CHILD PROTECTION AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMME
Tanzania Relief Initiatives collaborates with other stakeholders in working for child welfare in Tanzania.
Tanzania Relief Initiatives deals with protection, promotion of the rights of children and prevention of violence against children. We work closely with children in and out of school, focusing mainly on children between the age of 10 – 17 years. Since 2020, we have initiated different programs to enhance rights of children, society participation in matters to protection of children from violence and abusive acts, and advocacy against oppressing behaviors, attitudes and cultural practices. We aim at increasing society and children capacity to prevent and respond to violence against children (VAC) through training and awareness raising.
With this regard, we have the following objectives:
- (i) To increase children’s awareness on their rights (legal and constitutional)
- (ii) To improve children’s knowledge on the types and extent of violence against children and its consequences
- (iii) To build capacity of the available service providers to enhance response to violence against children
- (iv) To develop children’s skills in and out of schools to improved health, confidence and self-realization
- (v) To promote children participation in allied platforms as a mechanism for promoting their rights.
To achieve these objectives, we raise awareness; deliver knowledge, skills through child-related interventions mainly in school-based programmes through which we:
- Develop effective child safeguarding policy for internal staff members, education institutions, religious institutions, law enforcement institutions and other key actors. The policy is child right centered and is mainstreamed into all TRI programs.
- Have established children clubs (Violence Prevention Clubs) within schools that supports children to come together, share and air their opinions, challenges especially on violence affecting them while in school. These school clubs play a major role as platforms for children to voice, visualize and report cases on violence against children from household to community level.
- Train school teachers. Here we build skills and knowledge of school teachers (heads of school and the club supervisors) on prevention of violence against children in order to influence changes of practices that affects children’s physical and mental ability. We also promote internal learning capacities for other staff within school institutions
- Facilitate participation of children in international and national events, forums, in promoting child rights