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Guiding Manual on Engaging Children and Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children - Introduction

This document has been produced with the financial support of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Search for Common Ground and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Partners in Preventing violence against children

- IntroductIon

guiding Manual on EngagIng chIldrEn and youth as

roIsIn cavanagh 2016 | JunE 2016

Guiding Manual on Engaging Children and Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children - Introduction 2

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction to the manual and the Three Booklets1. Table of Contents2. Youth Statement4. Acknowledgements5. Introduction8. Partner Information

Booklet 1: Child Protection & Child Protection Mechanisms in Sierra Leone1. Child Protection – The Basics14. Child Protection Mechanisms that Exist within Sierra Leone: Legislation and Policy National and Local Child Protection Structures

Booklet 2: The Worst Forms of Violence Against Children & Practical Ways to Improve Child and Youth Protection in Sierra Leone1. Worst Forms of Violence, Causal Factors, and Impacts Experienced by Children and Young People in Sierra Leone Violence Against Women and Girls Violence at Home Violence at School Teenage Pregnancy and Early Marriage Child Exploitation Social Exclusion and Youth Unemployment29. Issues Identified by Child Protection Actors Access to Justice and Treatment within the Criminal Justice Sector Violence Related to Traditional and Religious Practices Violence Against Disabled Children and Youth Discipline and Physical and Humiliating Punishment41. Practical Ways to Improve Child and Youth Protection Situation Assessment and Safety Scanning Increasing Resilience of Children and Youth: Developing Social Capital, Safety Nets, Life Skills Training Development of Community Protection Structures

Booklet 3: Children’s and Youth Participation & Ideas for Including Children and Youth in Protection Programming From Children and Youth1. Children’s and Youth Participation In Protection Mechanisms Child and Youth Participation – What Does this Mean? Co-designing Protection Mechanisms with Children and Youth17. Ideas for Including Children and Youth in Protection Mechanisms from Children and Youth28. References


Statement of the Youth

“When we take positive actions now, then we will affect the nation and the world at large to positively grow as a people and nation”

“The children and young people of Sierra Leone are aware of the challenges and difficulties children and youth face in the country. We, as young people, are aware of the increasing abuse and human rights violations of children and youth. According to statistics, children and youth consist of 60% of the population of Sierra Leone. And so we are calling on the government and local and international organisations to work together to critically look at these issues. In particular we are specifically concerned about violence at home, teenage pregnancy and early marriage, violence against women and girls, violence in schools and universities, child exploitation and trafficking, social exclusion and youth unemployment.

The United Nations has guided the world with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The African Union has adopted the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and Sierra Leone as a state in 2007 has passed the Child Rights Act and other legislations. As young people we are aware of the different statutory instruments from international and regional organisations to prevent violence against children and youth, but yet we see that we continue to experience abuse and violence. We even see that certain groups of children and youth face high levels of violence such as disabled children and youth.

Showing light to the dark side of our society, one has to take the next positive steps to increase our knowledge and change this norm in our society. The need for change and the strengthening of capacity is a vital component to develop new skills that will improve our behaviour and change attitudes around

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Statement of the Youth

violence and abuse. This manual will focus on the components to fight violence committed against children and young people. It is a model that will help to pilot the transformation of concepts, actions, and attitudes. The modules will illustrate the process necessary for bringing about positive change around violence committed to children and young people specifically.

If children and young people are empowered they will contribute to the sustainable development of the nation. If youth are included into the governance, solution development, and decision-making processes, the rate at which we as a nation will be able to deal with these issues will rapidly increase.

We want to appreciate the effort of our young researchers who undertook the research using the Listening and Learning methodology with their peers during the peak of the Ebola outbreak. We are also very grateful to our donor partner the European Union for their financial support.

Special thanks to the implementing organisations Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Centre for Coordination for Youth Activities (CCYA), and the Society for Learning and Yearning for Equal Opportunities (SLYEO).for moving the process forward.”

Written by youth representatives:

Samuel Momodu Konteh Jnr, Santigie Kargbo, Dauda Massaquoi, Sylvia BaioKomba Lebbie, Kathleen E Clemens, Hawanatu Sankoh, and Abigail Yavana Stevens

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Acknowledgements

This guidance Manual has been written with the input of a range of different people and organisations. For this reason, the following people should be acknowledged and thanked for their contribution towards the production of this resource.The information gathered by the youth researchers in the writing of the youth-led ‘The Worst Forms of Violence Against Children and Youth in Sierra Leone’ research is the basis for the information around the main forms of violence experienced by children and youth in Sierra Leone. For this reason the Sierra Leonean youth researchers (Abdul H Collier, Abigail Stevens, Adamsay Turay, Ansumana Kabba, Boima Massaquoi, Dauda Massaquoi, Delight Abdul, Wahab Konneh, Edwina S. Fatoma, Frederick Ngabeh, Hawa A. Kaikai, Hawanatu Sankoh, Isha Fofanah, Jamilatu Bangura, Jeneba Mondeh, Johnny E. Parkinson, Kabineh M. Bengeh, Kamanda S Kamara. Mamusu H. Turay, Mariam J Dumbuya, Mary Thornton, Saidu Thullah, Samuel Momodu Konteh Jnr, Silvia Baio, Suliaman K. Bockari, Tamba Ngawjah) and the lead researcher and writer Hélène Delomez should all be acknowledged for their input into this manual.The regional and national summits were held in Makeni, Bo, Kenema and Freetown to enable child protection actors and children and young people to identify other forms of violence that were not captured in the original youth-lead research. Equally the regional summits provided an opportunity for child protection actors to identify any examples of good practice where community-based initiatives had been developed to protect children from violence or support victims of violence. The participants are too many to name but all those who attended the regional and national summits are acknowledged for their valuable contributions to the development of the manual.

A manual review group was developed made up mainly of youth representatives. They came together to develop information and suggestion for the development of community protection structures for the manual including the youth statement. They are as follows: Samuel Momodu Konteh Jnr, Santigie Kargbo, Dauda Massaquoi, Sylvia Baio, Komba Lebbie, Kathleen E Clemens, Hawanatu Sankoh, and Abigail Yavana Stevens.

Finally, the manual has been edited with massive support from staff from the three partner organisations, SFCG, SLYEO and CCYA. These staff have provided useful and timely comments that have contributed greatly to the final production of the manual.

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Introduction

Introduction to the Project “Engaging Children and Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children” is a regional project implemented in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, three border-sharing post-conflict countries in West Africa. In Sierra Leone, the project is implemented by SFCG in partnership with two youth-empowerment partners: the Centre for Coordination for Youth Activities (CCYA) and the Society for Learning and Yearning for Equal Opportunities (SLYEO). The regional project is financially supported by the European Union.

The global objective is to contribute to the eradication of violence against children. The original intention was for the project to be implemented between 2014 and 2015, but, due to the Ebola crisis, the project was extended until 2016. The project has three specific objectives; they are as follows:

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To identify the worst forms of violence against children and understand the cumulative impact of current approaches addressing them

To utilize recommendations from children and youth to influence country-level programmatic and policy actions involving children and youth

To mainstream findings at a societal level to enable communities to prevent the worst forms of violence.

The crosscutting objective of the project is to build the capacity of children and youth to advocate for their needs and prevent violence against their peers.

The 18-month project has engaged youth in identifying the worst forms of violence against children and youth. It has also sought to evaluate the cumulative impact of current approaches to violence against children and youth in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. To do this, youth in each of the three countries were involved throughout the implementation of the projects three phases, further explained below:


PHASE:1 PHASE:2 PHASE:3

For the initial phase, the participating youth conducted an action-based analysis involving holding discussions directly with youth and children on their views of the worst forms of violence faced in their daily lives. These discussions led to the production of the youth-led research report.

Children, youth and youth organisations to be inclu-ded in the development of a guidance manual provi-ding information and re-source materials to inform programmatic planning and policy initiatives that will contribute to eradicate violence against children and youth.

Youth, with Search for Common Ground and local partners, will utilize their findings to create concrete alternatives to violence and use communication tools, such as radio, to mainstream the findings at a societal level and engage a wider-audience in the discourse of the findings.

Purpose and Target Audience for the ManualThe manual is a core component of Phase 2 of the project. Whilst the project is a regional one, spanning Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the contents of this manual were developed in relation to the specific context of Sierra Leone. The information provided in the manual was developed through recommendations made by children and youth in the youth-led research, information gathered through regional summits with child protection actors in Makeni, Bo, and Kenema, and the national summit in Freetown and through ideas and activities developed by a youth-led manual development group.

Use of the ManualThe manual is not a training manual and so does not provide training exercises. It is hoped that the information provided in the manual will be used by child protection actors to develop training to be delivered to other people and organisations working in child protection. It is also hoped that information in the manual will be used to influence policy makers and donors around the changes needed to eradicate violence against children and should also inform the priorities of child protection programming. Importantly, whilst the manual has not been designed for use directly by children, it is also hoped


that the information on child and youth participation will be actively used to facilitate the participation of children and youth directly in the development and delivery of protection mechanisms around violence against children.

Target Audience for the ManualIt is hoped that this manual will be used by a range of different stakeholders with responsibility for preventing and protecting children and youth from violence within their communities, regions, and countrywide in Sierra Leone.

The specific target audience for the manual are child protection actors which includes the following:

The Police and the Family Support

Unit

Local and district councils

Child Welfare Committees

School and university leaders

NGOs & CBO’s fo-cusing on the pre-vention and protec-tion of children and youth from violence

Community leaders

Learning Objectives of the ManualThere is a wide range of information produced by INGO’s, NGO’s and the government of Sierra Leone on violence against children. The purpose of this manual is to bring together some of this information into one guidance manual raising awareness of the


‘worst forms of violence’ using the voices of children, and to make recommendations on how to improve protection mechanisms and how to involve children in the development and implementation of protection mechanisms. For this reason the learning objectives of the manual are to help participants:

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Understand the basic concepts around child protection.

Understand and be able to use the rights framework that relates to violence against children in Sierra Leone including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), and the Child Rights Act Sierra Leone.

Understand the worst forms of violence experienced by children and youth, as identified by children and youth in Sierra Leone.

Understand the existing protection mechanisms in Sierra Leone for protecting children and youth from violence and the gaps between the legislation and the implementation.

Understand ways of facilitating children and youth’s participation in the development and delivery of child protection mechanisms.

Use of the manualThe manual is designed to help practitioners inform their child protection programmes in particular considering how programmes can be designed to tackle the worst forms of violence that children are facing. The manual is also designed to advocate for the inclusion of children and youth within child protection programs and provides some ‘how to’ guides for thinking through the steps that organisations should take to ensure that the participation of children and youth is both safe and informed.

Partner OrganisationsThe project is a partnership project delivered by Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Centre for Coordination for Youth Activities (CCYA), and the Society for Learning and Yearning for Equal Opportunities (SLYEO). Further information on the three partner


organisations is as follows:

Search For Common GroundFounded in 1982, SFCG is one of the largest international conflict transformation organisations. They work to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Their core principles include reaching out to all parties, encouraging cooperation between stakeholders, and a focus on opportunities, commonalities, and shared interests. One of the main tools of the organization is the use of media and new information and communication technology as channels to foster engagement.

Since 2000, they have worked in Sierra Leone producing quality and balanced media programs through their “Talking Drum Studio”, reaching millions of Sierra Leoneans. They have contributed to opening the space for dialogue on critical social and political issues in the country, such as food security, child welfare, land conflict, elections, justice, governance, and accountability. To link dialogue at the national level to local contexts, they integrate media programming with activities at the community level, including discussion forums, sports and cultural events, and exchange visits. Through their long-standing presence in the media landscape, the organization has established an array of successful partnerships with 27 local radio stations and hundreds of media professionals. These partnerships allow them to create programs that are sensitive and contextually appropriate while promoting local ownership and inclusiveness.

Centre for the Coordination of Youth AffairsCCYA was established in September 1998 by former student leaders wishing to contribute to the long struggle of restoring stability and democracy to Sierra Leone. They recognized that the lack of political and economic spaces for young people caused by long years of dictatorship and tyranny created a huge army of unemployed youths who are excluded from society and therefore are distrustful of any democratic political processes in the country. Further, this situation was a perfect recipe for the return of the conflict and instability that gripped the country for over ten years. It was clear that the damage caused to the image of the youth by their perpetration of atrocities against their own people during the war period would have negative implications for the future aspirations


of every young Sierra Leonean. It became important to bring role models for youths to the attention of the public in order to change the public perception of the upcoming generation of Sierra Leoneans. Prior to the formation of CCYA, there was no policy that exclusively addressed the youth factor in Sierra Leone.

Primarily, the CCYA’s goal is to work towards youth empowerment through the effective coordination and capacity building of youth groups and through cooperation and collaboration with youth-promoting organizations within and outside Sierra Leone. The main objectives for the formation of CCYA are, among others, the mobilization of both urban and rural youth towards fruitful engagements and to ensure the equitable distribution of the country’s wealth in an environment of social injustice perpetrated by years of bad governance.

Society for Yearning and Learning for Equal OpportunitiesSLYEO is a National Non Governmental Organization that was established in 1995 and has been operating in the Pujehun, Tonkolili, Kono Districts and the Western Area. SLYEO works on peace building, conflict resolution & management, literacy and livelihoods/enterprise development, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms with a strong niche in advocacy and constructive engagement. SLYEO has increased its capacity in delivering projects on behalf of a variety of donors and international NGOs, including; the European Union (EU), Department for International Development (DFID), COOPI, IBIS, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), among others.

Over the years, the organization has sustained itself through effective partnership, collaboration, networking, and strategic associations with a strong focus on volunteer placement for program development and management, research, and policy engagement.

Hitherto, SLYEO’s strategy has been focused on five key program areas: capacity building and organisational development, human rights and peace consolidation, literacy and enterprise development, youth and decentralisation, and HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming.

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