Children’s forum raises awareness of child protection risks
Jein, 15, and her friends run their village children's forum, raising awareness about children's rights and protection. There is now a greater awareness of child protection risks and good safeguarding practices in their community.
“People in my village don’t know how to protect children and young people,” says 15-year-old Jein, who lives in a rural community in Nagekeo, a regency in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province. “The impact, such as stress and other psychological problems, is not something adults worry about.”
Although Indonesia has made progress in establishing child protection laws, their strength and effectiveness are often disputed due to implementation challenges and societal factors. Violence against children remains widespread in homes, schools and communities, with two-thirds of children aged 13-17 experiencing at least one form of violence in their lives.
With the aim of empowering children, amplifying their voices and promoting their rights, children’s forums have been established in 46 villages across Nagekeo. They are run by children, with support from Plan International, in partnership with local governments.
The forums are community-based initiatives that provide a structured space for children to express their opinions, participate in decision-making and address issues that affect their lives, such as education, health, violence and exploitation.
“Now people are starting to practice good safeguarding of children, sometimes they don’t even realise that what they are doing is safeguarding.”
Jein
“We are learning to identify vulnerable girls and boys in the village who are eligible for case management services, and to raise awareness about child rights and protection,” says Jein, explaining the work of the young committee members, who are aged between 11 and 17.
Finding solutions to child protection challenges
Through training sessions and focus group discussions, members of the children’s forum identify child protection challenges in their village and brainstorm solutions. The children have also created risk and resource maps, which show the potential risks in their community and the services already available to respond to children’s protection needs.
“Since attending the children’s forum, I have gained more confidence in raising awareness of safeguarding and child protection for other children and adults,” says Jein.
“I have a better understanding of risk assessment and mitigation before running an event or activity involving children and young people. If we don’t have this in place, we increase the risk of potentially harming others and increasing the number of incidents.”
The children’s forums are starting to make a difference and there is now a greater awareness of the negative consequences of child marriage and how to prevent it, the importance of education for children and the need for birth certificates so children can access their rights.
“We use the reporting mechanism provided by Plan when we see or hear of cases of violence against children,” says Jein, “Now people are starting to practice good safeguarding of children, sometimes they don’t even realise that what they are doing is safeguarding.”
A protective environment for children
“We equip children and young people, especially girls, with the knowledge and skills to identify, prevent and stop all forms of violence, including physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse and neglect, to name a few, through risk assessment and mitigation,” explains Jhon Orlando, Nagekeo’s Safeguarding Focal Point.
“It is our strategy to manage the risks. Similar to the disaster risk reduction process, where potential threats are identified before we take the necessary steps to reduce the impact.”
The aim of this approach is to strengthen and restore the protective environment for children. The community, including children, parents, caregivers and community members, all have a vital role to play in keeping children safe and supporting their healthy development.
By strengthening the knowledge, skills and capacities of children and adults, key risks such as violence against children can be more effectively prevented and eliminated, and children can feel safer at home and at school. This work is supported by the local authorities, who have started to allocate part of their village funds to support the work of the children’s forum.
It is vital that the children’s forums continue to receive the support they need to identify and respond to child protection issues says Jhon Orlando. “Continued engagement with local government structures and formal child protection services is also needed to ensure sustainable community-based protection work,” he adds.
Jein is part of Plan International’s sponsorship programme.
Categories: Protection from violence
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