Child Protection Conferences

December 14, 2018

Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF) is a member based platform and charity organization with a network of approximately 200 non-governmental institutions that work with and for children. The Foundation For Tomorrow has been a part of this network since 2015 and we have seen its significance through sharing and capacity building sessions conducted via meetings and seminars. TCRF acts as a liaison between NGOs and the government.

This year, TFFT was invited to take part in two learning sessions that addressed different reporting mechanisms. One session was a training on utilization of complaints procedure of the African children’s charter. The African charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACRWC) is an instrument that stands for the protection, promotion and interpretation of children’s rights; the session was henceforth a learning field on how to write and present communications (cases on violation of children’s rights by the state) to the ACRWC.  

The second meeting was organized by TCRF with the support of Save The Children International where we discussed on the new and simplified United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) reporting mechanism. The government is mandated by the UNCRC to submit a report on all matters and affairs concerning children welfare in the country. To do so, the government is compelled to reach out to network bodies such as TCRF that has more than a quorum of members who work on the ground with children in different parts of the country to report on the reality of issues surrounding a child.

It was such an honor for TFFT to take part in a national reporting procedure, this not only gave us an opportunity for our work to be recognized but also for the cases of children we have dealt with to be known to the public and perhaps worked on to ensure child welfare. There were key individuals from ministries in the government as well as TCRF members with whom we worked together to generate a draft of a report that will be submitted to the government and there after the government will submit to the UNCRC.

TFFT is also a member of the Tanzania Education Network (TEN/MET); which is an umbrella for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) dealing with the education sector. Early this year they had launched a child protection project that will involve NGOs working around child protection related issues in Tanzania. The project is focused on 5 thematic areas—girls education, learning environment, inclusive education, early childhood development, and child protection. TFFT was present during the launch.

TFFT was also invited to take part in a workshop on community based child protection mechanisms which was an eye opening experience on addressing child related issues by direct involvement of children initial stages of project formation and all interventions on child welfare. The workshop challenged us (TFFT) on running community based projects and having direct input of the concerned parties before coming up with a project/interventions i.e combining an the top- down approach and the bottom-up approach in project design.

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2022-05-20T19:56:45+00:00