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ICDP WITH A NEW MODULE ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS PILOTED IN COMUNA FABIO MOLINA, LA TEBAIDA:

A pilot project has just been completed in the community of Fabio Molina, in the town of La Tebaida, Quindio. The pilot is part of a wider initiative in the area of protection from violence in early childhood, which has been developing since last year through the cooperation of three partner organizations:  ICDP, IICRD and CINDE. The participants were community mothers who responded to the invitation to receive training in two areas: the ICDP programme with its guidelines for good quality care  and a programme that will guide them about children’s rights.

Results: The ICDP programme provided a sensitization process which developed in the participants a new perception of their role as mothers. Each mother explored her own way of relating to her child, then tested out new ways and shared her own findings with the other mothers. All agreed to continue to practice the guidelines for good quality care; they understood the importance of showing positive feelings and using dialogue in relation to their children and that it is a two way process. The new children’s rights curriculum raised the mothers’ awareness about their own responsibilities to protect children from violence in their community and they formulated and put into practice an action plan. As a result of that action, a few dozen families (linked to the ICBF children centre, one school and one NGO called DAVIDA) are now informed about the guidelines for positive communication with children, about ways to protect children and detect abuse of children’s rights. This network of mothers is also campaigning to change "the local culture of shouting at children", which they perceive "as a first step leading to violence towards children".

Some participants' comments:

“At first I was not very willing to participate in this training; I was not  paying much attention to my children and I had little tolerance towards them. The support I received made a big difference and it was appreciated by my husband which is a good thing.”

“I know a better way to treat my children and I remember every day that one has to keep  improving , to have more capacity for tolerance, to talk and listen. We need to give so much affection."

“I feel  responsible for the proper care of children and for being attentive to report if something is wrong or hurts them.”

“I can identify things that are bad for children, now I speak to other mothers about child protection issues and know how to identify and monitor the abuse of children's rights..”

"It has given me confidence in my capacity, we are no longer just mothers waiting on their children and looking after their husbands, we have become leaders for our community, an example for other parents in the children’s centre where we send our children. “

“My old fear from when I was at school has disappeared; I can speak in pubic and I am not afraid to draw and make a poster.”

“I feel there is more harmony in my home, more tolerance; instead of criticizing we try to understand what is happening; knowing that you can improve.”

“The most important thing is to stop screaming at my children, to become a better person myself,  to dialogue with my children, tolerance is the key.”

“I now  know how to identify situations in which the rights of a child are abused.”

“ We need to share this experience with others. We need to provide a good example.”

Comment from the ICDP trainers: For us it was a most gratifying experience as we realized that a lot can be done on grassroots level and that most mothers are ready to receive and replicate the process –  all these mothers needed was to be given the confidence in addition to some simple tools to help them start engaging others in the same process.

ICDP PROJECT IN COMUNA 13: On the 29th of September, a team of ICDP trainers and facilitators celebrated the ending of their ICDP project, carried out in the Comuna 13 district of Medellin. The gathering was attended by Eumelia Galeano, the local ICDP team leader and she sent us her impressions:

"It was very gratifying to see all the evidence from the field notes, charts, photographs etc. made by the community mothers who implemented the ICDP programme with neighbouring families. It was a moving evening of hope, because in the midst of continuing violence (20 days ago the 16 year old son of one of the participating mothers was murdered), we were able to celebrate the successful work of this group of mothers who completed their training to become ICDP facilitators and had applied ICDP sensitization with others. The ICDP program impacted community mothers, promoters, teachers, youth and public officials. Some of the teachers decided to apply the program and use its materials in their daily work with children - this was undertaken from their own initiative and was outside the planned scope of the project.

The number of certified facilitators is 39. They implemented ICDP with parent-groups whose size varied ranging from 8 to 40 families per group. One facilitator stood out by delivering ICDP to several groups reaching a total of 200 families. The programme also reached 40 young people in the community and the total number of families who received ICDP is 547. These data show that the objectives were far surpassed in terms of expected coverage. There is an extensive photographic record of each of the training sessions and we are in the  process of finishing the final report that will include testimonies from the mothers. We wish to extend our thanks to IICRD who made the realization of this training possible, to Nicoletta for her permanent support and to CINDE for cooperation on the ground." Click here for the power point presentation in Spanish.

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ICDP has signed a contract of cooperation with the International Institute for Children's Rights and Development  (IICRD) and has started to develop collaborative projects in 4 communities in Colombia. The first project began its activities in Comuna 13, one of the most vulnerable areas of the city of Medellin. This pilot project is integrating the ICDP and IICRD approaches, with the aim of increasing the local community's capacity to protect its young children from violence. The International Centre for Human Development (CINDE) is the local partner  involved in the implementation.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Assembly, 1989),  reflected in the Colombia legislation “Hechos y Derechos” and in the "Codigo" at departmental/municipal levels,  establishes that “States bear primary responsibility for preventing and responding to violence against children.... [guaranteeing] girls and boys everywhere the right to live their lives free from violence” (United Nations, 2006, p. xi).  Colombia has undertaken important steps to strengthen child protection of school age and adolescent children and has put in place an Early Childhood Public Policy, which has become particularly visible since 2002.  However, in spite of the development of institutional frameworks for child protection, in reality the protection of very young children is still limited. 

The IICRD/ICDP/CINDE project partners will work together on developing effective child protection models, which will include strengthening all phases in protection from violence: prevention, identification of suspected areas of violence, support systems and care services for child victims.  Children, family members, agency personnel and others will be included as critical participants in the process. The project, will be helping mothers, parents, family members, local officials and child protection professionals to develop strategies to better prevent child maltreatment and violence within homes, as well as to establish easier access to and higher quality care services for child victims.  The project will inform responsible parties about the role they could be playing in improving child protection short and long-term.

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