“BAKURE NEZA” Project has recently presented satisfactory results and achievements to partners and stakeholders. Civil society actors and children survivors of different kinds of exploitation are hopeful for the future due to the interventions of the project in capacity strengthening and education of the community (Photo: Jimbere Magazine, Burundi).
The 3-year initiative aimed to consolidate the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) as key actors in monitoring, advocating and implementing public policies related to child protection. Actors in the child protection sector face mammoth challenges related to limited access to resources, technical and institutional capacity, which weigh heavily on their ability to monitor violations of children's rights and effectively influence public policy.
The European Union-funded Bakure Neza project was thus designed to address these structural challenges by strengthening the capacities of CSOs, improving monitoring and reporting mechanisms, and consolidating the early warning systems and the management of reported cases.
Besides supporting ten CSOs active in the protection and promotion of children’s rights in Bujumbura, Gitega and Muyonga Provinces, to become credible, structured and technically equipped actors, the project also supported children and communities in raising awareness about children's rights and reporting violation cases. Specifically, children who received support include the survivors of physical, sexual, or psychological violence, those at risk of exploitation, as well as those in situations of social or family vulnerability.
With community awareness raising and education, the project reported that 83% of children believe that the protection of their rights has greatly improved, while 94% of parents report improvement in the protection and promotion of children's rights, and 98% of parents confirm knowing how to report a child rights violation case and are willing to do so.
In response to the vulnerabilities of children and adolescents, the project also supported complementary economic and professional initiatives led by local CSOs. Among others, include vocational training in different trades (sewing workshop, carpentry, mobile hair salon, livestock solidarity network), which help reduce structural factors of vulnerability, particularly poverty and the lack of alternative solutions for out-of-school children and youth. In total, the Bakure Neza project contributed to improving the living conditions of over 24,000 children, including 13,200 girls and 10,800 boys, as well as more than 13,000 members of local communities.
The project has certainly achieved a lot in strengthening the institutional capacity of local CSOs and changing social behaviours of children and the community towards children’s rights.
For civil society actors to continue promoting children’s rights effectively, there’s a need to access public resources. Local budgetary capacities remain limited, which could restrict the continuity of actions requiring logistical or financial support.
As for the children and youth to continue leveraging skills and capacities acquired for sustainable changes, one of the main challenges remains the lack of start-up kits for some trained young people to start benefiting from their vocational skills towards economic independence.
The long-term viability of these achievements through Bakure Neza Project will therefore depend on the ability of the beneficiaries and civil society organizations to mobilize additional resources.
