Community Programme for Children in Need
Our Goal is to contribute to the enhancement of the rights of children and youth
The community programme for children in need exists to strengthen the realization of rights of children and youth and their responsibilities in the society. Currently, the programme is implementing a 5-year project, Watoto Tuwalinde, to create safe spaces at home, school and in the community for children to thrive and realize their full potential. In this year 2023, the programme will work to ensure that the well-being, interests and rights of children and youth in the target area are upheld. Being the fourth year, the programme will in addition to its regular work embark on activities intended to enhance sustainability of the efforts of the last three years. Towards this, the programme will work with different stakeholders to advocate for child protection and youth advancement.
What we do
Advocacate for Child Protection
The programme works with different stakeholders involved in child protection matters to advocate for child protection and resolve issues of violated children in a timely and child-inclusive manner in line with their best interests. The programme undertakes the following activities;
- Educating the public through radio shows and awareness creation on matters of children
- Collaborating with the government agencies and civil societies on activities that enhance the promotion of child rights
- Working with local and national networks in the field of child protection.
- Empowerment of direct beneficiaries by providing information on the existing initiatives by government and organization that provides for their rights.
Strenghten the capacity of Child Right Promoters
These are volunteers who are drawn from the community and are empowered to act as community TOTs, and supported to implement activities in churches, schools, public meetings and other fora with the aim of sensitizing the community on child rights. These volunteers are headhunted from among church school teachers, duty bearers and primary school teachers. In addition to awareness creation, they mobilize resources from their communities to support vulnerable children and shed lights on abuses facing children. The programme is currently working with 130 volunteers in various parts of Nyahururu, and Nyandarua.
Empower parents socially and economically
These are parents and guardians of vulnerable children in the community. They are plagued by a myriad of vices which trap them into poverty and therefore are not able to provide for their children. The project works with these parents as a proactive strategy of solving the problem of street connected children. Parents are encouraged to join support groups for social support, counseling, empowerment on parenting skills and economic empowerment. Groups are expected to grow their savings by loaning each other for economic development.
Support youth acquiring technical skills
The programme works with vulnerable youth by providing them with practical skills through attaching them with local artisans. In addition, the youth are equipped with life-skills and entrepreneurial skills. This increases their opportunity to access decent job creation and enhances their employability, thereby contributing to reduce unemployment, vulnerability and poverty for vulnerable and marginalized youth, both in urban and rural settings. }
Protect and Rescue children from Abusive situations
The programme rescues children facing harm as a result of physical, sexual, child marriage, FGM and emotional abuse, as well as neglect and exploitation. Street connected children are also rescued. They are provided with proper care in our rescue centres.
Upon rehabilitation, these children are reintegrated back into the community and provided with education support like school uniforms and fees where need be in order to settle them in schools. The programme also target vulnerable in Nyahururu sub-county who lack access to one or more basic needs and their rights are constantly abused. The programme support such children with schooling needs, resource mobilization from the community as well as advocating for their rights.
Promote Child Participation
The project targets 72 primary schools in Laikipia County. In each school, a platform for children to air their views is created through the Children’s Government where children leaders are empowered to become change agents. Children, members of these governments are trained on child rights and responsibilities, meaningful child participation, role of children as duty bearers, lifeskills, public interaction skills and methods of awareness creation.