Strengthening Child Protection Systems
Contributing to the Be Protected Breakthrough - Violence against children will not be tolerated
Our work is aimed at complementing government efforts in preventing abuse and violence from happening and responding efficiently. Save the Children achieves this through implementing evidence based and contextually fit approaches.
Child Protection Advocacy and Policy – We contribute to ensuring safer environments through influencing the Go Zimbabwe and stakeholders to uphold their commitment to ensuring children are protected. We do this through influencing legislative and policy reforms, collective advocacy initiatives with structures like the ATDH, Joining Forces Coalition, Junior Parliament of Zimbabwe and at organisational level with the Child Advisory Board.
Systems Strengthening Approach aims to improve child protection systems in a practical, comprehensive and systematic manner with programmes being informed by the system analysis to determine areas of need and programming initiatives. In line with the localisation drive, capacity sharing with local and national actors i.e. government and civil society are critical structures we work with. Save the Children values family preservation and community contributions and thus prioritise strengthening their capacities to better exercise their roles and responsibilities to meet the and address the needs of children.
Quality Child Protection prevention and response services – Save the Children supports implementation of intervention that directly promote prevention and response to child protection violations within Save the Children localisation framework and National Case Management system.
Our Impact
Children on the move programming – Over two decades, Save the Children contributed to the inclusion of unaccompanied migrant and separated children (UMSC)as children in need within the Children’s amended Act. Supported the government into entering into bilateral agreements with Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa on the handling on UMSC Lobbied with the government to have resources committed to partake cross border coordination meetings following the bilateral agreements.
Child Online Safety – Save the Children supported Zimbabwe into becoming a pathfinding country following implementation of the key initiatives within the We Protect Model National Response. These initiatives include setting up of the Zimbabwe Child Online Protection Committee, training of the law enforcement – Zimbabwe Republic Police equipping with the servers that are linked to Interpol, awareness raising of children, teachers and parents/guardians and engagement of the industry i.e. internet service providers ECONET and NETONE.
Systems strengthening – contributed to training and equipping of community child protection structures e.g. Community Child Care Workers (CCWs); Community Child Protection Committees (CPC), teachers on their preventive and response responsibilities. Facilitated safe families’ sessions for parents/guardians/caregivers while engaging children on their rights and responsibilities.
Child Protection in Humanitarian Action – Save the Children complements government efforts in disaster management mainstreaming the implementation of Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action. The sector contributes to ensuring child protection sensitive anticipatory actions, preparedness and response actions are implemented. Save the Children has responded to Cylcone Idai, Chido and drought responses.
Fighting Child Labour and Child Trafficking – Save the Children in collaboration with ZNCWC, CACLAZ, and ZELO have contributed to improved accountability on prioritisation of elimination of child labour and child trafficking in Zimbabwe through awareness raising, strengthening CSO accountability roles, strengthening business capacities in implementation of Child Rights Business Principles (CRBP) and duty bearers’ roles in monitoring businesses. Our work also prioritised building the agency of children in lobbying for prioritisation of child protection while facilitating policy dialogue with duty bearers.
