DRAFT 1



Pickney Project Plan

Project title: Pickney

Where is the project taking place? The main project office will be at Help & Shelter, Region 4 Georgetown; and outreach work will be undertaken in Sophia (urban), Region 9 (hinterland); and Good Hope (a rural community on the East Coast Demerara)

Target Groups: Children who are survivors of abuse, caregivers/parents in the community settings, teachers, health professionals (hospitals & nursing schools), the police, Faith Based Organisations, Community based Organisations and the relevant Government and non-government agencies

Timeframe: April 2008 to March 2011

Key Interventions: Court support services to children and their families, psychosocial support to children, developing community response groups, parenting education training, training of health care professional and teachers, public awareness campaigns and advocating for policy changes for the safety and protection of children.

Total cost of project (year by year): GYD 61.500.000, 00. (£175,714)

Who is the main point of contact in country? Vidyaratha Kissoon (Help & Shelter) & Omattie Seaforth – Country Director (EveryChild Guyana)

Who is the main point of contact in the UK?

|Situational Analysis/Problem Statement |

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|Problem Analysis |

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|Child protection in Guyana is based on an archaic legal and cultural system which viewed children as bodies without rights and as individuals whose |

|protection by the State was determined by the ability of the parents and family to authorise such protection. Help & Shelter has worked with over 800 |

|children who have survived abuse over the last 11 years, and this number is mostly for the sexual abuse of children. Guyana's laws and regulations do |

|not prohibit the physical punishment of children at school and in the home. There is no mandatory reporting required from health care workers, |

|education providers or other child care providers; and referral mechanisms are only implemented on an adhoc basis. While sexual violence against |

|children is often noted, there is often a reluctance to be involved in cases of abuse which do not involve sexual violence since there are few |

|alternatives which the State provides for child care. Many health workers would respond to cases of sexual violence, but are not trained to respond to |

|or make interventions to identify other forms of abuse. Additionally, there is a lack of awareness on Child Protection among health professional and |

|teachers as well as the general public. Community advocates are also not always sure of the role they can play in ensuring that children are protected |

|from violence and abuse. |

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|Guyana is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Government has undertaken several related projects to improve the education|

|and social services available to children. However, the draft Children's Bill and the proposed new Education Act do not deal with the issue of beating |

|children as a form of punishment at school. Further, there is a lack of training in the education curriculum to sensitise teachers on child protection |

|and reporting abuse. |

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|There are inconsistencies in understanding the Rights of Children and how these are implemented in our legislation. The draft Children's Bill has been |

|in preparation for the past decade, and there is no timeframe as to when it will become legislation. This bill only covers issues relating to adoption, |

|and maintenance of the children and does not address the issue of abuse. The 1953 Education regulations still provide for the beating of children in |

|schools, and despite numerous reports, often in the media, of serious injury caused to children, there is great opposition to reviewing the legislation |

|and to provide the necessary resources to remove corporal punishment from the education system. Other legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act |

|(DVA) provides scope for protection of children from abuse within familial settings but again require much more awareness with all stakeholders, police,|

|teachers, health care workers, child care counsellors, community workers and probation officers. |

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|Within Guyana, children have little or no recourse if their human rights are violated. With the advent of the Child Protection Unit and the Minimum |

|Standards implemented by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MHSSS) to prevent violence and protect children, there needs to be greater |

|collaboration among agencies to support the MHSSS in filling the gaps in providing protection and representation for abused children dealing with the |

|court system. Access to court support services for child victims is limited as very few agencies treat and respond to violence and abuse as a health |

|issue. These children are often left to cope with the abuse on their own without emotional support/counselling coupled with the trauma of the court |

|experience. |

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|There is a lack of data collection and analysis of child abuse and its impact on children. Many children abused are at greater risks of falling into |

|other vulnerable groupings as caregivers are not always able to care for children in a way that maintains their best interests. Further, the network |

|among families, communities, schools, health care agencies and the police that serve to protect children are not always well developed and coordinated |

|to safe guard against abuse. Inadequate care and support for children who are abused usually results in children becoming juvenile offenders, |

|institutionalised, school drop-outs, street-living or street-working children known to be at an increased risk of further violence or abuse[1]. |

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|The response of the police to report on child abuse is limited by the legal system. The police have a varying response to reports of physical abuse of |

|children since beating children is an acceptable form of discipline. Responding to reports of sexual abuse is more prevalent. However, more work needs |

|to be done to improve the taking of statements, and the collection of evidence in all cases of abuse to improve conviction rates. |

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|KAP Study findings in one of the communities (Sophia) |

|The study’s findings indicate that there is a disturbing pattern of violence against children in Sophia. There is evidence of neglect, verbal, physical|

|and sexual abuse. Instances of abandonment were also drawn to the researcher’s attention. This evidence of pediatric abandonment indicates that the |

|issue of separation does arise. |

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|It is significant to note that the violent acts took place in the confines of the children’s homes and were perpetuated mainly by family members/a |

|stepfather/mother or friends and acquaintances, which supports the findings of the Voices of Children: Experiences of Children with Violence Study |

|(2005). That study found that “children are most at risk of violence in their own environments and with persons who they consider to be friends or |

|family”.[2] |

|The study’s findings showed that some children spend prolonged periods, unsupervised by their caregivers. One reason advanced for this phenomenon was |

|working parents who managed homes singly. This situation created an enabling environment for children to absent themselves from school which appeared |

|to be a trend in the area. |

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|An examination of data from the Ministry of Health, Maternal and Child Care Clinic in the area showed alarming rates for teen pregnancies. Of 225 |

|recorded pregnancies from January 2006- December 1, 2007, 58/26% were teen mothers. Further, for the period January to March 2008, of the 36 recorded |

|pregnancies, 13/36% were teenagers. This increase is raises numerous questions. Some of these include what are the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices |

|regarding sexual activity at an early age as well as the use of Birth Control Methods. It also raises questions about the future of the young mother |

|and that of her infant. The high levels of teen pregnancy evident in the community increases the risk of abandonment, neglect and hence separation. |

|Teen mothers are more likely to become single parents, are more predisposed to experiencing higher levels of poverty and consequently are at higher risk|

|of neglecting or abandoning their off spring. |

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|There was no agency with a mandate for child protection in the community. Survivors of Child abuse had no organized support system within their |

|immediate environs. Intervention was ad hoc and followed no established set of procedures. |

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|The study establishes that some of the abuse suffered by children is a result of caregivers’ beliefs and value systems. Some believed it was acceptable|

|to flog children, and even the children felt that they should be punished (by being beaten) for infractions in the home/school. |

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|This research found that the most prevalent form of abuse meted out to children in Sophia was neglect. One hundred and thirty one (80%) of the sample |

|frame opined that child neglect does exist in the community. |

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|This was followed by verbal abuse. Physical abuse was rated third, followed by sexual abuse. Of all the forms of abuse, the latter (sexual abuse) |

|incurred the greatest level of intolerance. There is no organised system of protection at the community level and people had different levels of |

|knowledge of how to report issues of child abuse. Some people felt fearful to report abuse, since they believe that they themselves would be targets of |

|anger and wrath from abusers. |

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|Project Rationale |

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|Interventions should focus on prevention, protection and the reintegration of children who have experienced violence through partnerships and |

|collaboration with government and non-government agencies. It is recognised that children thrive in an environment where they are nurturing caregivers.|

|The necessary referrals will be made for the proper care and support of children abused including placing children in the best environment for their |

|growth and development. The networking of organisations will increase the sharing of knowledge on best practices and strengthen referrals for a wider |

|provision of services for children. |

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|The ideal solution would be to have an integrated national child protection strategy which could involve the different state and non-state actors. Such |

|a strategy would address changing public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards the care of children, while providing adequate services for child |

|protection. The project also aims to reduce the psychological trauma experienced by children who are exposed to abuse[3] by developing child friendly |

|counselling and court support services that respond to the needs of the children. There is an urgent need to ensure that there are counselling services|

|available for the children who need them, as well as support mechanisms for interfacing with the justice system. Through the court support officers |

|abused children will be given the opportunity to access counselling prior to, during and after the court process which is required to bring the |

|perpetrators to justice. |

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|The availability of standard training and awareness for health professionals in both the public and private hospitals will increase the scope of |

|protection available to children as health care workers will be able to identify and respond appropriately to cases of abuse. There is also a need for |

|community based awareness among families and teachers to increase parenting education, and also provide opportunities for community members to identify |

|specific solutions. |

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|While there is division in the society on the issue of corporal punishment of children in school and at home, there needs to be a coalition of state and|

|other community organisations to advocate for the removal of corporal punishment from the Education Act and at all levels in society. This issue is |

|currently being debated in parliament with a strong political party being the main activist and supported by other agencies including Help & Shelter who|

|has taken the lead in mobilizing the coalition and EveryChild Guyana who is involved in the sharing of knowledge and best practices from its work on |

|non-violent ways of correcting children. It is intended that this coalition on Corporal Punishment is consolidated into a strong coalition to promote |

|child protection through this project.o |

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|Increased education and awareness on the effects of corporal punishment will also change those attitudes, especially among younger persons who are not |

|parents as yet. To ensure children are protection and properly cared for, caregivers (parents and teachers) need to be trained to utilize non-violent |

|methods to correct children’s behaviour and to understand the effects physical violence has on children. |

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|The Police department is a key stakeholder in ensuring that there is an appropriate policy on response to reports of ALL forms of child abuse. The |

|police have access to training materials as such community based monitoring and technical support is needed to ensure appropriate police response, |

|especially outside of Georgetown. The Domestic Violence Act provides policies for the police intervention in all forms of abuse, so increased awareness|

|within the public will hold the police accountable for responding to reported cases of abuse. |

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|The KAP research survey conducted in Sophia (available from ) highlighted the forms of abuse in the area, the most prevalent|

|being neglect and verbal abuse followed by physical abuse often rooted in the cultural trends and family practices. EveryChild Guyana's experience in |

|Guyana with the Agricola Literacy Project and the OneLife Project has shown that it is possible to provide skills and knowledge to parents and other |

|caregivers and service providers to ensure non-abusive parenting. |

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|The approach adopted in this project is based on experience of EveryChild Guyana and Help and Shelter in doing work to reduce child abuse in Guyana. The|

|KAP survey reflected that there was knowledge and awareness in the community of child abuse, and preventative methods, though there was discrepancy in |

|the appropriate intervention methods. This project presents an opportunity to develop a community based response to child abuse, while there are other |

|interventions nationally. |

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|How does the project relate to the work of other organisations? |

|The Government agencies have developed various initiatives such as a National Domestic Violence Policy which recognises that children are affected by |

|domestic violence and that there should be appropriate interventions. Other NGOs such as EDUCARE examine issues on Child Labour, while the Georgetown |

|Legal Aid Clinic has established a programme for a Child Legal Advocate to represent children who are in conflict with the law. UNICEF has several |

|national programmes, including supporting the Government in the reform of the Sexual Offences Act to improve the recourse to justice for children. Help |

|& Shelter would like to perpetuate the successes of the OneLife Project and the Agricola Literacy Project and to use its own experience in working with |

|state actors such as the police, health workers and other frontline workers to create the sustainable change which is necessary to ensure that children |

|can be protected from abuse in their communities. |

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|The project’s vision, mission, goal, objectives, KPIs and Outputs – what you are hoping to achieve |

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|Vision |

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|Children receive access to care and support services to prevent and protect them from all forms of violence and abuse. Children and residents are not |

|stigmatized because of where they live and are fully involved in developmental activities in their community. There are adequate support systems and |

|training for caregivers and parents to enable them to develop safe and nurturing families. Parents are involved in their children’s education. There is |

|100% school attendance. Young persons have access to skills training and an opportunity to earn a sustainable livelihood. The environmental conditions |

|are suitable for raising healthy children and families. The community has youth friendly and safe spaces for children. Caregivers and service providers |

|have the skills to provide adequate care for children to eliminate the incidence of violence and abuse. The members of the joint services are trained |

|and equipped to respond professionally to reports of child abuse and other incidences of crime involving children. The community supports and encourages|

|the spiritual and moral development of children. |

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|Mission |

|Through a rights based approach the Pickney Project will – |

|Provide psychosocial support and for children who have been abused or are at risk |

|Develop parenting skills education workshops to transfer skills about non-violent parenting. |

|Ensure that the needs of children with disabilities are considered in all activities |

|Collaborate with government, non-governmental agencies, community leaders and religious leaders to share information and knowledge, strengthen |

|referrals, monitor school attendance through the Ministry of Education Welfare Department and develop initiatives to resolve issues of child abuse. |

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|Project Goal Statement |

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|To improve the lives of children experiencing violence and abuse and other vulnerable children at risk in Georgetown, Sophia, Good Hope and Region 9 by |

|promoting the safety and protection of children. (UNCRC article 2, 3, 5, 9, 12, 16 and 19) |

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|Project Objectives |

|Increased awareness of child protection with parents, caregivers and the general community through community based and public education by 2011 |

|Worked with the Guyana Police Force to ensure that police are responding to reports of child abuse in a professional manner which ensures that victims |

|are not further exposed to abuse by March 2011 |

|Health Care Providers and teachers’ capacity built to detect and intervene in child abuse by March 2010 |

|Increased access to psycho-social support including child friendly counselling and court support for children abused and at risk by 2011 |

|Facilitated a network of organisations – faith based, community based, youth groups, government and non-government - who would work to support child |

|protection and rights |

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|Key Performance Indicators |

|(The KPIs below are clustered according to the relevant objectives) |

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|KPIs: (Objective 1) |

|90% of the 400 caregivers who receive better parenting training improve their levels of care and support for their children. |

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|30% more of 400 caregivers move to using non-violent methods to correcting children by 2011. |

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|3 core groups of caregivers developed in Sophia, Good Hope and Region 9 to cascade the training to 340 caregivers by 2011. |

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|Parenting Manuals, handbooks and other information on positive and responsible parenting available in the target communities. |

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|KPIs: (Objective 2) |

|The Guyana Police Force has a publicly known protocol on responding to child abuse |

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|Trained police are part of police stations and are responding appropriately to reports of child abuse. |

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|KPIs: (Objective 3) |

|70% of the 60 teachers trained adopt non-violent approaches to discipline children in the classroom. |

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|90% of the 60 teachers sensitized on Child Protection issues are able to detect and report child abuse to the relevant authorities. |

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|90% of 60 health care workers sensitised on child protection issues are able to detect and report child abuse and can give information to parents and |

|caregivers for referrals on child protection and related issues. |

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|KPIs: (Objective 4) |

|75% of 425 children are empowered to protect themselves and report abuse by 2011. |

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|425 children in the target communities receive psychosocial support to reduce the impact of abuse and to mitigate the risks of abuse by 2011. |

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|25% of the 425 children have information to understand the court process and are supported throughout their court experience. |

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|KPIs: (Objective 5) |

|Referral system is functional with other groups and agencies for additional support to 75 children and their families who need it. |

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|CBOs, FBOs, youth groups and other organisations in the target communities are advocates on child protection and child rights issues. |

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|Project Output/Outcomes (0rganised by Objectives) |

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|Output/Outcome 1 |

|400 parents and caregivers are equipped with positive parenting and positive discipline approaches to care for their children or other children through |

|their involvement in Parenting Education Training and public education. |

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|30% more of 400 parents/caregivers will use positive measures to discipline children that do not include verbal or physical violence and understand that|

|the demeaning behaviour will adversely affect their children’s personality development. |

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|Output/Outcome 2 |

|A Policy to guide the response of the police to reports of child abuse is implemented and functional. |

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|Output/Outcome 3 |

|120 service providers inclusive of health care workers, social workers, police and teachers are trained to detect and respond appropriately to child |

|abuse. |

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|90% of the services providers trained are able to use a standard protocol to respond to cases of child abuse. |

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|Output/outcome 4 |

|Established effective counselling services for children who are at risk or have been abused. |

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|425 children and their families/parents access psychosocial/therapeutic counseling, court support (100) services and participate in group sessions to |

|improve their overall functioning and ability to cope with difficult circumstances. |

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|Output/outcome 5 |

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|A coalition on child protection involving service providers (health sector, education sector, social services and the justice system) developed to |

|advocate for better services to protect children. |

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|Effective referral and networking systems are in place. |

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|Community response groups developed and trained to prevent child abuse in Sophia, Good Hope and Region 9. |

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|Handbook produced on the best practices and knowledge gained in the project also made available on the website for national consumption |

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|The target groups/ beneficiaries – about the people the project will help |

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|425 children who are or risk being abused in Georgetown (including Sophia), Good Hope and Region 9 are the primary stakeholders. These children will |

|receive access to child friendly counselling and approximately 100 children will receive access to court support to cope with the abuse and court |

|experience. Children will be empowered on Child Protection and Child Rights through one to one or group sessions with their peers and will participate |

|in advocacy activities by developing child messages for posters and other campaigns. It is vital that children and their caregivers are support |

|throughout these processes so that their physical, cognitive, emotional and social well-being can be protected. Children will be properly assessed, |

|their progress will be tracked and the appropriate interventions will be made. |

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|400 (estimated) caregivers/parents in Georgetown (Sophia), Good Hope and Region 9 is also direct beneficiaries. Caregivers have been included as direct|

|beneficiaries as they need to be able to communicate and understand the emotions of children and be able to care for children without inadvertently |

|increasing their risk to violence and abuse. By strengthening caregivers’ capacity to care for their children or other children there is a good chance |

|that children will not become victims of abuse in their own homes. A specific strategy will also be developed to target male caregivers and family |

|members as they may be an untapped resource. Caregivers caring for children and young people who are not parents as yet will be supported through |

|parenting skills education as a way of empowering and building their capacities to look after children in their care without the use of violence/abuse |

|and as a mechanism to prevent child abuse. Community response groups will be trained and utilized as community advocates to increase awareness on child|

|protection and identify solutions in their community to problems related to child protection. |

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|120 professionals inclusive of health care providers, teachers, the police and other community groups and organisations such as the FBOs are also direct|

|beneficiaries. These professionals will be involved in training sessions to recognise and report/respond to abuse. Health Care providers will receive |

|access to in pre-service and in-service training to include modules on Child Abuse detection and prevention. |

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|Indirect beneficiaries |

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|Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, |

|Ministry of Health |

|Ministry of Education |

|Guyana Police Force |

|Other NGOs in the target communities involved in Child Protection work. |

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|800 (estimated) children of caregivers who receive the parenting skills training are indirect beneficiaries. Many of these children are growing up in a|

|violent society and are at great risk of violence at home or in schools. Caregivers are not always able to cope with stressful situations in their |

|lives and often times vent their anger and frustration on the children in their care. Intervention will prevent the at risk children from experiencing |

|violence. This initiative will give children the opportunity to grow up in an environment free from violence and abuse. |

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|400 caregivers will be targeted as indirect beneficiaries through their association as partners or spouse with those trained in the parenting skills |

|education programme. |

|Risks and Assumptions |

|a) Caregivers are willing to participate in training workshops and adopt non-violent approaches to parenting |

|The experience of EveryChild Guyana has shown that many caregivers, especially young parents are willing to learn parenting skills and to understand |

|child development. However, behaviour change is not easily achieved and this process is often challenging for caregivers as many of their philosophy |

|about parenting were learnt from their parents and embedded from childhood. Though this initiative caregivers will have access to ongoing training and |

|mentoring to strengthen their parenting skills and will be further empowered through the parent support groups. |

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|b) The Guyana Police Force will be a part of the project |

|The Minister of Home Affairs has indicated that the GPF will be working towards improved responses to Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, and this |

|project falls within that regime of accountability. The GPF will be involved through other projects conducted by Help & Shelter, and continued advocacy|

|and feedback of success stories. |

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|c) Teachers embrace child friendly approaches in addressing issues of abuse and do not perpetuate abuse themselves. |

|The Ministry of Education plays a key role in the way children are disciplined at school. The issue of corporal punishment remains controversial as the |

|education act still allows for corporal punishment to be administered by the Head teachers. Many teachers have violated this law and head teachers |

|themselves are guilty of not administering corporal punishment as a last resort. This further perpetuates the abuse of children while at schools where |

|they should be safe and protected. EveryChild Guyana’s experience has revealed that teachers struggle with maintaining positive approaches to |

|discipline and as such there is need for continuous training to support teachers along this process. |

|The key activities of the project – what you are planning to do |

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|Design Phase |

|Contracting of the project staff to implement the initiative. |

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|Procurement of office furnishings, furniture, equipment and 1 computer |

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|Contract VSO trainer to build the capacity of the project staff (Child Care Counsellors and other project staff ) |

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|Activities (for objective 1) |

|Provide Parenting Skills Education training for caregivers to reduce the likelihood that caregivers will abuse their children or other children. |

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|Develop a community based model of parenting support |

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|Set up community response groups to mentor other caregivers and identify solutions for addressing the issue of abuse within the communities |

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|Preparation of promotional materials for awareness campaigns (fliers, posters, bill board & project sign) and the development of public service |

|announcement. |

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|Pilot the Public Education Awareness in rural and hinterland communities such as Good Hope and Region 9. |

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|Activity (for Objective 2) |

|Raise awareness and monitor the police response to all reports of child abuse within Sophia, Good Hope and Region 9. |

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|Activities (Objective 3) |

|Collaborate with the public hospitals and nursing schools to introduce a training curriculum on how to identify signs of abuse and appropriate |

|responses. |

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|Preparation of modules for training in the health sector to detect and respond to abuse. |

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|Conduct training with 60 health professionals and police (4 nursing schools and all (8) public hospitals) to detect and respond to abuse. |

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|Provide training for 60 teachers in alternative forms of discipline and to identify and report abuse. |

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|Activities (Objective 4) |

|Provide court support to help children and their families through the court experience. |

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|Provide appropriate child friendly counselling/psychosocial support for abused children. |

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|Develop individual care plans to determine the interventions needed and to monitor the progress of each child. |

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|Activities (Objective 5) |

|Identify key stakeholders to participate and establish coalition on child protection to advocate for better services for children. |

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|Establish a strong referral and networking system to improve services for children. |

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|Carry out an overseas study tour with the relevant project staff, key government and non government agencies to gain a different perspective on working |

|with abused children. |

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|Develop handbook and online materials to share knowledge and best practices in the project with other agencies and interested partners. |

|Partners – Roles and Responsibilities |

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|The project will work with community based organisations in Sophia, Good Hope and Region 9; and with the health care sector, the education sector, |

|police and MHSSS for the effective implementation of the initiative. However, the main partners in this initiative are EveryChild Guyana and Help & |

|Shelter. EveryChild Guyana’s main roles and responsibilities will be to oversee the partnership to ensure that the project is delivering on its |

|objectives, monitor and evaluate the project and provide technical and financial support. Help & Shelter will take the leading role in the management |

|committee and will be responsible for implementing the project activities. |

| Management Structure and M&E |

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|Management Structure |

|The project will be managed and implemented by EveryChild Guyana and its key partner Help & Shelter. EveryChild Guyana and its partner will sign a joint|

|agreement defining roles and responsibilities. EveryChild Guyana Coordinator has the main responsibility of managing the partnership with Help & |

|Shelter under the direct supervision of the Country Director of EveryChild Guyana. The Help & Shelter board would also nominate a project oversight |

|management committee to ensure the smooth implementation of the project and will take responsibility for overseeing the progress of the project and for |

|lobbying at higher levels. |

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|The EveryChild Guyana Project team will consist of local Guyanese staff which will include a Country Director, Coordinator and Finance/Administrative |

|Manager. An experienced advisor will be recruited to provide expertise and training on new ways of working with abused children, management and |

|psychosocial support. Local trainers and facilitators will be contracted to develop the training programmes with health professionals and caregivers and|

|support to training of community response groups identified to cascade parenting skills education to other caregivers in the community and increase |

|public awareness on child protection. |

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|Help & Shelter staff varies with the projects that are implemented. There is a board of volunteer directors who are elected annually at an Annual |

|General Meeting. The current staff is comprised of three males, and eight females (full and part time). |

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|Help & Shelter Project Team |

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|Resignations and responsibilities |

|Finance Officer – Management of the Budget |

|Project Officer - Management of the Pickney Project with the partner agency |

|Project Coordinator – Coordinate the everyday activities of the project |

|Child Care Counsellors (2) – Psychosocial and court support to children |

|Public Education/Advocacy Facilitator – Advocacy and PR activities |

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|EveryChild and Partner Experience |

|EveryChild has been actively involved in developing ‘Setting the Standards’ on Child Protection and has close links to child protection agencies in the |

|UK. EveryChild regularly hosts study tours for our global partners and has excellent links with a number of local authorities in the UK and is used to |

|sourcing appropriate expertise to provide good quality technical support on child welfare and development. Apart from providing project support to |

|country office staff in Guyana over the life of the project, EveryChild also has experience working with children abused in other parts of the world |

|particularly in Ethiopia and Thailand and will use its links to encourage and share learning. |

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|EveryChild Guyana is the only international non-governmental organisation (INGO) using and promoting a child rights approach to working with excluded |

|and vulnerable children in Guyana. EveryChild has been working in Guyana since 1996 developing parenting skills as a way of empowering parents to |

|enhance and demand their child’s right to good quality primary education. EveryChild Guyana has been active in the field of child welfare since 2002, |

|has run national campaigns on incest. We have been actively inputting into national consultations for the development of national policies for Orphans |

|and Vulnerable Children and are also participating in a national coalition to advocate for the removal of corporal punishment from the Education Act. |

|We have recently established a new partnership with the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to improve services for abuse children and to |

|support the MHSSS in the implementation of the minimum standards to ensure the safety and protection of children living in institutions/orphanages. |

|EveryChild Guyana will use its Child Protection Policy to support the MHSSS in the development of their Child Protection Policy. |

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|EveryChild Guyana will coordinate the Pickney Project as well as provide project management support (especially monitoring and evaluation and financial |

|management to the main implementing partner). We will also support and jointly campaign with Help and Shelter to promote children’s rights and |

|protection. |

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|Help & Shelter was established in January 1996 with the aim to bring about a society where attitudes to the use of violence and practices of violence, |

|which includes sexual, physical and psychological abuse, have been transformed. Its main objectives are: |

|To actively foster a high level of awareness among all sectors, about the prevalence, causes and costs of violence and about alternatives to the use of |

|violence. |

|To provide counselling for women, children, youth and men who are survivors or perpetrators of violence. |

|To provide a safe and secure temporary shelter for abused women, their children and TIPS (Trafficking in Persons) survivors, while at the same providing|

|training and practical skills needed for increased self sufficiency. |

|To contribute to improved legal recourse for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. |

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|Help & Shelter is recognised nationally for its work on violence and abuse and has been providing support to survivors of violence, perpetrators and |

|conducting anti-violence public education and advocacy activities. Help & Shelter is also known for its work with the hospitals, training of health |

|officials in child protection, involvement of the police, court/legal and emotional support and providing outreach programmes in different part of |

|Guyana including the rural and isolated communities. |

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|Since 1995, Help & Shelter has been providing court support and counselling services to children and adult survivors of abuse. Other activities include|

|community based public education through workshops and interactive discussion sessions. |

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|Help & Shelter also supported training programme for police at the Guyana Police Force, and also has worked with different groups of frontline workers |

|to raise awareness of domestic violence and some child abuse interventions. |

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|More recently, Help & Shelter has been deeply involved in advocacy to remove corporal punishment from schools, and to address public perceptions of |

|beating children as a form of discipline. Help & Shelter has also been involved in projects to deal with trafficking in persons, and to also link |

|HIV/AIDS with domestic violence and child abuse. |

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|To learn more about the work of Help & Shelter please visit its website at |

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|Monitoring and Evaluation |

|This project will be monitored and evaluated under the Project M& E plan (please see attachment) developed in the collaboration with EveryChild Guyana |

|and Help & Shelter. Monitoring of the project will be undertaken periodically throughout the life of the project and will be set out under the Project |

|plan against Project Objectives and indicators. Regular monitoring and reviews will be managed by the Management Committee with support from the |

|EveryChild Guyana team. At the beginning of the project, the Management Committee will develop criteria for monitoring quantitative data concerning |

|children and families benefiting from the project activities. Qualitative data will be provided through the use of participatory tools and |

|semi-structured interviews with service users including children who will be given the opportunity to evaluate the services they receive. |

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|Consultations will be held once per quarter with representatives from community groups to participate in the monitoring process. Ongoing data |

|collection will be part of the responsibilities of the Court Support Officers/Child Care Counsellors and will be collated and analysed by the Project |

|Coordinator. The participatory methodologies used in the project will be transferred to our partner so that they have the capacity to be able to fully |

|measure the impact of their work with children and families. |

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|The Project Partner will prepare and submit monthly reports throughout the life of the project. A baseline will be established from which to measure |

|the impact of the project. A Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) Study on the prevention of child abuse and the support to children who have been |

|abused was carried out in the Sophia Community among caregivers inclusive of parents, teachers, health professional, Faith Based Organisations and |

|Community Based Organisations to establish the baseline for the project and further identify gaps for intervention. |

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|An evaluation will be conducted at the end of each year of the project to assess what objectives have been achieved and the extent to which the project |

|has made changes to the lives of beneficiaries and stakeholders. The services of the Pickney Project will be extended to Good Hope in year 2 and region|

|9 in year 3 and an assessment of KAP will be conducted to evaluate the needs of the communities. A final evaluation will be undertaken at the end of |

|the project to review its impact over the three years. |

|The continuation plans – about sustainability and scaling up |

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|The project sustainability will be in the institutional strengthening of the partner agency, improved services for children and the availability of the |

|knowledge gained in implementing the initiative. We will develop a handbook to share the best practices of the project and disseminate to |

|stakeholders. The project will use the experiences and results of this project to lobby for policy change in the area of child protection beyond the |

|scope of this project, particularly at the MHSSS as it is the key Ministry with responsibility for Child Protection in Guyana. The partner and key |

|ministries will continually be lobbied to take on the financial management of the key elements of this project. Organisational and management support |

|will be offered to the partner so that learning becomes institutionalised onto the ways of working with children. |

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|This project will pool existing resources (direct services already offered by many local NGOs and government services) and therefore the collaboration |

|between service providers should prove more efficient and cost effective than the combined individual operations are currently. |

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|The government of Guyana has made a commitment to protect the rights of the most marginalised and vulnerable children, it is essential that these |

|commitments are reflected in future policy development, the adoption of policies and bills in draft and support to their proper implementation and in |

|national budget planning. The Project Management Committee and coalition on Child Protection will lobby for this to happen. |

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|The project will increase community and national awareness and sensitization around child protection. The campaigning and community response groups |

|will increase awareness in the wider public and community, and target professional groups. |

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|The capacity of all professionals (health, teachers, organisation staff, and police), voluntary community response groups, and caregivers (parents, |

|FBOs, CBOs) will be developed to recognise and response to child abuse thus creating lasting changes in the lives of children, their families and |

|communities. Caregivers will be aware of safer approaches to protect children. Training and project management support will be delivered throughout |

|the life of the project. The leadership and coordination functions will be taken over by the Management Committee during the early stages of the |

|project with on-going support from EveryChild Guyana. |

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|The counselling provided will enable abused children to be more functional in society and will give children a better chance of developing into well |

|rounded individuals. |

|Budget |

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|What is the total expenditure budget? |

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|Help & Shelter will have full responsibility for managing the expenditures in line with the approved budget. |

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|Please see budget attached. |

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[1] Voices of Children: Experiences of Violence, Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Red Thread and UNICEF, February 2005, p.72 and Executive Summary

[2] Report. Voices of Children: Experiences of Children with Violence. Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Red Thread Women’s Development Programme, UNICEF. 2005

[3] Includes physical, sexual (including incest), emotional abuse and neglect.

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