Our projects around the world

Tunisia Improving Protection For Children In Contact With The Law

76 police officers and National Guard members trained

12 people certified to teach the course

4 pilot courses conducted in 2 cities: Tunis and Bir Bouregba

Children come into contact with Tunisia's legal system every day. Some are victims or witnesses of crime, while others are associated with groups known to be violent. Often, their first interaction with the legal system is with either the police or the National Guard, whose members are not always familiar with the essential principles behind child rights and justice for children, despite government efforts.

IBCR has been working in collaboration with UNICEF to change this reality since 2020. The goal is to make sure police and national guard officers receive better training on how to respect children's rights in the course of their duties. Nearly two years later, the IBCR has successfully created a comprehensive child justice training course tailored to the Tunisian context, along with a practical guide to working with children in contact with the law. (It should be noted that the project time line was extended due to the global COVID-19 pandemic). These tools were developed in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior and will be permanently included in the training programmes for all the targeted professions to make sure their practices uphold the rights of children.

Over this past year, we finalised the training materials and practical guide and piloted them in real conditions to make sure the content was relevant and determine whether final adjustments were needed. Several people were also certified to teach the course. The practical guide was delivered to the Ministry, which will oversee its distribution over the coming months and long-term implementation.

Morocco

The training is very enriching because it allows participants to share their experiences [...], particularly the practical aspects presented by stakeholders in the protection system.

Reducing Child Abuse Through Improved Training

Morocco has made child protection a key social priority in recent years. In addition to implementing concrete actions to guarantee a life free of violence for all children, the kingdom is working with technical partners to create positive and lasting change. Through a UNICEF mandate, the IBCR is one of these partners and has been supporting Morocco's efforts since September 2021. Efforts have focused on improving training for personnel working for the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and the Family and on optimising the implementation of regional mechanisms to facilitate child protection.

The IBCR is assisting with the development of a child rights training programme and its implementation in existing training courses. The training will be offered to child protection workers at the national and local levels, as part of the Moroccan government's initiative to improve child protection across all of the country's provinces. The IBCR's support is expected to prevent cases of violence against children and to lead to improved assistance for those who experience abuse or migration situations.

During the first few months of the project, existing training was analysed along with the territorial child protection policy in order to identify additional training needs. Preliminary work on training materials, including a literature review and identification of key topics, was completed in collaboration with local partners.