Advocacy and Child Protection

 

Advocacy and child protection in burundi
Our Goal

Sustainable care, protection and participation of children, within their families and communities

What is the situation?

The upsurge of school dropouts and the non-enrolment of Batwa children, the high rate of early and school-aged pregnancies coupled with the persistence of the street children and child labor cases and the danger child trafficking put many children in Burundi at risk every day.

As if the external threats to children were not enough, children in Burundi are also confronted with deep-rooted child neglect practices which can impact their emotional, nutritional, educational status. These issues, when coupled with medical neglect, a lack of hygiene, inadequate supervision and non-registration of children at birth adds to the challenges children face to survive and thrive and, in fact, often hinder their physical, intellectual and spiritual development.

How is World Vision addressing the issues?

In Burundi in partnership with the Government and other partners, our teams launched the “It takes the World to End Violence against Children” campaign.

Locally, the campaign, called “Humura Kibondo,” was designed to tackle “child neglect” in all its forms.

Thanks to joint efforts with various local and international partners and with the coordination of the Ministry of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender, we expect the campaign to contribute to the improved well-being of 5.5 million children by 2021.

A large part of the campaign is focused on empowering children as agents of change through children’s clubs and participation in Child Protection and School Management Committees. Our teams in Burundi also work with community members to improve shelter and living conditions for the most vulnerable families.

Is what World Vision doing working?

Yes! In addition to children being protected, we also want them all to know and experience the love of God and their neighbours. During the celebration of Christmas, we partnered with local religious leaders to teach children and train Sunday School Teachers. As a result, 317 Sunday schools were trained and were able to minister to 36,015 children.

Also, because we believe children can be actors of transformation, we are equipping and training youth to work for social transformation by addressing various social norms, practices and attitudes that inhibit individuals including children. We are also helping to strengthen national structures and policies that promote child protection through 1,020 community-based child protection committee members were trained on child rights and reporting mechanisms. Training was also provided to 111 partners on citizen voice and action (CVA) approach after that 105 citizen voice and action (CVA) committees were set in place to make sure children are protected.

What’s the impact?
  • The design of the “It Takes a World to End Violence against Children” was completed and the campaign launched
  • 216 community-based Child Protection Committees are functioning
  • 15,585 children (7064 boys and 8521 girls) participated in children clubs/forums
  • 626 improved shelters were constructed for the most vulnerable
  • Parents and community members are changing their values and processes. Among them, six which doctors stopped their practices.
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