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introduction
Education access for all
Access to good quality, appropriate education
is a key intervention to build survival skills
and foster development. 22 It needs to be
extended to as many children as possible.
Greater attention is needed to identify and
address the barriers for all children who are
not attending school, to reduce risks faced by
children living on the edge. Inclusion of child
protection in the curriculum, through
teaching on the CRC and involving schools in
monitoring approaches, is one strategy that is
possible for agencies to negotiate. Monitoring
mechanisms in project designs can be
extended to social issues such as the targeting
of children for hazardous labour or
involvement in armed conflict. World Vision’s
partnership with educational institutions in
Indonesia and Sri Lanka has shown methods
of improving the capacity of schools, teachers
and students not only for the purposes of
education itself, but also in support of
child protection.
Emerging child protection issues
Human trafficking in various forms is a
feature of many poor communities.
Traffickers visit ignorant or desperate parents,
promising jobs for children. It is most
important to build awareness among children
and other community members about the
risks, and to increase the effectiveness of
local protection mechanisms.
Further attention to emerging issues, such
as the phenomenon and needs of “AIDS
orphans”, is needed. Such children should
be linked to support structures within their
own communities, as a first preference.
They need to retain contact with their
community but avoid being used as
domestic workers for a family. They are
often undernourished, have low education
levels and low hopes for the future.
Strategies that don’t include children at risk
will miss opportunities to advocate, promote
change and nurture hope. Project design
should include promoting community concern
and specific assistance to families at risk, and
monitoring mechanisms, which can link with
national protection initiatives. 23 Information on
human trafficking and working children, for
example, has value beyond the community.
Cambodia’s collaborative project with
UNICEF, the United Nations Cambodia Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) and World Vision show approaches
that can strengthen an institution and bring
justice. 24
Linking the “micro”, “meso” and
“macro” responses needed for child
protection
“Acknowledging the systemic nature of things
means seeing and acting within the big picture.
While the big picture may not mean that our
actions must be big… it does mean that we
must integrate our actions at higher levels and
aggregations than the individual, the “micro”
level all by itself.” 25
Grassroots work with children is affected by
globalisation. Increasingly local activity has a
national, regional and international context.
This has implications for advocacy and local
capacity, as local knowledge now needs to
extend to regional plans and international
policy.
For example, the emerging market of
tourism brings with it the feature of
cross-border crime, and risks to children in
the form of sex tourism. All countries of
the study have experienced the issue of
foreign nationals travelling with intent to
abuse. Action to influence government policy
and response from Cambodia and the
Philippines is shared. Examples of good
practice have been identified, involving
children as advocates locally, regionally
and internationally.
22 Fallon, P & Tzannotos, Z, Child Labour: Issues and directions for the World Bank, 1998
23 UNICEF, Towards Monitoring Child Protection in East Asia and the Pacific, 2001
24 Boonpata, P & Kane, J, Trafficking of Children: The problem and responses worldwide, ILO, 2001
25 Dichter, T, Demystifying Policy Dialog: How the private non-profit sector can have impact on host country policies, 1986, (as appears in Fisher, J, 1998)
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