Question:
Discuss about child welfare and various initiatives?
Answer:
There is growing incidence of child abuse worldwide and as a result it is the need of the hour to foster various institutions and community based initiatives to ensure their respective well- being. Child Welfare may be defined as social work that is centered on children’s welfare with intended aim of improvements in health, vocational training and health. The main focus of child welfare initiatives needs to be the disadvantaged children who are denied basic rights spelled out by various UN conventions. Despite legal protection from various evils such as child labour, child trafficking, child abuse, the exploitation of children continues abated as a result of which these are denied their fundamental rights integral to their future development as productive members of society (WHO, 2002). This is apparent from the fact that an estimated 126 million children between the age of 5 and 17 are involved in hazardous work besides child domestic labour. Further, millions of girls at a tender age are subject to heinous forms of female genital mutilation/cutting (WHO, nd).
In an abusive environment that prevails, it is imperative to provide a safe environment for children that ensure prevention from exploitation, violence and various abuses. This typically requires a plethora of steps starting from support from government displayed through zero tolerance towards crimes against children through a supportive legislative framework. Further, there should be an open discussion of issues surrounding child protection with the key stakeholders of society with the intent to address harmful existent practices backed by tradition and custom. Additionally, it is imperative to develop the life skills of children along with enhancing knowledge which enables their participation in the economy and nation building. Besides, various essential services critical to development of children should be provides coupled with a strict monitoring of these initiatives so as to ensure that pre-determined objectives are met (Jekayinfa, 2006).
One of the pioneer international organisations involved in child protection is UNICEF along with the global partners. UNICEF primarily relies on initiation of dialogue involving various critical stakeholders particularly government, civil society, children and their respective families for the promotion of apt attitude and suitable practices for ensuring protection of children. Further, being an arm of the UN, international advocacy is also an effective mechanism especially for bringing about legislative reforms with regards to human rights. However, the actual change at the ground level is managed through coordination with the various non-government organisations and civil society initiatives. Further, UNICEF extends support to various community based initiatives and approaches to deal with relevant child protection issues that may exist in particular communities. UNICEF along with its partners also engages proactively with various regional and local stakeholders to generate awareness about various issues surrounding children protection besides providing requisite help to the national governments (Seibert, 2015).
Due to the sustained efforts of organisations such as UNICEF, there is considerable improvement in the legislative system and enforcement of the same with regards to child protection. Often, since the legislative reforms tend to precede the societal reform especially in the developing world, hence a critical role in this regard is provided by global organisations such as UNICEF with active coordination through local partners. Further, the national governments also tend to widen the safety net so as to not only limit the incidences related to child abuse but actively contribute to child development (UNN, 2015). Assistance is also extended with regards to national justice systems by providing suitable mechanisms to ensure strict enforcement of the prevalent legislation. There are host of examples with regards to the work done by UNICEF in various issues surrounding juvenile justice, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, female foeticide, child labour in the developing and underdeveloped countries (Jekayinfa, 2006).
Besides, UNICEF and other initiatives of the civil society, child protection issues have been projected as a global issue and thus various related issues are also reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The various issues that are highlighted through MDGs include child labour, child marriage, universal primary education, high child mortality, sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation/cutting. Further, MDGs promote global partnership on the above issues to ensure that these evils are addressed in a coordinated manner which would provide an impetus to global development (UNDP, nd) The rights of the children have also been addressed at various global forums such as Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and thus lucidly spell out the common fundamental rights that need to be available to children worldwide and places an obligation on national governments to take proactive action (WHO, nd).
Community based initiatives tend to play critical role in the endeavour of child protection especially at the community level. In this regard, one of the significant initiatives is the child parent center which is a special program aimed at providing for the disadvantaged children. Further, emphasis is also laid on the role of parents in ensuring child development particularly related to learning (both social and cognitive). Another initiative worth discussing is the Durham Family Initiative which aims at improvement of life standards in families and thus leads to less incidence of abuse. The heart of this initiative is collection and sharing of information with regards to identification to high risk children who are then readily provided help through multiple platforms (CFP, nd). Another notable program is Nurse Family Partnership is a visitation program where nurses pay visit to first time parents and poor families so as to provide appropriate parenting skills and thereby ensure child welfare. Other specialised initiatives are also fostering especially in communities where child abuse is highly prevalent and existing interventions through government and civil society organisations has had limited influence only.
It is apparent from the above discussion that the problem of child abuse is pervasive and widespread. This is apparent from the fact that this issue has constantly attracted global attention which in 1989 paved to the declaration of universal children rights. With regards to MDGs also, the issue of child protection and prevention of myriad child abuse has been raised. While various civil society and international organisations led by UNICEF are making a positive influence in the sphere of child welfare, but more needs to be done so as to foster the pace of social change as currently the legislative measures in this regard are clearly insufficient.
Bibliography
CCFP, Durham Family Initiative, [Internet] [Not Known], Center for Child and Family Policy, nd[cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from https://childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/project/durham-family-initiative/
Jekayinfa AA, THE ROLES OF UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS’ FUND (UNICEF) IN REVATILIZING GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN NIGERIA, African Journal of Historical Sciences in Education, 2006, 2(1), 24-29
Seibert, V Stunned onlookers watch as living statues act out scenes of child abuse in poignant street performance which raises awareness about the suffering of thousands of children[Internet][London], Daily Mail, 2015[cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3093500/Stunned-onlookers-watch-living-statues-act-scenes-child-abuse-poignant-street-performance-raises-awareness-suffering-thousands-children.html
UNDP, Millennium Development Goals [Internet] [Not Known], UNDP, nd[cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/mdg_goals.html
UNN, UNICEF offers support to Pakistan authorities as child abuse investigation continues [Internet] [Not Known], UN News; 2015[cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51607#.Vr3nW_l97IU
WHO , Child Abuse and neglect by parents and other care givers[Internet] [New York], WHO; nd [cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/chap3.pdf
WHO, Child Abuse and Neglect, [Internet] [Not Known], WHO; 2002 [cited 2016 Feb 12] Available from http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/factsheets/en/childabusefacts.pdf
