and their families. Project activities include Identification of child protection issues and finding out local solutions. It also aims to identify vulnerable children and women and link them with the available basic services. The interventions also include the capacity building of stakeholders at community level to participate in the monitoring, responding and reporting of child protection issues. Children, parents of children, community members and other stakeholders are also sensitized and made aware on key child protection issues through organizing awareness raising sessions. The same activities with the addition of ‘sports for peace’ is implemented by the SPADO Child Protection team in the target ten union councils of Swat in order to provide a protective environment to vulnerable children.

Objectives:
• To identify Separated, unaccompanied, orphaned and disabled girls and boys, linking them with service providers and to place them in family-based care (i.e. relatives or host families) and to monitor their care arrangements.
• Prevention of Child rights violations and addressing through the establishment of effective monitoring, reporting and response systems on child protection risks of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
• An interagency prevention and response plan is in place for preventing and responding to each of the major child protection risks which builds on existing protective factors and child protection systems.
• To provide safe play spaces and psychosocial support to 3000 most vulnerable girls, boys and also to provide psychosocial to the women in intermediate danger.
• ID children at risk identifying and timely interventions to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation are made by local child protection groups.

Methodology:
The foremost idea and methodology behind this emergency response is to ensure a protective environment for conflict affected children and their families from further violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation through prevention, protective services, monitoring, reporting, advocacy and reintegration.

The child protection emergency response is executed to ensure that:

• The separation of children from families is prevented and addressed and family-based care is guaranteed;
• Child rights violations are monitored, reported and responded upon in collaboration with Protection Cluster partners;
• Key aspects of the protective environment for children are strengthened through facilitating access to relief and social assistance from various other agencies and government, information about decisions and response important for the conflict affected children, psycho-social support and recreational activities, legal assistance, and monitor the general safety and security of children in the target UCs and communities;
• Established Child protection groups within the target UCs to prevent risks to the children to (further) violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
• Capacity building of communities, children, duty bearers and other key stakeholders on identification and resolution of child protection issues
• Promoting active participation of children, community based child protection committees and other stakeholders in promoting child rights, raising child protection issues, sharing them with responsible authorities for its resolution and building accountability at community and UC levels.
• Work in close collaboration with other UNICEF partners and duty bearers for the protection of child rights in District Swat.
• Established 30 Community Child Protection Centres (CCPCs) that facilitates the development of activities for children and serve as a base for dialogue and awareness sessions on child rights.
• The same Child Protection Centres (CCPCs) are also the part of the identification and referral process when child protection cases are identified.
• Capacity building of adolescents to protect themselves from risks to their protection
• Providing psychosocial support to children and women in need.

Geographical Outreach:
Ten UCs of district Swat i.e. Gul Kada, Saidu Sharif, Islam Pur, Aman Kot, Qambar, Tindo dag, Galigai, Udigram, Bari Kot and Kota.

Beneficiaries Details:

Jalozai Project

Child Friendly Spaces:
Child friendly spaces (CFSs) are established and maintained, where vulnerable children (including psychologically effected, orphan, disabled, separated, newborn and unregistered) and women are regularly identified and registered.
 

The curriculum of these CFSs includes non formal education, Islamic sessions, sports and quiz competitions. Women and Children regularly attend and participate in these activities. The main responsibility of the CPF is to conduct and organize these activities.
 

Psycho-Social Support:
The children in child friendly spaces and in community are regularly monitored by child protection monitors (CPMs) and children/women in need of any psycho-social support are referred to SPADO’s psychologist. The psychologists take individual, group or family sessions with these vulnerable. These vulnerable are also referred to other organizations as per need basis.
 

Sensitization of Child Protection Issues in Community:
Child protection monitors regularly make community visits for sensitization of CP issues. For this purpose 20 Child Protection Committees (CPCs) and 20 Child Protections groups (CPGs) are formed, whose members are from within the community.

Coordination With Other Organizations:
Referrals and follow up: Regular meetings take place among organizations working within the Jalozai camp and strong coordination channels are already in place. This coordination is the basis of strong referral mechanism. The referred cases are regularly followed up by CPMs to ensure that they are properly facilitated.
 

Beneficiaries Details:

Advocacy on Child Protection Issues:
SPADO has been making continuous efforts for advocacy of child protection issues on appropriate forums. Issues like child rights, child labor, gender based violence and child sexual abuse has been raised on various national level print and electronic medias and also in meetings with government officials. The organization intends to continue the same and sensitize the issue to the maximum possible level.

Training of Staff for Professional Development of Staff:
SPADO being pro-active organization believes that there is always room for improvement and realizes the importance of continuous training. In this regard two trainings since January 2010, has been organized for field staff of Jalozai camp in order to further motivate and improve their skills in the ongoing child protection in emergencies’ project, implemented in collaboration with UNICEF.  

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