BUILDING CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN … 05, 2012 · N SOPs$on$RRof$traﬃcked$survivors$Myanmar/Thailand$ N Naonal$R&Rguidelines$on$traﬃcking$to$have$naonal$launch$(Oct2012)$ N

Conference on Child Protec/on: Enhancing Capacity and Strategic Service Delivery within a Na/onal and Regional Context

Kuala Lumpur, 20 – 22 December 2012

BUILDING CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN MYANMAR

Presented by:

Mr. Myo Set Aung, Director, Interna/onal Rela/ons, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and ReseMlement

Background

The Ministry of Social Welfare. Relief and Rese6lement (MSWRR) is implemen;ng the following services systema;cally: •  Child Welfare Services, •  Youth Welfare Services, •  Women's Welfare Services, •  Care of the Aged, •  Rehabilita;on of the Disabled, •  Grants in Aids to Voluntary Organiza;ons, •  Rese6lement and Rehabilita;on of Vagrants, •  Rehabilita;on of Ex-‐drug Addicts.

The Department of Social Welfare under the MSWRR is the focal department for all children’s issues.

growth

development

prot

ectio

n

Supporting children, “the gems of Myanmar”

Background

•  Myanmar became a signatory to the Conven;on on the Rights of the Child on 16 July 1991.

•  In order to implement the rights of the child embodied in the Conven;on, the Child Law was promulgated on 14 July 1993.

•  Myanmar formed a Na;onal Commi6ee on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) in 1993 to systema;cally enforce the Child Law.

•  Subsequently, working commi6ees were formed in states/regions, districts, up to township level, all over the country.

•  The aim of forming these commi6ees is to build capacity and to deliver services for children.

Key Child Protec/on Issues in Myanmar

Children made vulnerable due to poverty, family break down, weak social welfare & legal systems, natural disaster or conflict are at increased risk of -  exploita;on, neglect and abuse (at home, in school, community,

workplace); -  living and working on the street; -  being trafficked internally and across borders as cheap labourers or

beggars; -  being without parental care, with many living in ins;tu;ons; -  exposure to HIV& AIDS; suffering child hood disability; and facing

s;gma and discrimina;on; -  being recruited into the armed forces and groups; -  being in contact with the law.

Key Child Protec/on Issues in Myanmar

While there are many cultural prac;ces and social norms that may tradi;onally protect children, others may actually be detrimental or put children at risk (e.g. early marriage, sending children away from

home for educa;on, corporal punishment/poor paren;ng skills, limited understanding/prac;ce of child par;cipa;on)

Child Protec/on Environment: recent developments! •  Increased collabora;on with DSW to work at the community level aaer Cyclone

Nargis hit Myanmar in May 2008 and ini;ated the child protec;on system building project;

•  New government: decentraliza;on; increased opportuni;es to work at sub-‐na;onal levels;

•  Parliamentary Commi6ees on Women and Children established; •  More openness to address sensi;ve child protec;on issues (e.g. MRE, working

children, CAAC); •  Human Rights Commission set up; Child Rights more acknowledged as Human

Rights; •  Legal Reform, including Child Law; NPA for children under review; •  Increased civil society par;cipa;on; •  UN Conven;on on the Rights of Persons with Disabili;es Ra;fied (7 Dec 2011); •  Op;onal Protocol (OPSC) ra;fied (17 January 2012); •  Budget for health, educa;on and social sector increased; •  In the process of reviewing the organiza;on of DSW to assign staff at township,

district and regional/state levels.

Policy related achievements on child protec/on and some ongoing

-‐  UNICEF Technical support to two bi-‐lateral MOUs on human trafficking between Myanmar/China and Myanmar/Thailand (2008-‐2009);

-‐  Minimum Standards on Children in Residen;al Care (2008) and under revision (2012);

-‐  Police Direc;ve on Child Friendly police procedures: issued as direc;ve Dec 2010 and part of police pocket book;

-‐  OVC now strategy in new na;onal HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2011-‐2015) -‐  SOPs on RR of trafficked survivors Myanmar/Thailand -‐  Na;onal R&R guidelines on trafficking to have na;onal launch (Oct 2012) -‐  Joint Ac;on Plan as per UNSCR 1612 signed and implementa;on in

process

In process: -‐  Minimum Standards on Working Children draa completed 2007, ini;ally

approved then on hold, now under review again; -‐  Revision of Child Law and Na;onal Plan of Ac;on for Children (started Aug

2011)

Why is Child Protec/on System important?

•  promotes a comprehensive protec;ve environment that covers all forms of abuse, neglect, violence and exploita;on;

•  establishes referral and coordina;on mechanisms to ensure that services are in place to promote and support child welfare;

•  contribute to: –  Social economic development –  Achievement of Millennium Development Goals & Millennium Declara;ons

–  Fulfillment of the obliga;ons under the CRC •  From addressing symptoms/issues/categories of problems •  Towards preven;ng and responding to abuse, neglect, violence

and exploita;on

Towards a Na/onal Child Protec/on System

An effec;ve Na;onal Child Protec;on System strengthens the protec;ve environment to safeguard children against all forms of abuse, exploita;on, neglect and violence and should consist of three interlocking components: 1)  Social welfare system for children and families; 2)  Jus;ce and security system; 3)  An integrated social behaviour change component to promote of

public antudes, beliefs, values and behaviours that contribute to children’s wellbeing and protec;on

•  A collabora/ve project between the DSW and UNICEF on “Strengthening Service Delivery and Referral Mechanism for Child Protec/on System in selec/ve townships” (Ini%ated in 2008 in 5 townships)

Societal behaviour

change system

Child

Parents support, TCRC mobilization, social work diploma

course, capacity development to CRC

committees and social workers

Laws reform in process, including child law, labor laws; witness/

vic;ms protec;on; plan of ac;on on

recruitment of minors; capacity development to judges and law

officers

Commemora;on of CRC; launch on

situa;on of children in ins;tu;on; awareness raising on CP; mee;ng with CRC commi6ees at different levels

Aware of CP issues, CSGs formed, parents educa;on, home

visi;ng for vulnerable and project

supported children (vic;ms, released children, etc.)

Increased budget, staff alloca;on, access to military recruitments

Framework for CP System

Socio-‐economic, poli;cal and cultural context

Township/Community-‐Based Child Protec/on System

•  The goal is to mobilize the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) and key stakeholders/ Township Commi6ee on the Rights of the Child members to set up a func;oning coordina;on, referral and response system to provide services for the benefit of children and respond to child protec;on concerns in 20 townships.

Labu6a, Nyaung Oo, Shwepyithar, Kungyankone, Dala 2008-‐2009 Bogale, Twantay, Hlaing, Hlaingtharyar, 2009-‐2010 Lashio, Dewai, Mahaaungmyae, Thathon, Pyay, Monywa 2011 Taunggyi, Hakka, Myitkyina, Si6we, Thanphyuzayat 2012

•  DSW assigned 20 Social Welfare Officers to take the role of the Secretary of the TCRC and were trained on Child protec;on and case management

Flow Chart of Child Protec/on System at Community and Township levels

VILLAGE LEVEL

Assessment

Linkage with township level services

if services not available at village level

Children & Families

Findings Community mapping: services, partners, risks and protection concerns for children

Service delivery at village level - Government - NGOs/CBOs

Action/Case Plan

Mapping of Township Level services

-  CRC committee -  Government: school, health,

police, legal etc. -  NGOs/CBOs

Township Services

Community awareness raising and setting up of

community support group

-  Family assessment of vulnerable children -  Case management (individual)

COORDINATION -  Monthly

coordination -  Meetings among

implementing partners, agencies, support group members

Appropriate Follow up

TOWNSHIP LEVEL

DISTRICT LEVEL

STATE/REGION LEVEL

NATIONAL LEVEL

Key ac/vi/es at township and community levels

•  DSW designate social workers at 20 project townships and make linkages related to supervision between township, region and na;onal levels in these areas.

•  UNICEF support DSW to define the roles and responsibili;es of the social workers in rela;on to CP

•  UNICEF support the capacity development of the social workers through ongoing training and on-‐the-‐job support through the exis;ng Social Work and/or para-‐professionals training course and mentoring as well as support by prac;;oners at divisional levels to undertake appropriate supervision.


•  Through the collabora;ve project, support is provided to social workers and key stakeholders (CRC Commi6ee Members) and NGO/CBOs implemen;ng partners to: ¯  iden;fy risks for children, ¯ map township and regional resources, ¯  iden;fy response processes, including professional roles and

responsibili;es of each sectoral stakeholder and referral and recording systems.

¯ undertake analysis of lessons learnt, gaps and successes to make recommenda;ons for replica;ng the process in other township, regional and na;onal levels for strengthening CP systems in Myanmar.


•  Capacity development of Social Workers are related to the provision of services (statutory) as per their role: ¯  Receiving report of CP concerns ¯  Verifying and decision-‐making ¯  Assessing children/families:

-‐  undertaking a protec;on plan -‐  coordina;ng referral to relevant services or appropriate

alterna;ve care, as needed ¯  Coordinate and refer children/families needing specialized

services ¯  Follow-‐up, monitor & document each case ¯  Undertaking regular case review in collabora;on with NGO/CBO

partners ¯  Undertaking case closure


•  Suppor;ng families and communi;es to play an ac;ve role in child protec;on.

•  Working with community members to form community support groups (CSGs), iden;fying community resources to meet needs of children and families

•  Iden;fying vulnerable children and families needing community support and services,

•  Monitoring families for poten;al child abuse, exploita;on and neglect

•  Finding community solu;ons and providing/ coordina;ng sustainable support to vulnerable children and their families

•  Developing systems for repor;ng abuse as well as for referral for children needing special protec;on services. (The above includes early interven4on or preven4on services as well suppor4ng and monitoring some response services.)

Our Approach

•  Most ac;vi;es are undertaken at the community level by NGOs/CBOs together with the community support groups and children/youth groups

•  For services that are not available within the village or local community, linkages must be made with township level service providers – both government and NGO/CBOs

Ü  As assigned by Myanmar Child Law: ¯  the township CRC Commi6ee members -‐ designated to provide

services for the benefit of children ¯ DSW: act as Secretary or facilitator to the CRC Commi6ees

Child Protec/on cases responded at TCRC level in 15 CBCP Townships – By Township

Jan-‐May 2012Township Girls Boys TotalDala 2 5 7Hlaing 5 2 7Hlaingtharya 4 4 8Kungyangon 2 2Nyaung U 1 1 2Shwepyithar 13 9 22Twantay 1 2 3Grand Total 28 23 51

March 2008 -‐ May 2012Township Girls Boys Total

Bogale 22 17 39Dala 53 51 104Hlaing 13 21 34Hlaingtharya 41 69 110Kungyangon 10 10 20Labutta 12 16 28Lashio 9 2 11Mahaaungmyay 1 1Monywa 2 2Nyaung U 22 10 32Pyay 2 5 7Shwepyithar 64 89 153Thaton 3 3Twantay 16 20 36Dewai 0 0 0Total 265 315 580

Child Protec/on cases iden/fied and responded in 15 CBCP Townships (March 2009-‐ May 2012) – By Type of Cases March 2008 -‐ May 2012Case Categ ory g irls boys TotalChild conflict with society 1 1Children in armed conflict 1 17 18Children in Contact with Law 30 168 198Children with d isability 1 5 6Family Reunification 4 15 19H IV infected/affected 2 2Labour Exploitation 10 4 14Missing Child 3 5 8Neg lect 33 27 60Physical Abuse 22 21 43Sexual Abuse / Exploitation 128 11 139Trafficking 15 3 18Unaccompanied Child 2 2Vulnerable Child 9 8 17Working and Street Children 9 26 35 Total 265 315 580

Jan-‐May 2012Case Category g irls boys TotalChildren in armed conflict 1 1Children in Contact with Law 3 11 14Children with disability 2 2Family Reunification 1 1 2Missing Child 2 3 5Neg lect 3 2 5Physical Abuse 1 2 3Sexual Abuse / Exploitation 16 16Vulnerable Child 2 1 3Total 28 23 51

v Community Support Groups: Made up of volunteers, some very commi6ed, but some having compe;ng priori;es related to economic situa;on. Sustainability also an issue.

v TCRC: Mandated by Child Law, but not ac;ve overall, coverage s;ll low (20 out of 345 Townships); high government staff (TCRC members) turn over; other compe;ng priori;es.

v Coopera/on and coordina/on: Con;nued need to be strengthened v Children's par/cipa/on: weak and needs to be strengthened; v Knowledge on child rights and child protec/on: need for con;nued

awareness raising and follow up to capacity development interven;ons; need to focus more on child protec;on related support (as opposed to general humanitarian needs, e.g. educa;on and health, safe water, etc.)

v Finaliza/on of the review of the Child Law

Challenges

AIM •  To assess the scope and quality of the township and community

based child protec;on system building programme (CSGs, TCRCs) •  To iden;fy programma;c impact/ outcomes •  To assess the capacity of the partners •  To guide future programming and possible scale up of CSGs and

ac;va;on of CRCs •  Evalua;on explored: Relevance, Effec;veness, Efficiency, Impact,

Sustainability, Gender Equality, and Monitoring and Evalua;on.

Evalua/on on Township and Community Based Child Protec/on System -‐ 2011

Methods

METHODOLOGY •  Mul;ple data collec;on methods •  Consul;ng with different stakeholders: children, CSG members, parents/

caregivers, NGOs, DSW •  Field visits: Mawlamyine, Tedim, Naung Oo, Bogale, Labu6a and Dala •  Self assessments of 76 CSGs from diverse parts of the country •  More than 1500 people consulted:

–  253 children aged 6-‐18 years (112 boys, 141 girls) –  670 women and 649 men

•  All data was triangulated to inform valid findings •  Ethical guidelines were applied

Findings: Relevance of the township & community based child protec/on system •  Township and CBCP system-‐building work is extremely relevant to

the Myanmar context: •  CSGs are becoming embedded within communi;es •  CBCP work can be strengthened by engaging and listening to

children’s own views and suppor;ng children’s par;cipa;on in preven;on and response work

•  Ac;va;on of TCRCs is extremely relevant •  A shia is needed to ensure a primary focus on child protec;on from

abuse, neglect, violence and exploita;on, rather than a primary focus on iden;fying and suppor;ng vulnerable children

•  Case management forms need to be reviewed and amended

Findings: The protec/on dimension of families and care of vulnerable children •  CSGs enabling the protec;on dimension of families to be

strengthened •  More sustainable forms of support for vulnerable children and

families need to be iden;fied and developed -‐ not just prac;cal support

•  Prac;ces of sending poor children away from the communi;es to residen;al monasteries for their educa;on and/or to residen;al ins;tu;ons should be discouraged through the CSGs and TCRCs

•  Increased efforts to mainstream vulnerability analysis including a6en;on to HIV, disability, poverty, gender, ethnicity and other factors are needed.

Findings: The availability, reach and quality of child protec/on preven/on, monitoring and response system •  The Township/CBCP systems building model embraced by DSW and

partners; 407 communi;es and 9 TCRCs (2008 – 2010). •  CBCP model is proving effec;ve in enabling strengthening of a child

protec;on system in project areas where the TCRCs have been ac;vated and the CSGs formed

•  CSGs able to prevent and resolve a number of child protec;on concerns at the village/ ward level; more complex child protec;on and jus;ce issues are being referred to the TCRCs to solve.

•  Child protec;on systems are weaker where TCRCs have not been ac;vated •  Technical training and support on child protec;on is necessary to include

quality of CSGs •  Number of TCRCs currently reached through UNICEF’s project are limited -‐

crucial that UNICEF develops strategies enabling mul;ple approaches to ac;vate more TCRCs

Findings: Sustainability of the programme

•  CSGs need seed money to be able to generate their own income for sustainable response

•  High levels of volunteerism and dedica;on of CSG members contribute to the sustainability of CSGs.

•  Once ac;vated the TCRCs are considered to be sustainable as they are mandated by Child Law.

•  Advocacy to secure budgets for the TCRCs •  Con;nue and to expand assignment of DSW Social Welfare

Officers at the township level.

Findings: Changes in children

•  Increased awareness and knowledge of child rights and child protec;on in the community

•  Reduc;on of violence in the home

•  Reduc;on in abusive language by parents and children •  Increased support to go to school and/or stay in school •  Increased self confidence and happiness of children •  Reduc;on in children going to risky places •  Reduc;on in children being involved in hard work •  Increased support to the most vulnerable children

•  Increased preven;on and response to child sexual abuse, recruitment of child soldiers, children in conflict with the law, and child trafficking

Children’s drawings of posi/ve outcomes CBCP

Vulnerable children going to school Children playing happily with friends

Before/ aher Changes

Former working child is now going to school

CSG protec4ng children from bea4ng

Findings: Gender Equality

•  Township and community based child protec;on programme is designed to benefit girls and boys.

•  Both women and men are ac;vely involved in CSGs;

•  Increased efforts are needed to ac;vely involve girls and boys in programming.

•  More men than women in TCRC •  Rela;vely equal propor;ons are being

iden;fied and supported. •  Data base analysis also indicates

which protec;on concerns are affec;ng girls or boys more; or in similar propor;ons.

Findings: Strengthening monitoring and evalua/on on child protec/on

•  Need to review and update exis;ng M&E system, tools and processes to gather more systema;c data on child protec;on outcomes

•  Increased efforts are needed to collect baseline data •  Capacity building ini;a;ves with the Department of Social

Welfare to enable future management of child protec;on data bases by the Government

Documents

BUILDING CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN … 05, 2012 · N SOPs$on$RRof$traﬃcked$survivors$Myanmar/Thailand$ N Naonal$R&Rguidelines$on$traﬃcking$to$have$naonal$launch$(Oct2012)$ N