Child Protection
Strengthening local efforts to safeguard every child
The Child Protection Module training is for Community Management Committee (CMC) members in communities that have implemented the Community Empowerment Program (CEP). The module helps build consensus around human rights and children’s rights while building awareness of the various moral, social, and legal norms that affect children. The training emphasizes the value of education and encourages communities to work together to ensure that every child grows up safe, respected, and supported. All communities who participate in the CEP, specifically the CMCs, receive the Child Protection Module training.
People have solemnly committed to abandon FGC and child marriage since 2020
Children registered, securing their right to education and services since 2020
Children enrolled in school due to awareness campaigns since 2020
What's at Stake
In the countries where we work, there are numerous threats to a child’s healthy development. Lack of access to education, child trafficking, child labor, child marriage, and female genital cutting pose the most dangerous risks. Instead of focusing on immediate relief, the module helps communities address the deep social norms and practices that are at the source of these issues affecting children. Developed in 2010, the Child Protection Module complements the CEP by deepening collective understanding and action around children’s rights.
What We're Doing
The Child Protection Module strengthens the capacity of communities to provide protection for children and prevent violations of children’s rights by:
- Reinforcing the capacities of communities and their surrounding villages to identify at-risk children
- Reinforcing the capacities of communities to prevent the trafficking or migration of children to urban centers
- Reinforcing the capacities of communities to help children in difficult situations such as sexual abuse, incest, forced marriage and female genital cutting
- Fostering the creation of dynamic and functional commissions for child protection in all communities.
After the training, Community Management Committees (CMCs) establish Commissions for Child Protection (CCPs), which lead the community in advocating for children’s rights and transforming existing social norms that sustain harmful practices. In addition to leading these community-wide projects, they also intervene directly in cases of child abuse.
Impact and sustainability
Participation in the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) builds consensus on the importance of respecting the human rights of all people—women, men, and children. The collective public abandonment of FGC and child marriage by over 8,000 communities across Africa is an example of the successful child protection efforts of communities.
Other achievements made by Tostan partner communities in children’s rights include: securing safer, cleaner, and healthier living conditions for talibé children; increasing the number of girls enrolled in primary schools; improving infant and child nutrition; increasing the number of birth registrations; creating opportunities for teenagers to act as leaders in the community; and significantly improving the educational experience for children attending Koranic schools.