A BRIEF REPORT ON THE COMMEMORATION OF THE DAY OF AFRICAN CHILDMBEYA CITY - NJELENJE VILLAGE

15th to 20th JUNE 2019BACKGROUND:

The Day of the African Child (DAC) has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991,when it was first initiated by the OAU (Organization of African Unity). It honors those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 on that day. It also raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children. In Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, about ten thousand black school children marched in a column more than half a mile long, protesting the poor quality of their education and demanding their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young students were shot, the most famous of which being Hector Pieterson. More than a hundred people were killed in the protests of the following two weeks, and more than a thousand were injured. On June 16 every year, governments, NGOs, international organizations and other stakeholders gather to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the full realization of the rights of children in Africa.

INTRODUCTION:

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Bright Jamii Initiative (BJI) teamed up in commemoration of DAC 2019 with a keen focus on addressing corporal punishment in one of the villages where CRS is focusing on with BJI providing technical assistance as experts in child protection. Corporal punishment has been reported as among the challenges for children to access their right to education in Tanzania. For years now, a number of cases have been reported showing negative impact of corporal punishment in Tanzania. Children in Tanzania have been experiencing violence in different areas including schools. The government played its part by putting efforts to protect children from any form of violence in schools by dedicating a thematic area in the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children (NPAEVAWC) to coordinate multi-sectorial initiatives in creating safe environment for children at schools. BJI used the NPA-VAWC to create awareness on child rights to safe and quality education to children, teachers and local authorities and strengthened the village and district/municipal Women and Children Protection Committees (WCPCs) to coordinate the NPA-VAWC and put the systems in place to protect children from any form of violence.

Actual commemoration of DAC - 16th June 2019: To commemorate the actual DAC there were two parallel sessions for children and village Women and Children Protection Committee (WCPC) where by some elements of the program were the same and some different as shown below:

1. Opening: same for both groups2. 1st Session: for WCPC - consultation on the education Act of 1978 followed by

consultation on the alternative disciplinary measures/restorative justice and for children - consultation on the child rights and the alternative disciplinary measures/restorative justice

3. 2nd Session: for both WCPC and children development of the resolutions on measures to take to eliminate corporal punishment in schools followed by commitments from the WCPCs and village authority on their role to eliminate corporal punishment.

4. Closing of the workshop session 5. Public presentation of resolutions by the children and WCPC to the village authorities

and villagers and seek parental support.

Findings from the DAC 2019 commemorations: Forms of violence children experiences in Njelenje are but not limited to:1. Lacking their basic needs

2. Physical punishment such as burning of hands and severe biting causing injuries.

3. Denied food

4. Overworking children

5. Given tasks beyond their capacity/maturity

6. Neglect

7. Lacking parental support in education NOTE: For a detailed program please see annex I

Children’s suggestions: 1. Children should be taught in moral development instead of just punishing them when

they are at fault, they had recommended Virtues Project be introduced in their system of education.

2. They should have child to child support programs to assist each other in accomplishing their responsibilities to avoid corporal punishment.

3. To introduce alternative forms of discipline/restorative justice practices that will educate the children instead of corporal punishment which is part of the virtues project.

4. Parents to provide resting time for children instead of overworking them so they can focus on their studies as well.

5. Parents should be educated on positive parenting and virtues project.

6. Parents and teachers should collaborate to create the best environment for children to full and well participate in their learning.

Children’s message to lawmakers / parliament: 1. To remove corporal punishment from the education Act.

2. Education Act should have a clause that forces the teachers to educate children in morals and use alternative discipline.

3. Members of parliament should be educated / made aware of the impact of corporal

punishment to children.

Resolutions from the village WCPC:

1. To receive dissemination program on NPA-VAWC and its coordination guideline.

2. To organize teachers training on virtues project so they learn on moral development program and use alternative discipline.

3. To develop their coordination plan based on the NPA-VAWC coordination guideline

4. To educate the parents on positive parenting

5. To identify unsafe public spaces in their environment for children and women and put security measures.

Strengthening village WCPC Training children

Children addressing the village authorities - Village authorities committing to support children

Strengthening of district / municipal WCPC of Mbeya Council:

The objective of this session was to strengthen the WCPC to be able to support ward and village WCPCs in their area to strengthen their child protection programs including strengthening and supporting existing ECD programs by including the existing working programs and approaches and priority interventions from the NPA-VAWC in their plans and allocate budget to their implementation.

The program was for two days (19th and 20th June 2019) conducted at the Youth Center involving members of WCPC and council men and women who have big influence in the municipal budget and planning approval. Below are the elements of the program that went hand in hand with consultation after each element to develop a common understanding and unity of vision:

DAY 1:

1. The opening 2. Analysis of the current situation on the existing structures, their strength and actual

programs as per NPA-VAWC that protect children from any form of violence. 3. Existing program on Early Childhood Development (ECD) conducted by CRS and the

nature of the support that is required from the municipal WCPC. 4. Health break5. Feedback on the commemoration of DAC 2019 in Njelenje including the challenges,

resolutions and commitment of the village authority. (see annex III)6. Presentation on the NPA-VAWC followed by discussion on their applicability and

relevance. (see annex IV)7. Lunch and depart

DAY 2:

1. Day 1 recap. 2. Group discussion and presentation on NPA-VAWC to enhance the understanding of the

WCPC3. Presentation on the NPA-VAWC coordination guidelines and relevance and technical

knowhow on the stipulated duties, applicability and necessity of multi-sectoral collaboration.

4. Nationwide political will in the support of NPA-VAWC in relation to national vision of development

5. Health break 6. Going through relevant thematic areas of NPA-VAWC i.e Parenting, family support and

relationships, safe schools and life skills, household economic strengthening, culture and social norms and coordination, monitoring and evaluation to understand what is required of them in relation to ECD support and protection of older children.

7. Reflection on the municipal implementation of the NPA-VAWC so far and identify areas of priorities for 2019/20 and develop commitment on budget allocation

8. Identify other sources of financial and non-financial resources to support implementation of NPA-VAWC.

9. Lunch and depart.

Note: for a detailed program see annex II

Key resolutions of the municipal WCPC

Areas of priority:

Parenting, family support and relationships;

1. To facilitate establishment and strengthening of the community centers for child rearing and daycare in working places.

2. Orient decision makers, Religious leaders, Local leaders and Private sectors in parenting skills in respective modules

3. Strengthening sensitization sessions through Media in designing and broadcasting Gender sensitive and children programmes on positive parenting

4. Conduct visits to families and communities groups and sensitization on positive parenting

Safe schools and life skills:

1. Conduct national campaigns that highlight VAWC targeting teachers and students through media.

2. Consolidate and standardize existing positive discipline and alternative discipline initiatives in schools and pilot in districts to be selected

3. Review, integrate and orient children on VAC and reproductive health issues in school club learning materials

4. Raise awareness on VAWC reporting mechanism in schools

Household economic strengthening:

1. Map existing women economic groups and assess challenges for access of WG to financials Services

2. Promote and support the formation of women economic groups, SACCOS and VICOBA/ (COMSIP - Community Savings and Investment Programme)

3. Facilitate establishment of Business Support Services, business skills and credit counseling facilities

4. Develop expand and promote women’s led SMEs in potential areas such as extractive industries, oil and gas, mining, horticulture, aquaculture and poultry.

5. Strengthen and scale up livelihood enhancement opportunities for out of school adolescent to facilitate their transition to adulthood

Culture and social norms:

1. Collate and analyze existing data on norms, values and initiatives that have delivered attitudinal, gender norms and behavioral change and monitor implementation.

2. Develop a Communication Strategy to promote positive norms and values and address gender inequalities

3. Facilitate community dialogues on perceptions of violence and harmful practices4. Mobilize private sector in financing VAWC interventions5. Support interventions that address norms and values affecting women and children

Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation:

1. Establish Ward and Village VAWC protection committees and train on their roles and responsibilities and as trainers of ward and village/mtaa VAWC protection committee

2. Train and equip the VAWC protection committees at Ward and Village/Mtaa level with necessary tools and resources to support child protection interventions.

3. Strengthen information sharing system 4. Train more council men and women to support the planning and budget allocation for

implementation of the NPA-VAWC5. To receive training on resource mobilization and allocation.

Identified sources of monetary and non-monetary resources:

1. Farmers - especially in harvesting seasons2. Donor organizations and CSOs with relevant projects3. The council/municipality

4. Religious organizations 5. Business men and women6. Organizing fundraising events such as bonanza.

Observations:

Regular follow up and/or accompaniment, lobbying and advocacy/strategic engagement is needed to support these WCPCs to function and support child protection and ECD programs. CRS and BJI as a team should mobilize resources to support the resolutions of the council/municipality WCPC’s resolutions if we are to witness sustainable changes and strengthening multi-sectoral approach which will contribute to sustainability of anticipated interventions.

Mbeya city municipal council WCPC workshop/seminar pictures