International NGOs in Ethiopia Interested in Developing a Regional Child Protection Project

You would think that humanitarian organisations are naturally willing to collaborate with each other for the benefit of the people they are trying to help. You would be wrong. Instead, they often act more like Alpha males. They stake out their territory and jealously guard it from potential competitors.

I saw this first-hand in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. I drove south from Colombo, the capital, past rubble where villages had once stood. Every few miles, in some cases less, a humanitarian organisation had put up a sign claiming the rubble where a village had once stood as their own. Back in Colombo representatives of humanitarian organisations were pacing the lobbies, talking on mobile phones, frantically trying to get a piece of the action. There was a lot of money available to help the victims of the tsunami. And to pump into the aid and development organisations.

This is not to denigrate the work of aid and development workers. Most of them are fine people committed to helping people. They often make huge personal sacrifices and work under appalling conditions. And they often get results.

But there is a dark side: the needs of an organisation versus the needs of the people they help.

One of the most important organisational needs is money. And the bigger the organisation, the more money is needed to keep it going. Since money is hard to come by, especially now, humanitarian organisations have to compete for it. This makes it very difficult for smaller organisations, some of whom do great work, to compete for funding. There are other factors that keep humanitarian organisations from collaborating. Some are based on methodology. Then there is the faith-based versus secular approach.

All of this is not to say that there is no collaboration going on. Just that it is rare. And the lack of collaboration means that millions of people around the world who are in need of support are ill-served.

During my four days in Addis Ababa, I spoke to representatives of several international and local humanitarian organisations, mostly country directors and executive directors. They all agreed that there was a need for their organisations to collaborate. Although they often come together under the auspices of UNICEF or some other organisation, such efforts rarely translate into tangible benefits for vulnerable communities. It is all talk and no action.

But then came the good news. Every organisation I spoke to agreed to a Keeping Children Safe proposal to jointly develop a regional child protection project. The overall goal is to protect children in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from exploitation, violence, abuse and neglect. The project purpose is to strengthen the informal and formal child protection systems in each of the countries, and to link the two systems so that they complement and reinforce each other. This will require the active participation of non-governmental, governmental and private sector organisations at local, regional and international levels. Most importantly, it will require a bottom up approach whereby we build the capacity of local communities to analyse the problems surrounding child protection, develop solutions and implement them.

In four days Keeping Children Safe was able to get commitments from seven organisations to develop the project. In addition a major donor has expressed an interest in supporting the project. The next step is to write a concept paper and submit it to the donor for consideration.

In Ethiopia we have a wonderful opportunity to break out of our silos and work together for the benefit of millions of children. And most importantly, we have an opportunity to make a measurable difference in their lives.

Could East Africa lead the way? Stay tuned.

KCS's Consultancy Manager Meets with PCI in San Diego

While in San Diego, California, to attend my daughter's graduation, I had an opportunity to visit Project Concern International (PCI). The non-profit organisation (http://www.pciglobal.org/pci/mission)was founded by Dr. Jim Turpin in 1961 with the goal of providing health and poverty solutions to children and communities around the world. PCI recently published their "Resource Manual on Trafficking in Persons in Ethiopia," which will soon be available to download on their website.

During my visit I met with Bettina B. Halvorsen, M.A., and Deanne Samuels, Ph.D. Bettina is PCI's senior new business development officer and Seattle, WA Representative. Deanne is a senior technical officer for research, M&E. This initial meeting was to learn more about each other's organisations and explore possibilities for collaboration.

I hope to meet PCI's representative in Ethiopia in June.

KCS Invites Non-Member Organisations to Help Design Its New Training and Consultancy Service

The Keeping Children Safe Coalition (KCS) is pleased to invite non-member organisations to participate in a one-day real time strategy workshop to help us create a world-class child protection Training and Consultancy Service for organisations engaged in all aspects of international development and/or relief, whether delivering aid, engaged in development or as donors.

By sharing your expertise and knowledge, you will help ensure that KCS’s Training and Consulting Service will make a major contribution toward creating a world in which children globally are safeguarded and protected from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation.

The workshop will be held on June 2 from 9a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Keeping Children Safe Coalition, CAN Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, Old Street, London N1 6AH. Please reply by May 19 to ensure a place. Contact Alex Dressler, Consultancy Manager, alex.dressler@kcs-coalition.com.

Promoting International Child Protection Standards
KCS was formed in 2001 by some of the leading international development agencies in response to reports of sexual violence against refugee and internally displaced people in West Africa, and sexual exploitation and abuse of vulnerable populations (mainly women and girls) at the hands of humanitarian workers. KCS members developed a set of standards for child protection, as well as a toolkit and resources to help develop and implement child protection policies.

The standards are based on the Coalition members’ own experience and draw upon the principles outlined in international and regional child rights instruments and commitments. They are meant to be implemented by organisations working with or for children, whether from the business, civil society or governmental sectors.

Praise for KCS’s Toolkit
The KCS toolkit, according to Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, The Independent Expert for the UN Study on Violence Against Children: “offers an excellent opportunity not only for the improvement of the quality and professionalism of those working with children, but most importantly, it will help to achieve a greater impact for children.”
The toolkit is available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic, with translations due in Portuguese and Albanian.

KCS Child Protection Standards Adapted by DFID and ECHO

Since it was published in 2003, the KCS toolkit has been adapted by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO).

KCS Launches Its New Training and Consultancy Service

In response to increasing demand for high quality support to organisations in relation to implementing child protection measures, KCS is will launch its Training and Consultancy Service this summer.

The Service will provide:

--Direct support to individual organisations (training, advice, support and guidance on all aspects of implementing KCS standards),

--Stand alone training courses and workshops on a range of topics – introduction to the KCS standards and toolkit, getting started on implementation, developing a child protection policy, child protecton in recruitment and selection, child protection training for managers, management and investigation of child protection incidents, etc. (some courses may be developed as e-learning or distance learning tools, and,

--Audit/evaluation services to organisations (a service that may be of particular interest to donors that may make child protection a condition of grant funding)

An Opportunity to Network

In addition to helping to shape the strategic direction of KCS’s Training and Consultancy Service, this will be a good opportunity for you to network with people who share a commitment to child protection within the international development and relief sectors.

INVITATION TO REVIEW SLIMLINE TRAINING TOOL FOR USE IN EMERGENCIES

The Keeping Children Safe Coalition invite our members and partners staff to participate in a workshop to review our new slimline training tool for use in emergency and humanitarian responses.

The workshop is being hosted by LEADS in Colombo, Sri Lanka from the 7th to 9th June 2011 included. The workshop will be facilitated by Solveig Routier, the consultant leading on this project for KCS. Exact details of the venue will be provided nearer the time.

Keeping Children Safe: A Toolkit for Child Protection is a comprehensive pack of materials to support people across the world to safeguard those children with whom they work or come into contact. The toolkit aims to support agencies at international, national and local levels put child safeguarding standards into practice.

The slimline edition for emergencies has been designed to support staff and managers to understand their roles and responsibilities on safeguarding children in emergency and humanitarian contexts and is short and flexible so it can be used effectively in constrained circumstances.

This review workshop will pilot the training module before it is finalized and published for wider use. Participation in the workshop will provide an opportunity for learning more on what is needed to safeguard children in emergencies and offers the opportunity to influence the final tool so it is relevant for those working in the field, at regional level as well as head offices.

Attendance at the workshop is subject to capacity. We particularly welcome participants who have been involved in emergencies, those who have child protection responsibilities and those whose role includes mainstreaming child protection within the organization. The workshop will be delivered in a group of 20 to 25 participants in English.


No registration fee. Lunch and coffee breaks are provided. Participants are responsible for organizing and covering costs of their travelling and accommodation.

If you wish to participate in this workshop, please register with info@kcs-coalition by 20 May.

Keeping Children Safe Toolkit in Albanian To Be Launched in Kosovo

The Terre des Hommes International Federation and the Keeping Children Safe Coalition are proud to announce the official launch of the Keeping Children Safe Toolkit in Albanian on Monday, the 13th of June 2011, in Pristina, Kosovo.

This will be followed by a Training of Trainers Workshop in Pristina on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (14-16 June 2011).

Keeping Children Safe: A Toolkitfor Child Protection is a comprehensive pack of materials for people working in child protection across the world. The toolkit aims to support agencies at international, national and local levels put child protection standards into practice.

Attendance to the launch and/or workshop is on invitation and subject to capacity. Workshop is delivered in groups of 20 to 25 participants.Languages are Albanian and English, depending on participants' language skills.

There is no registration fee. Lunch and coffee breaks are provided. Participants are responsible for organizing and cover costs of their travelling and accommodation.

The launch and workshop are funded by the Oak Foundation and the Terre des Hommes.

International child rights court needed, says judiciary official

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=international-children-rights-court-must-be-established-top-judiciary-official-said-2011-04-19

An international court for children’s rights should be established in order to set up international standards on the protection of the rights of the child, according to Turkey’s chief of Supreme Court of Appeals, Hasan Gerçeker.

“The protection of children’s rights is not just a national matter, but rather a concern for all nations. The protection the rights of the children at the international arena is crucial,” Gerçeker said Tuesday at the second International Colloquium on Legislation and Children, organized by Istanbul Kültür University’s criminal Law Center, or CEHAMER, on April 18-21.

No rights can be used effectively unless there are sanctions and states have to protect children against any abuse and ensure that at least certain rights of the child are guarded, according to Gerçeker.

Gerçeker also said all layers of Turkish society had to be concerned on protection of human rights. “Children rights must not remain on paper,” he said, adding that any legal regulations children were subject to had to particularly be protected. “There must be positive discrimination for their protection.”

There has been a wide debate in Turkey regarding punishment through castration for adults who sexually abuse children. Gerçeker said the sanctions implemented had to be compatible with human dignity. “Convicted criminals should be punished, but sanctions insulting the individual should not be on the agenda,” in modern democracies this was unthinkable.

However, not everything can be fixed through rules and legislation, said Gerçeker. “People’s mentality [in this regard] must also change.”

Academics and judges from Turkey, India and Germany will participate in the international colloquium to discuss issues, such as problems children face in divorce cases, legal provisions regarding children pushed to commit terror crimes, as well as the situation of child victims of sexual crimes. The event will be held in the week of April 23, which marks the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.

Child labor in Colombia rises by 35% .

Source: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/15967-child-labor-in-colombia-rises-by-35.html

Colombia experienced a sharp rise in the volume of child workers between 2007 and 2009, with a growth of around 35%, according to a report by the non-profit communications agency PANDI.

The report cites figures issued by DANE, the national statistics agency, indicating that in 2009 Colombia had at least 1,050,147 children in employment, compared to some 787,000 in 2007.

To this figure is also added the nearly 800,000 children, especially girls, who have to work more than 15 hours a week on household chores, contributing to an overal total of 1,849,987 minors.

The PANDI report noted the apparent discrepancy in a country where the 4.3% rise in domestic GDP has been heralded with pride alongside a simultaneously burgeoning underage workforce, questioning the usefulness of such economic growth in the eradication of poverty.

Camilo Dominguez, the program manager of the social action group Fundacion Telefonica, said that "in a country with a growing economy and an unemployment rate that remains around 12%, you have to ask why children are increasingly being exposed to work."

"Approximately one in 10 children work in Colombia. That amounts to twice the population of Manizales [in the department of Caldas]...It must be a priority in this country to restore the rights of these children immediately and mobilize ourselves to discourage our society from allowing them to continue working," he continued.

Colombia's rural areas constitute the highest proportion of the child workers, as well as the most significant increase, with 37.3% of the child workforce associated with some form of agricultural work. Nevertheless, even a relatively low percentage of the 0.5% who work in mines still signifies that over 5,000 children risk their lives daily to work in those conditions.

The current law permits children to work up to 14 hours per week, although in the case of child workers this regulation is often flouted. Some 58% of child laborers work more than the allocated daily maximum for adult workers, while 11% work more than 48 hours a week.

The rise in the underage workforce has been primarily attributed to the global economic crisis that was particularly pertinent in between the years in the report, although Dominguez drew attention to the fact that it is not the most impoverished families that typically send their children to work.

"Interestingly, it is not the poorest families who put their children to work. As we noted in a study last year, it is in the middle income deciles where most child labour is concentrated and not the lowest," he stated.

Melba Diaz, the goverment's director of labor protection, meanwhile cautioned that even the high figures cited by DANE do not identify every child laborer has been accounted for, saying that "the capacity to identify where children are working failed."

"There is hidden child labor, including sexual exploitation of children or in the marketplaces that we could not detect," she said.

The official announced a change in protocol, transforming the biennial monitoring of the labor workforce into an annual study which is intended to "allow us to work immediately."