Protecting Children Begins with Better Awareness and Education

Children should feel safe whether it is at home, in school, or in their communities. They should be able to focus on their dreams rather than fear violence, harassment, or abuse. To that end, our Staff and team of mentors are always looking for signs of problems for our Bahinis (younger sisters) so that we can help them avoid such things. We also have formal policies that are meant to address those situations if and when they occur. Having formal policies is one thing but being able to execute effectively and ensuring that everyone involved –from the people reporting the issues to the schools, local governmental bodies, and families – knows what to do is what ensures that children are safe. Not having that clear understanding and clarity for how to act can leave the kids vulnerable to mistreatment and discrimination. To ensure that we educate everyone on this topic, including ourselves, Rukmini Foundation launched a multi-day Child Protection Policy (CPP) Awareness and Training Program, equipping foundation staff and mentors, key school staff from every local school in the region, and key contacts from relevant departments of local government. The training was meant to be easy to understand to ensure that we had a clear way to respond when issues were reported.

The Mayor of Pharping Welcomes Participants

Identifying the Problem and a Collaborative Initiative

Over the last 4-6 weeks, we have collected a lot of information about what policies were already in place to address the protection of children, and not surprisingly, our team found that both the Nepal government and our local Dakshinkali Municipality have established Child Protection Policies (CPP). What we also found was that these policies were not well integrated into schools, and without a clear directive, schools struggled to address these serious concerns effectively. Recognizing this gap, the Chairman of Rukmini Pratisthan (our local branch of Rukmini Foundation), Shashi Sharma Aryal, alongside Executive Director Usha Adhikari and Ram Bahadur Khatri (a local Child Protection Policy expert and Pratisthan Board member), spearheaded the development of a comprehensive training program. The program goal was to train both the foundation’s staff and key teachers and administrators of partner schools on child protection policies, ensuring that existing regulations translate into tangible safety measures.

A Teacher from Shikharapur Community School Shares Her Thoughts

Gaining Government Support

Our initiative gained traction when the team met with the Head of Education, Mr. Janardan Rijal, from the municipality. He endorsed the idea and introduced us to the head of the Children’s Protection Section as well. In a subsequent meeting, our Mayor welcomed the proposal and suggested expanding the training program to all 33 schools within the municipality. This was a big ask for our small team, but because of its importance and the support we were receiving, we decided to make this available to as big of a group as possible by doing it in smaller batches.

Teachers Completing A Pre-Test Before Training Session

Implementing the Training Program

The training program was organized by bringing in nationally renowned experts in Child rights and Protection Policies – Milan Raj Dharel, who is the former Executive Director of National Child Rights Council (Nepal Government Apex Body on Child Rights), (July 2020- July 2022), as our key resource person. The training was further facilitated by local government officials, Janardan Rijal, Head of Education and Ram Bahadur Khatri, Rukmini Pratisthan – Board member and Child Protection Policy expert.

There were more than 100 participants from 33 schools (principals, key admins, and teachers), Rukmini Foundation staff and mentors. To accommodate this large and enthusiastic group, the training was divided into three sessions. The first training session took place on February 8 and 9, followed by the second and third sessions, which were held concurrently in different venues on February 15 and 16. To further strengthen the foundation’s efforts, Ram Bahadur Khatri conducted a specialized refresher training for Rukmini Foundation staff and mentors on February 19. The overwhelming participation in the training underscored the importance of child protection in schools.

Impact and Future Steps

The successful execution of the Child Protection Policy Awareness and Training Program marks a significant step toward creating safer educational environments. By equipping educators and staff with essential knowledge and skills, schools can now proactively address child protection concerns. Moving forward, the foundation will provide continued support and periodic refresher training sessions to ensure the program’s sustainability and effectiveness.

Schools Principals have made commitments to create a child-safe environment in school. So, they are planning to do further in-house training for all the teachers, and they are also going to form a Child Safety and Protection Committee in every school involving teachers, guardians, and student representatives. While the nature of the issues that we are addressing here are serious and concerning, it is very heartening to see the community rally together to make things better for all children.