Child Protection
We support children in many different ways. First of all, by raising awareness in school clubs: pupils in migration-prone rural areas are empowered through debates, sport and art animations, among other activities: they acquire knowledge on: their fundamental rights; child labour, abuse and neglect; menstrual health and hygiene; the 'push & pull factors' of child migration and streetism (including peer pressure); harmful traditional practices (HTPs) such as female genital mutilation (FGM); ecology / tree planting, etc. Vulnerable students are also provided with scholastic materials, which greatly impacts their future in many situations: basic literacy and extended school enrolment can indeed break the cycle of poverty, which is intrinsically linked to the level of education. Covering the costs of e.g. notebooks is a significant burden for numerous families and having a torn uniform can be a direct factor ostracism from other students, therefore any material support, particularly of girls, is still most welcome. For children at risk of dropout, regular psychosocial support assessments are conducted, observing their attitude and social behaviour, as well as factual 'domains' of wellbeing, such as care / clothing and hygiene, energy level, any sign of abuse, emotional health, etc. Eur¡ka also provides mentoring and life skills training for children who are unfortunately out-of-school and at risk of unsafe migration: as much as possible, they are encouraged and even supported – communicating with parents and school principals – to resume class.
Last, we reach out to children among the most vulnerable ones, i.e. those 'on the move' or living on / in the streets of a city like Arba Minch, in South Ethiopia. We identify some of the most at-risk, e.g. adolescent mothers with their baby, through our partner (community-based organization) circus groups, and we provide socioeconomic support to them, so they can generate an income for themselves and their children. We also assist and mentor street-connected minors who wish to pursue their education, in addition to seeking a sustainable way to feed themselves. We occasionally distribute clothing items and provide care and psychosocial support in each of our interactions with them.
Women's empowerment
We believe that prevention of school dropout and unsafe migration cannot sustainably work without supporting the cornerstone of any children's upbringing, i.e. mothers and other caregivers. We form Self-Help Groups usually constituted of 15 women of similar background – rigorously selected through participatory processes, household surveys and poverty-targeting indicators – who are slowly empowered along several dimensions, starting with economic strengthening: they first learn about the importance of savings discipline (and how to save the little resources they have – and pursue their curriculum of financial literacy (budgeting, basic accounting, business planning, marketing, etc.) until accessing sufficient funds, e.g. by themselves (group's internal lending) or with additional support (seed capital and / or microloan) to start an income-generating activity (IGA). We also strive to promote the self-reliance and social awareness of the support women, by notably: sensitizing on agro-ecological / permaculture techniques and principles (e.g. ecosystem services, composting, companion planting, rainwater harvesting, etc.) and developing trainings as per their needs and constraints (i.e. vegetable gardening, chicken breeding, goat roaring, etc.) with the objective to improve their household's livelihoods, food security and nutrition – we notably promote mothers' screening of malnutrition via Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) measurement and Infant & Young Children’s Feeding practices (IYCF). In addition, our teams dedicate significant time in social empowerment through trainings and awareness sessions on: positive discipline / parenting skills / prevention of domestic violence, early childhood development (and learning through play), harmful traditional practices (HTPs), etc. We also seek birth certificates for under 5 children.
GBV responses & prevention
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a human right violation and can affect both female and male individuals, although in very different proportions in practice (detrimental to females). GBV is often used as a proxy for violence against women and girls (VAWG) which is usually defined as “any act of violence that can result in sexual, psychological or physical harm and suffering of women”, whether “perpetrated by an intimate partner within a relationship, by other family members, by acquaintances, or by the general community”. Common forms of sexual violence include rape and attempted rape,unwanted touching, sexual exploitation and harassment; another common GBV is intimate partner violence (IPV), also called domestic violence and which includes physical, emotional, sexual and economic abuse; other forms of violence, which are considered as HTPs are child, forced and early marriage (CFEM) and female genital mutilation (FGM). Factors and consequences of GBV concern many sectors such as are health, nutrition, education or employment. Very scarce data are available on GBV, which is often believed to be underestimated as women do not want to expose their issues, fear community stigmatization and do not know where to go for help.
We tackle GBV by working both on prevention and response: we first spread awareness on gender equality (and harmful norms) in both rural communities and schools – where we select the most vulnerable student girls to distribute educational kits – as well as through mass media (radio shows, SMS campaigning, hotline, etc.) We then care for the victims at our 'Safe Home' for GBV survivors, upon their explicit consent: beside shelter, security and food, we provide dignity kit items (e.g. bucket, body soap, towel, underwear, reusable menstrual pads...) and basic child care supplies for admitted babies and children accompanying their mother; and we deliver first aid, medical care and referrals, as well as individual and group counselling, thus facilitating health recovery and rehabilitation process. Legal support is also key for those seeking justice from the perpetrators of violence: we follow their case (with the police and public prosecutors) and help them rehearse for court hearings; we also make sure that reintegration of children in their family or community is safe. Moreover, our team provides psycho-social support to the Safe Home residents through: social empowerment, e.g. literacy / school tutoring, awareness on family planning, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR); economic strengthening (skills development, training and coaching to design business plans and market surveys, kick-start grants to start an IGA, etc.); and last but not least, recreational activities, i.e. physical (sport, self-defence / taekwendo, circus acrobatics) and art therapies (music, dance, drawing, graphics), as well as gardening (composting, watering plants, etc.), which all contribute to the slow healing process that each victim / survivor of trauma experiences
