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Sri Lanka
Partnership for education in Padiyatalawa
As well as liaising with the National Child
Protection Authority and law enforcers on
cases of child abuse, World Vision Sri Lanka
has worked in partnerships to tackle the
issue of access to quality education, another
of the five priority issues identified by
children in the Children’s Challenge report.
The World Vision Sri Lanka program has a
valuable model, which works with
education authorities to improve the
situation for children at the Padiyatalawa
development project. A household survey
of 4,000 families showed that child abuse
was a concern in the community, with many
children having experienced some form of
abuse. The District director of education
was approached about working on this issue
through 10 schools in the area.
A training curriculum was developed to give
orientation and training to the 10 principals
and two teachers per school. More detailed
training was then prepared for 30 children
per school one day per week over two
months. Consultants have been used in this
process and one staff member coordinates
and supports the child-to-child approach.
The expectation was that these 30 children
would then pass their training on to a
further 10 children each, and in the process
become youth leaders with their peers.
Projects pass information on to World Vision
Sri Lanka’s specialist on CEDC (Children in
Especially Difficult Circumstances), who then
writes an official letter to the National Child
Protection Authority (NCPA) to inform them
of the case. Later, he follows up with the
NCPA and requests follow-up if action has
been slow. Cooperation with the special
unit of the Women’s and Children’s Bureau
in the police is strong and similar
follow-up occurs.
To date, two cases have been pursued in
this way. Project leaders pass the information
on, although they are sometimes afraid of
possible negative consequences. Recently,
World Vision has responded to a case where
a 9-year-old girl in a community was raped
by an off-duty soldier. The family was afraid
to report. The girl needed to go to the
hospital, which reported the case (due to
mandatory reporting), but the family was still
fearful and did not corroborate the report.
World Vision project staff contacted the
family to say that they would support the
case going forward and provide financial
support. The whole project team of five
went to the police station to support the
family when they made their report.
Partners in this process
Promoting child protection is a political task
as well as a development priority. Sri Lanka
has an effective model of gaining national
attention through political advocacy using the
mechanisms of government and media. Save
the Children, working with other NGOs,
timed the “Sri Lankan Children’s Challenge”
to coincide with the UNGASS on Children.
Children from different organisations’
programs were involved in the Challenge,
which surveyed 11,000 children and drew up
a list of priorities. While its recommendations
are general, they are worthy of note with
regard to program planning in the interests of
children. They urge response to the following
areas (which coincide with
World Vision’s own country strategy):
3
Pauline Taylor McKeown, Save the Children Sri Lanka, interview, 2002
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