Viva’s child safeguarding intervention

Viva runs three levels of safeguarding training:

1. Safe touch training for children: a 30-to-40-minute, ageappropriate training session for children on what safe touch is and how to report abuse.

2. Child protection training for school teachers: a 4-hour training for teachers or any adult working with children. It includes understanding child rights, child abuse, awareness of laws, code of conduct for working with children and reporting abuse.

3. Safeguarding policy writing workshop: a 3-day safeguarding policy writing workshop for proper implementation of child protection systems and policy at schools and institutions working with children.

As a result of Viva’s training, one school reported that it included the new practice of teachers filling in the abuse incident reporting form.

A quarterly meeting of the child safety committee was also scheduled in the school calendar.

A child protection specialist helped the manager of an orphan boys’ home to write their first safeguarding policy. The ignorance of child protection laws had prevented the home to apply to social services for registration.

After the child protection policy is in place, the manager of the home is confident that children are protected according to the law.

Please pray for fruit from discussions with the government for Viva to train 18,000 primary school teachers in government schools of Delhi.

Article by Gary Kamaal, Viva India Director