Informed child protection planning in Tanzania
Community for Children’s Rights Limited (CCR)
“Violence begets violence and will continue down the generations unless we break the cycle” — CCR
75%
children in Tanzania have been victims of violence
16.1 million
children have experienced physical violence
November 2016 End date
September 2017
Issue
To date, there has been an insufficient investment in child protection services all across Tanzania, with a massive national shortfall in social workers, legitimized violence against school students in the form of corporal punishment, a lack of services for victims, a culture of impunity for abusers, and zero budget for child protection.
Currently the Tanzanian government is developing a 5-year costed National Plan of Action (NPA) to address violence against women and children. The NPA will focus on developing the capacity within government to prevent violence and respond to victims in a way that is informed by evidence. Thus there is a need to invest in tools that give planners information about the extent of the problem, the cost of services, and ultimately about the performance of these services.
Project
This project is part of a wider body of interventions facilitated by the Community for Children’s Rights (CCR) with Arusha citizens and the Arusha council from the Local Government Authority (LGA).
Working in 10 neighborhoods, the project aims to close the link between people’s experience, evidence and public planning to respond to violence. It develops a tool that gives the City Council information that enables it to plan for a deliver responsive child protection services for victims. It also provides citizens with geo-mapped information about risk-hot spots and about individuals and services that protect children from violence.
The team has created a hotline that uses a text messaging service to enable councilors in Arusha to communicate directly with citizens, demonstrate that they are solving social problems, and to make informed decisions about how to allocate public resources, because they know how great demand for a service is.
Partner
The purpose of Community for Children's Rights is to equip city councils, schools, community groups and social workers to resolve the moral dilemmas that they face when trying to protect children from violence. CCR conducts research, designs interventions that transform people’s mindsets, builds a community of protectors, equips young people to break cycles of violence, and helps local authorities to govern in the interests of children.