Plan International have been implementing the JOFA project in the Tsore refugee camps as well as Homosha district in Benishangulu Gumuz region in Ethiopia. After the relocation of Gure-Shembola and Tongo refugee community from their former camp to the Tsore refugee camp, community structures were dysfunctional to provide comprehensive protection services especially to children, girls, and women at the emergency site.
Due to these reasons, JOFA supported the community in re-establishing the community structures and facilitate their participation in the project implementation of activities, particularly to prevent and respond to most present child protection issues. The JOFA Outcome Monitoring Report conducted on April 2020 revealed that the main child protection issues previously existing in the affected community and new risks assessed in Tsore camp included:
- 1. Child exploitation
- 2. Child abuse
- 3. violence against children, especially girls.
Those issues appeared to be the result of:
a.) Reduced capacity of family and community to provide care and protection for children.
b.) A breakdown of social protection structures.
c.) Vulnerable caregivers and/or households due to specific risks.
It has been noted that some adult members of the community became increasingly distressed and turned to negative coping mechanisms such as alcoholism and substance abuse, etc. in order to deal with the current challenging environment in the emergency site which has limited-service infrastructure.
According to UNHCR, Tsore refugee camp hosts 72,650 people, slightly more than half of whom are women and the 58% of them are below 18.
Among the children in need, JOFA identified multiple child protection risks particularly Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) and others who remain vulnerable to specific risks in the refugee camps. Those children are exposed and/or at-risk of different child protection concerns. In example:
1. Many parents do not have additional livelihood opportunities and depend almost entirely on monthly rations from the World Food Programme (WFP);
2. Some children are at high risks of child labor, including its worst forms, as they go to the host community to find work and tentatively earn money for their families and households.
Currently, JOFA in Tsore refugee camp, is providing comprehensive child protection case management services to a total of 2,740 people including UASC and other vulnerable children. They have been identified and included in our case management service provision in Tsore. Of those 2,740 children; 124 are unaccompanied minors; 2,339 are separated children; and the remaining 277 are other vulnerable children.
These children have multiple child protection concerns and/or needs such as protection from physical abuse and other forms of violence as a form of negative discipline and corporal punishment, support with alternative care arrangements, core relief item support and other routine case management services.
To protect and support vulnerable children through family-focused approaches, JOFA established Community-based child protection structures such as a task force structure that lays down key support systems in developing child protection systems. Those structures respond to the needs and rights of children and their caregivers in living safe from harm. They are currently systematic, ongoing, and effective in the prevention of violence against children.
JOFA Ethiopia, has also established different community-based child protection structures such as community-based child protection committees (CBCPCs), complaint and feedback management committee (CFMC), Foster Parents Association (FPA), Parent-Teachers Association (PTA), Child-Right Club (CRC), Sexual Reproductive Right Club (SRRC), Drama and Arts Club, Peace and Education club.
These established community structures have a pivotal role in case identification, regular case management monitoring/follow-ups and referral services to support vulnerable children in need of comprehensive case management services either through direct social work or through inter-agency referral services. However, while formal structures and the ambition to improve the protection of children are ongoing, there is still a lack of capacity in terms of budget allocations to support fostering parents of vulnerable children in the livelihood programme. Adequate support allows for a holistic approach in supporting caregivers of unaccompanied children, in income generating activities and empowering livelihood activities.
JOFA is working in partnership with different humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF, UNHCR, and RSS on child protection; NRC on livelihoods; RaDo on disability inclusion and rehabilitation; and IRC on Gender-based violence programming in Tsore refugee camp.
Impact
The capacity of community structures is strengthened through on-the-job coaching, mentoring and trainings regarding case identification, referral mechanisms and other routine case management activities. To this end, the trainings and on-job coaching have improved the capacity of community-based structures in analyzing and handling cases in coordination with voluntary social workers, Child Protection officers and other International staff.
Between July and September 2022, community structures were conducted with home-based follows ups, care, and support services through referrals, rapid registration for new cases, referral services (in-and-out) other child protection discussions, and/or meeting together with social workers.
In this 9th quarter, we addressed a total of 336 children through home-based follow-up. In addition, Best Interest Assessment and Family Reunification were completed for a total of 246 children.
More than 100 children with child protection concerns were identified through rapid registration. We identified and referred 5 children for Family Tracing and Reunification services to ICRC. We also received 8 children from a partner through an inter-agency referral format for psychosocial and non-food material support.
Our solutions in depth
1. Training community structures to identify, report, and follow up on protection issues
Before the establishment of community-based structures, protection cases requiring attention continued to fail to be reported by refugee communities. This was due to community structures not having appropriate knowledge and skills regarding case identification, reporting, and referral mechanisms in place. However, after they were strengthened through regular capacity-building training and on-the-job coaching, community structures are now actively engaging in project implementation activities.
These community structures and leaders are situated within refugee communities in each zone. The intervention sought to draw on community-based resources to help identify protection cases, including instances of domestic violence, child abuse and exploitation. In addition to identifying cases, there was a need for cases to be reported to relevant partners for intervention.
The intervention also empowered these community structures by training them to identify protection issues and risks (SGBV, child protection, legal), as well as in the timely reporting, to enable swift intervention.
The community-based approach has helped address gaps in protection concerns especially caused by COVID-19 restrictions, which limited partners in the community.
2. Emerging practices from the Tsore refugee camp: child-protection community-based structures
Community-Based Child Protection Committees (CBCPC) were established in the refugee camp to enhance community mobilization and coordination within the refugee population.
This community structure is composed of refugee community leaders, religious leaders, Women Association, as well as different Age Gender and Diversity (AGD) groups.
The main role of CBCPC is to identify, prevent, and respond to risks, especially to children within their environment. This includes systematizing existing self-protection strategies; local advocacy; raising awareness of child rights, SRHR, access to basic needs, medical, legal, and psychosocial services; and promoting participation by different AGD groups in decisions relating to the protection.
As a result of these community efforts, PIE as one protection partner, the government (RRS) and UNHCR becomes more receptive and responsive to protection issues and needs, while Persons of Concerns become better informed and able to access, appropriate protection services through direct and/or referral type of social work services. To this end, the community structures are the first point of contact and/or reference in the refugee camp.
In the refugee camp, a range of child protection concerns, and risks have been practiced including child separation from a caregiver, child labour, early pregnancy, school drop-out, and early/forced marriage of young girls. The risks are connected to insufficient financial capacities, food insecurity, and an increased presence of unregistered separated children.
To address these child protection issues, we implemented a multi-pronged community-centred approach by drawing-on community-based structures such as child protection volunteers (CPV), Community-Based Child Protection Committees, Complaint and Feedback Management Committees (CFMC), Child-Friendly help desks/facilitators, Foster Parent Children Right Councils, Education and Peace Committees, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA), and School Mothers to empower the community to respond the existing and emerging child protection concerns.
These community structures regularly receive training to assist in identifying child protection concerns, and in exploring the causes and consequences. Further, they develop joint identification, prevention, and response strategies related to communities’ individual child protection needs and capacity. Moreover, the community structures actively intervene in other approaches including awareness-creation, mediation, information dissemination, providing referral pathways, cascading community training and basic counselling services. Youth-led design and implementation of community action plans, processing of low-risk cases, follow-up of UASC referrals, and linking the community with frontline service providers to strengthen and promote the protection of vulnerable children at community and family level are also present.
Specifically, the community structure in coordination with PIE filed-based team and other partner staff:
- Provide temporary and permanent placement of UASC to get care and support under a foster parent scheme.
- A group of refugee foster parents works with PIE, volunteering to take care of UASC. We have a Foster Parent Association with 50 members who support with the care and arrangement of unaccompanied and separated children in the refugee community.
- Help in identifying UASC, abused and neglected children, reporting, and offering referral pathways and follow-up support for such support.
- Community-based structures such as CPV, CbCPC, CFMC, FPA, PTA, and SM are involved in low-risk child abuse case mediation process, resulting in the reduction of low-risk cases within communities. Along with community leaders, these same stakeholders are involved in the identification and verification of beneficiaries for PIE services such as NFIs, livelihood support, training, and case management services.
- Help in raising awareness and sensitization of the community about the prevention of child abuse, and of harmful cultural practices, such as child marriage, FGM, and child labour. They also support JOFA, in enhancing child abuse survivors’ access to justice and appropriate services. They employ accessible, child-friendly and youth friendly messages in their dissemination of information to children, parents/caregivers, and community members. Additionally, they educate community members on the immediate and long-term effects of child abuse, and on how to identify children in distress.
- Child Right Club (CRC) members hold sessions with parents during SEL and Parenting without violence sessions in which child concerns are raised and responded to by the partners and foster parents concerned.
In general, community structures have pivotal roles to act as feedback reporting mechanisms for project persons of concern and partners.
3. Practices from the Tsore refugee camp: Community-Based Care Arrangements for Unaccompanied Children
This care arrangement intervention aims to:
- 1. Identify and assess unaccompanied separated children living without adult care, in a severe form of abuse and/or exploitation in a refugee setting.
- 2. Provide a community-based arrangement for such children to ensure they receive appropriate protection interventions and assistance.
- 3. Reduce stigma against such children.
The intervention was piloted for targeted at-risk children with protection needs and/or who required additional community support. This target population is identified by community structures, voluntary social workers, PIE staff, humanitarian actors and partner staff.
The community structures in coordination with caseworkers, identify and screen all referral services for case management services and develop appropriate multi-agency intervention approaches. These community structures with partners carry out need and risk assessments in consultation with the persons of concern, the child’s family, and relevant community leaders (members) of the community. As part of the case plan, the community structures in coordination with PIE CP officers, caseworkers, and other partner staff identifies a family that would be willing and able to support the vulnerable unaccompanied and/or separated children via the traditional community-support buddy system (generally consisting of neighbors, clan/religious leaders, youth leaders, community leaders who are willing and able to provide care and support these unaccompanied children).
The process of placing a vulnerable child in family-based care; involves a series of consultations with community leaders coupled with home visits to ensure that the designation of alternative care and placement is well understood and agreed to by the vulnerable child and the support family and then provide further need support, including core relief items (CRI), conduct regular monitoring visits and other routine case management services to build the capacity of the family involved.
Lessons learnt
Before the establishment of community structures most child protection concerns, especially GBV, cases were underreported for appropriate case management intervention.
By establishing community structures, JOFA contributed to generate a strong positive change in case identification, reporting and referral systems through employing community-participatory approaches in and out of schools inside the community by organizing different discussion sessions such as life skill sharing, positive parenting without violence sessions, and other regular meetings to strengthen the community-based child protection mechanisms.
To this end, we have seen positive results in reducing corporal punishment, neglect and other types of abuse compared to before the current project’s intervention.
There is a positive trend in reducing the number of children who are usually experiencing physical and/or sexual violence because of continuous parenting skill sessions for foster parents and caregivers of other vulnerable children.
Results
In this 9th quarter, with home-based follows ups within the community structures, support services through referrals, and rapid registration many new cases were identified.
Referral services (in-and-out) and child protection discussions took place with social workers. In so doing, in this quarter, we addressed a total of 336 children through home-based follow-up; Best Interest Assessment (BIA) & Family Reunification (FR) completed for a total of 246 children identifying 109 children having child protection concerns through rapid registration, and we identified and referred 5 children for Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) services to ICRC. We also received 8 children from a partner through an inter-agency referral format for psychosocial and noon-food material supports.
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