Save the Children UK’s programme in Central America and the Caribbean, created in 1974, has contributed to regional and national child rights frameworks, leading to dramatic changes for children and young people. The programme closed in March 2007, and its legacy continues through Save the Children’s partners through out the region.
This is a record of lessons learnt, challenges identified and recommendations made from Save the Children’s experiences over the last five years for all those involved in child rights and development work.
Case studies include: Honduras: Advocacy in public policy | Caribbean: Emergency preparedness | Jamaica: HIV and AIDS | Honduras: Commercial sexual exploitation | Cuba: Child participation | Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala: Juvenile justice | Honduras and Guatemala: Child labour and poverty reduction
Honduras: Advocacy in public policy
The programme was carried out on two levels: actions on specific issues related to our thematic programmes (child labour, juvenile justice, commercial sexual exploitation, emergencies); and general lobbying for public policies that benefit children.
The programme carried out lobbying activities, research, awareness raising and network-building. A major aim was to facilitate at the highest levels of government the drawing up, approval and implementation of legislation and public policies designed to protect children.
Lessons learnt
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Political advocacy requires a strong knowledge base and a well-defined plan of action.
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You need a convincing analysis of the problem you are seeking to address; this should include comparisons of alternative approaches, feasibility studies, and cost benefit analysis.
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Identify key actors, or those who will be targets or allies of your lobbying efforts.
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Map relevant power structures so that you will lobby the people who hold the decision making power.
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Direct lobbying should be reinforced with a media campaign.
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Involve children gives advocacy credibility , in part because it recognises children as protagonists with rights and demands, rather than passive beneficiaries.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15762
Caribbean: Emergency preparedness
The Emergency Preparedness programme supported the development of institutional capacities of local partners in the prevention, preparation for and response to emergencies. Trainings emphasised the need to protect children during emergency situations, and provided tools for doing so.
Lessons learnt
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Best practice in the face of a potential emergency is simply to be ready. Planning and organisation for a coordinated response is essential
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Teams and resources should be set up in advance
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Emergency preparedness efforts should include an up-to-date price index for items likely to be needed in an emergency so purchases can be made quickl
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Simulations of emergency situations are useful in raising awareness of children, not only helping them to seek safety, but also increasing their self-esteem and leadership skills.
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The formal and public education system are good for a for awareness raising and leadership development for disaster prevention
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In countries like Cuba, which have a difficult relationship with the US, NGOs should make an effort to maintain good relations with the government to facilitate the administration of aid in emergencies.
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Cutlurally sensitive instruction was more effective than bringing in foreign consultants who did not have a clear understanding of the context.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15767
Jamaica: HIV and AIDS
The main programme in Jamaica, “A multi-sectorial response to reduce the vulnerability of Jamaican youth to HIV and AIDS”, promoted a health lifestyle and educated disadvantaged youth about ways to minimise their risk of contracting HIV.
Lessons learnt
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HIV and AIDS prevention methodology is also applicable to non-school settings and in other communities.
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Tap into popular culture and current events
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The design of participatory learning processes not only allows participating children to become educated about a given topic, but also boosts self-esteem
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Educating young people about socially sensitive issues is a good way of spreading knowledge to the community more generally.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15769
Honduras: Commercial Sexual Exploitation
This programme consisted of supporting Honduran counterparts in the creation of both legal and operational frameworks to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of Honduran children. The effort involved a range of citizens, from community promoters and local child rights advocates to the president of the country’s Supreme Court.
Lessons learnt
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Conduct awareness raising among male officials and justice system operators
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Train reporters about child protection issues involved and the media’s role in educating the general public.
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Empower national actors to draw attention to the issue.
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Analyse the phenomenon and existing institutional capacities to deal with it to establish a baseline from which progress can be measured.
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Confront cultures of secrecy where victims are afraid to speak out. The community has an important role to play in demanding that the local justice system sees these cases through.
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Ensure child participation; community level work that uses schools and school advocates to engage child participation is more effective when it includes a component aimed at involving the children’s parents.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15767
Cuba: Child participation
Through a child participation focus, the Cuba programme succeeded in engaging key government entities, while also developing sustainable youth leadership in risk management and disaster response at the grass roots. Advances were also made in the promotion of environmental education and violence prevention with socially disadvantaged youths.
Save the Children targeted social exclusion among disadvantaged youth through two projects: “Living Together Without Violence,” which dealt with domestic violence, and “Barrio Kids,” which carried out a variety of activities with disenfranchised youth in the Jesus María neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba.
Lessons learnt
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All work – from needs-identification to project design – should be done together with local stakeholders.
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Engage child participation
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Working with government entities facilitated access to the target population thorugh schools and made the project sustainable.
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Domestic violence cannot be addressed in terms of victim and aggressor, but should be approached from the broader perspective of the family as a complex system of human interactions within a determined socio-historical context.
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Use the model of the ‘democratic family’ where everyhone has rights and obligations, where all opinions are important, and where there are no privileges accorded to age or gender. This odel encourages children’s concerns and right to be listened to, ensuring children’s participation in their family environment.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15766
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala: Juvenile Justice
This programme aimed to help reduce violence committed by and against young people. It helped define and advocate for State policies emphasising prevention and worked to eliminate anti-youth stigma and foment a social and community based culture of prevention that respects the rights of children and young people in conflict with the law, or are at risk of doing so.
Lessons learnt
- Effective strategic planning should prioritise programme activities, identifying which aspects are crucial in the beginning stages, what inter-institutional coordination is needed, and what training will be needed to prepare programme staff and participants.
- Resource management should be carefully planned
- It is important to encourage broad non-politically aligned participation in the model, rather than limiting direct participation to a select group of leaders to broaden community support.
- Families have an important role to play in this process. Work with parents and sibling can ease the reinsertion of former gang members into society, etc.
- The complexity of youth violence associated with gangs should not be underestimated. It is the product of historical structural factors beyond the scope of programming and these causes.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=15769&flag=report
Honduras and Guatemala: Child Labour and Poverty Reduction
This programme consisted of a set of social and political interventions aimed at improving the lives of children who work in domestic service, agriculture, and the production of fireworks. In addition to providing needed services and social reinsertion to working children, the programme conducted advocacy campaigns to promote public safeguards to protect children from exploitation. It encouraged sustainable advances both at the level of children’s individual lives and in the institutions of the countries concerned.
Lessons learnt
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A policy on the eradication of the worst forms of child labour should condemn all forms of harmful work. An ambiguous stance will lead to incoherent policy and the perpetuation of the ignored forms of exploitation.
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Ensure that when trying to improve the conditions of risk of working children, that this is not seen as acceptance or approval of child labour.
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Child protection policies should be tailored to the age of the working children they aim to protect, e.g. younger children are more susceptible to suffering permanent physical damage; older children face greater risks of a social, sexual and moral nature as a result of peer pressure, family tensions, etc.
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Work with local culture
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The elimination of the worst forms of child labour cannot be readily imposed on a society. Honduran legislation has prescribed child labour since the mid-20th century with no real effect. Legislation does not in itself guarantee an end to these practices. Abolition requires a multifaceted approach and the participation of a wide range of actors
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Strategies should try to provide alternative sources of income.
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Direct action to meet the needs of working children should be balanced with efforts to educate the children’s parents about child rights.
Read the report: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15768
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