The Right Not to Lose Hope - Violence Against Children - East Asia ...

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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPECase study: EliasElias is a 14-year-old boy who dropped out of school. He had very little supervisionfrom his mother as she spends a lot of time in the small market where she sellsfirewood. He was reported to the police by his mother after repeatedly stealing smallamounts of money from her.The police officer who interviewed Elias recommended that the boy be referred tothe Community-Based Correction Programme, which is located near his home. At thecentre, his mother signed a treatment plan and agreement that Elias should reportto the centre five times a week to participate in the programmes. In the centre, hereceived counselling and tutorial support, after which he was enrolled in a formalschool. As per the agreement in the treatment plan, his mother went to the centre tofollow up on his developments and to report on his behaviour at home.The centreprovided school fees and educational materials and the volunteer established closecontact with Elias’s teacher at the school.By the end of the first year, Elias showed a great deal of improvement in his behaviour,academic performance and his self-esteem.The staff at the centre decided that Eliasmight still need additional support and supervision, thus it was agreed that he shouldcontinue to go to the centre but on a less regular basis.The volunteer at the centrearranged for Elias to be transferred to a government school where education was givenfor free. It was also arranged for Elias to volunteer to work in a leather workshop.Although he was not paid for his services in the workshop, he was able to learn skillsin leather work.Four years after his first enrolment in the centre, Elias was discharged from theProgramme, and still continues to excel in his school work. As part of his discharge,the centre provided him with leather work equipment, with the agreement that Eliascontinues to earn some money to support himself to continue his education.In an interview by a journalist researching on a model youth programme, Eliasexpressed his wish that the government encourage young people such as himselfto be engaged in productive activities.the children go back to school after the completionof their correction period. This is due to the factthat almost all the CICL are between 9 and 15.Diversion to the centres helps most CICL tocontinue with their education.• The time a child spends at the CBCP is usuallybetween six and nine months. If behaviouralchange is noticeable within this period, the childwill be discharged. If there is insufficient progress,another correction period will be given to the childwith the approval of the Child Protection Unitco-ordinator. However, in most cases children showa remarkable behavioural change within the six tonine months.• By being diverted to the centres, children inconflict with the law are not exposed to the harshtreatment and incarceration they might otherwisereceive.On parents• Parents are involved in their child’s attendance atthe centre and in drawing up the treatment plan.82
4 GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY-BASED RESPONSES ●The parents agree to report to the centre on thebehavioural and educational progress of theirchildren at least once a month.• The social workers/community workers helpthe parents understand the causes for theirchild’s offending and identify the support neededfrom the parents. Based on this, the parentscontribute to the rehabilitation of the child byencouraging the child to go to school and tothe centre regularly, by keeping a closer eye onthe child when at home, giving more love andattention, especially by setting aside time to talkand listen to the child, and guiding him/herappropriately.On institutions• Although legal provisions do not explicitly allowfor diversion by the police, almost 99 per cent ofthe cases come from them.• The police run the Child Protection Programme,under which the Community-Based CorrectionProgramme falls. They have taken on boardpartnerships with FSCE and other NGOs in therunning of CPUs in police stations. By 2004, theCPUs evolved from being an NGO-led initiativeto being part of the formal structure of the PoliceCommission.• The police benefit from diversion as it saves themboth time and money by not taking the childrento court.Lessons learned and challengesInformal settlements are the socio-cultural norm inEthiopia, with neighbourhood elders active in thiswork. This way of operating in the communitytherefore resonates with traditional practice. Thearrangement by which community elders advisedCICL proved useful but it has stopped because ofrestructuring in the sub-cities. It is hoped that it willbe re-activated.Multi-level advocacy with duty bearers has led to theidea of diversion being accepted by many. But theMinistry of Labour and Social Affairs, which ismandated to work with CICL, has not becomeseriously involved, nor has the judiciary.The project has tried to involve the Addis AbabaSocial Affairs Office, where the project is located, toinstitutionalise the diversion programme in its formalstructure but the process is very slow with no concreteresults so far. There is a plan to organise a nationalworkshop based on the document Diversion as GoodPractice to lobby for the legalising and implementingof diversion.The use of the Kabele halls as centres provideslegitimacy to the diversion process as well as authority,despite the fact that the process is not yet provided forunder the law.The centres strive to establish closer relationshipsbetween parents and their children and this is seenas a key element in the programme.The lack of follow-up after the children leave thecentre means that there is insufficient knowledgeabout how they are progressing longer term andif they have kept out of trouble. There is also nofollow-up for those who drop out, so that there islittle known about the reasons for dropping out ofthe programme.Key elements of this good practice• The police have become committed to theestablishment and replication of well-trainedChild Protection Units, within an appropriatelywell-organised police linked to other agencies andto the Community-Based Correction Programmecentres to promote diversion.• By starting with the younger offenders (9–15-yearolds)who have committed petty or first-timeoffences, the diversion programme has been ableto enlist the police and public support.• The development of the Community-BasedCorrection Programme centres is based on a83
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The Right Not to Lose HopeChildren
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The International Save the Children
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ContentsAcknowledgementsAbbreviatio
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AcknowledgementsWe are very gratefu
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Case study 1: Boboy’s story (the
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IntroductionBoboy’s life story is
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INTRODUCTION●system is not necess
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1 Challenging the myths“Probably
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1 CHALLENGING THE MYTHS ●offendin
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEin an
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEEmon
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEChild
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEhis u
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEearni
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPEchild
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPE19In
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● THE RIGHT NOT TO LOSE HOPE64Mun
Page 37 and 38: 2 Children’s experiences in theju
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Page 45 and 46: continued from previous pagearreste
Page 47 and 48: 3 Ensuring justice for children“R
Page 49 and 50: 3 ENSURING JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN ●
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Page 53 and 54: ugby or taking shabu when finances
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Page 57 and 58: 4 GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES OF COMMUNI
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Page 109 and 110: RecommendationsPreventionWe believe
Page 111 and 112: RECOMMENDATIONS●3. There should b
Page 113 and 114: BIBLIOGRAPHY●Findlay, M and Zveki
Page 115 and 116: BIBLIOGRAPHY●Save the Children UK
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