LET’S TALK ABOUT THE VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN'S PROJECTS

Many people visiting for the fist time this blog will be asking themselves: VAC project, what is all about?

A study of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against children has drawn a sombre picture on the worldwide suffering of children from violence as well as some recommendations for a way forward to ending it. The appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children provides a unique opportunity to keep the global debate that the study has created alive and advocate for the implementation of the recommendations. It is also an opportunity for advocating for expanding the recommendations made where they are not sufficiently address children’s and youths’ rights and concerns for protection.
It is evident that children and youth will have to continue playing a crucial rôle in ensuring that the debate on violence against children is being framed around their real-life experiences and that the Special Representative takes action on their behalf.
A project is designed to address the issue of violence against children: THE VAC PROJECT

The aim of the project is to make the content and follow-up mechanisms of the Violence against Children Study widely known amongst children, youth and their caretakers in West Africa and mobilize a wide representation of children and youth in the region in actions to prevent and respond to violence against children.

Many activities are planned to achieve this goal:
Children empowerment to advocate and produce reports on violence cases in the five areas where violence happens: home and family, school and educational settings, the community, work settings and in care and justice system
The activities will also include production of comic books and cartoons, radio spot and radio shows, budget monitoring, and networking…

Most important partners in the project will be children/youth groups from Benin, Ghana, Guinee, Togo, Mali and Togo and also youth and children's from Save the Children Sweden's countries; Cote d'Ivoire and Gambia.

The production of the comic books and cartoon started as you can see.
Today is another great day for the children and the youth from Senegal to continue the production of the cartoon and the comic books.
I hope everything will go on well.

1st Session

Day 1

November 29, 2008: the workshop started. Everyone is there. Children, the team of Pictoon, the Regional Campaigns Coordinator and the Regional children projects Coordinator are also there.
As any child workshop it is important to break the ice by an animation. The children decide to sing. It was very nice seeing them dancing and jumping on their nice song. All adults joined the kids’ group.

The United Nations’ study on violence were presented and explained to the participants in an interactive way.
Great children are well informed on the subject.

Five working groups were formed. Each of them has 3 participants formed around the places where violence occurs: the family, the school and other educational establishments, the institutions in charge of child protection and the legal services, the community and the work places. The children immediately developed their stories. Stories that themselves, their close friends and relatives lived or are living every day; it was easy “to write them down.

Tomorrow is going to be another day.

Lancement du projet VAC

November 2008, VAC “Violence Against Children” project enters into the implementation stage.
The week of November 17 was devoted to the identification of the groups of children and the planning of the activities. 7 countries: Benin, the Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Gambia and Togo are going to pilot the project.

We are on November 24, 2008 today, a busy week. We must a hotel to lodge the children who will take part in the Cartoon and Comic book workshop. Not easy to find a hotel in Dakar at this moment because of the international conference ICASA. Ouf! Finally we found one in Grand Yoff. The children will like it.
The first session of the workshop is scheduled to last for two days.