Education stakeholders join forces to curb violence against children

DAR ES SALAAM: EDUCATION stakeholders have called for more efforts to protect children against violence inside and outside of school.

However, the stakeholders pointed out that the joint advocacy and collective efforts among Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are keys towards mitigation of violence acts to the children.

According to the study conducted on the state of violence in schools by the Non-Profit Organization, HakiElimu in 2020 over 60 per cent of children experience psychological violence while 87.9 per cent experience physical violence.

Speaking this week during the launch of the National Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Coalition for Safe Schools (NCCSS), Manager for HakiElimu’s Research, Innovation and Policy Analysis Department, Mr Mwemezi Makumba noted that CSOs and society at large must work together to mitigate child violence both in and outside schools.

“The efforts in protecting children against violence have been fragmented, it’s high time for us as CSOs coming together and forming the coalition to lessen violences acts,” Mr Makumba asserted.

Adding: “Today(on Thursday)we have met with more than 15 CSOs dealing with child protection matters to share experiences on how we are going to mitigate the violence in and out of schools.”

According to him, the NCCSS roles aim at complementing individual CSO’s efforts toward ensuring accountability on child rights and carry out joint advocacy for policy and structural change.

He further added that “Our aim is to enhance the safety and security of schools and protect the rights of children in and outside schools through joint advocacy and collective efforts.”

In particular, he said HakiElimu is ready to deploy its expertise gained over 20 years to build the capacity of other CSOs through the learning network of which the NGO is part.

Expounding why safe school matters, the Head of Communication at Msichana Initiative, Ms Sara Bedah said the move will enable them to protect the children from harm that might jeopardize their well-being.

She said the coalition’s intention aligns with those of Msichana Initiative, saying as the organization  are ready to share the experiences they have with the coalition for the betterment of children.

“Msichana initiate as one of the members of the coalition we have managed to establish more than 29 gender desks in various primary schools in the country to protect the children…so we are ready to share the experiences in our coalition,” he added.

For his part, Programme and Operations Manager at Children in Crossfire, Mr Heri Ayubu underlined the significance of protecting the children from grassroots to build a better foundation for them.

In line, Mr Ayubu also implored the government to continue working with them (CSOs)in the efforts of protecting children against violence.