Children as right holders are in a better position to know what they need as well as demand for the same. To strengthen their capacities, we have employed a number of approaches to help them understand their rights, safely advocate and demand accountability from the duty bearers. Children and young women have co-led the campaign design and delivery. We have also facilitated the engagement of police, social welfare, magistrates, and labour offices as well as the media throughout the campaign period.
Community-level interface meetings between the children and duty bearers have ensured that they own the process right from the start. We have worked with key stakeholders to champion and conduct campaigns at community, district, and national levels with key emphasis on child protection guidelines, reporting structures, and delivery. Our Youth and Community Engagement team shared some of the lessons learned and recommendations with regard to the Unicef Child Protection Campaign Project with our partners on January 25, 2023 in Lilongwe. Stakeholders have recommended that there is a need to lobby for more resources in order to continue with the campaign and have more child protection sensitization activities to reach out to more communities.
“This project has really impacted people’s mindset on children’s rights. Protecting children from different abuse is possible if we work together and coordinate.” Expressed Stephano Joseph, Guest of Honor and former Blantyre District Social Welfare Officer.
Nevertheless, the champions of this project in Blantyre are still conducting the campaigns and sensitizations in schools at a small scale with limited and self-generated resources. This speaks volumes of how our stakeholders and communities have embraced issues of child protection.
Performances from Chiseka and Njewa Children’s Corner spiced up the event which was patronized by officials and representatives of government institutions, local Committees as well as International Organizations. The project has engaged communities in TA’s Chiseka and Njewa of Lilongwe as well as TA’s Kuntaja and Machinjiri of Blantyre.
