Community members come up with local solutions on preventing violence against children and adolescents

Good Hope foundation neighborhood assembly model which is a local parliament/platform through which community members identify their community challenges, discuss and reach community based solutions to the challenges in consultation with their leaders in enhancing Positive parenting practices at family and community levels to prevent violence against children and adolescents in their communities and households.  Good hope foundation organized visits to the sub counties of Kisinga and Karusandara to gather information on violence against children and adolescents and among the information gathered included; the magnitude of violence against children and adolescents in the respective Sub counties, forms of violence in the households and communities as well as barriers to positive parenting. According to the CDOs and CFPUs there has been an increase in reporting cases of VAC were from January to February in Kisinga they have received 31 cases (15 males victims and 16 female victims) while for Karusandara they received 22 cases (14 female victims and 8 male victims). All these were attributed to poor parenting practices in the families and communities. Key issues that need attention include the following; domestic violence, household poverty, alcoholism and drug abuse, parental and children’s roles and responsibilities.

On 10^th and 12^th March 2017, Good Hope organized two (2) neighborhood assemblies in Kisinga and Karusandara sub counties as a platform for community members to discuss community challenges in regard to violence against children and coming up with local solutions to the challenges. For Kisinga it was held at Kisinga trading center while for Karusandara it was at Kivengenyi trading center. Over 450 people attended these neighborhood assemblies (213m and 237f). Among those who attended included; the CBO members, police (CFPU), CDOs, vice chairperson LC3, community children activists as well as the local leaders. The neighborhood assembly was intended to increase awareness and understanding about issues related to good parenting habits and parental responsibilities as well as creating a platform for the community members to come up with community based solutions on enhancing positive parenting in families and communities.

Key issues brought by the community members that increases violence against children included;

• Modernization that has brought about change in children’s behaviors
• Members also talked about the lack of attention to the girls needs by the parents that has increased violence against girls
• Poverty among the households that is leading to most of families not to provide the basic needs to the children
• Members also said parents lack skills and knowledge on good parenting

As part of actions from the neighborhood assemblies, members suggested the following;

•   There is need to embrace neighborhood watch in order to prevent violence against children and adolescents
• There is need to educate parents on good parenting practices
• The culture of family meetings should be emphasized in which children and parents jointly discuss and plan for the family needs.
• Encouraging households to engage in animal and bird keeping as a way of increasing household incomes.
• Effective communication between parents and children was also highly sighted as a way of promoting positive parenting both at school, community and school levels
• Community members were also called upon to be role models to the children 
  

  

  Communities in Karusandara Sub County deliberating on good parenting skills to prevent violence against children

  

  Communities in Karusandara Sub County deliberating on how violence against children can be prevented