Role Of The Community in Child Protection

Protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation is everybody’s responsibility. Families, communities, governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) together play a vital role in realising children’s rights to protection. Children can also play an important role in protecting themselves from abuse and exploitation, in accordance with their evolving capacities.

Community involvement in child protection is vital, even when adequate protection services and structures exist and are operating effectively. Adults and children in a community are best placed to identify local protection issues and to develop the most appropriate solutions in cooperation with service providers.The attitude and behaviour of communities towards children can also lie at the heart of protection violations – for example, through their attitudes towards the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. In order to fulfil children’s rights to protection, an effective child protection system must engage and transform
such community perspectives, working with the community itself.

Community-based child protection groups are therefore at the forefront of efforts to address child protection in many places, and they are increasingly recognised by governments and NGOs as vital in the establishment of an effective and comprehensive national child protection system.

The purpose of our community-based child protection program is to strengthen the capacity of children, their families and local communities to identify risks, and prevent and respond to protection concerns. At the same time, CADEF worked with the  government Service, social affairs, local councils and non governmental actors to strengthen the capacities of formal child protection services and ensuring linkages between the formal andinformal, community-based services.

The objective of our approach (community Approach) is to strengthen and restore the protective environment of children. The community, including children themselves, parents and caregivers, and community members all have a crucial role to play in keeping children safe and supporting their healthy development. In communities in South West, the community is usually also the first responder in an emergency situation. By strengthening the knowledge, skills and capacities of children and adults, key risks such as child, family separation and violence against children can be prevented and eliminated more effectively. At the community level, CADEF supports informal community-based child protection networks, such as local child protection groups, youth clubs and child protection committee.

By strengthening the knowledge, skills and capacities of children and adults, key risks such as child recruitment, family separation and violence against children can be prevented and eliminated more effectively.

CADEF work with the Government services and non governmental actors to strengthen the capacities of formal child protection services and ensuring linkages between the formal and informal, community-based services.

CADEF’s community based child protection interventions are integrated with a range of psychosocial, livelihoods and education interventions for children of all ages affected by the conflict , with special attention to unaccompanied and separated children and other vulnerable children.