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ISSUES, STRATEGIES AND TASKS
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The special protection of children requires more systematic approaches and concerted efforts by all levels of society, especially those that are closest to children and families. The protective factors have been identified from the points of view of children, the caregivers and families. Primary and secondary prevention programs should focus on these factors.
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Prioritization of education in child abuse prevention programs
The primary investment in the prevention of child abuse should center on education about personal safety, child development, parent-child relationships, and children's rights. Research and evaluation of effective programs show that child abuse can be prevented when parents are attuned to their children, when they understand the nature and stages of child growth and development, and when they are supported in their roles as parents and caregivers.
As for children, they can protect themselves if they are aware of basic personal safety rules and practices and when they are helped to develop self-confidence, and a positive sense of themselves and their emerging capacities. Critical matters in this regard, are the delivery systems for educational programs designed for children themselves, their parents and caregivers, social workers, educators, law enforcers, and other service providers who are responsible for or come in contact with children on a regular basis.
Tasks
- Develop and expand implementation of children's education about their rights, personal safety and abuse through schools, non-formal education program, early childhood development programs through the media and the community
- Strengthen and expand access to high-quality, responsive and effective parent education and support programs in a variety of contexts.
- Develop family life education programs with information about child development, rearing and rights.
- Invest in capacity-building efforts for all professionals and service providers working with children in different contexts and programs e. g. schools, center based and/or community-based programs, child care institutions and foster homes to ensure that they understand child development and appropriate care giving and teaching approaches.
- Ensure that a broad range of highly functional and accessible options for the education of street children and working children are in place so that there will be greater chances for their continuous and complete basic education and access to relevant information for their own protection.
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Provide support systems for families and care givers especially families at-risk
Another important aspect of primary prevention is the setting up and the strengthening of informal social support networks to which families can belong and derive, as well as provide support, for one another. Poverty and other socio-economic issues seriously challenge the ability of families to cope with situations that make them vulnerable.
Tasks
- Strengthen parent and family-focused programs and services at the community level, e.g. livelihood particularly in areas where the conditions for vulnerability of families prevail.
- Encourage parents to participate in ECCD-program linked, school-linked or church-based activities on education for family life and child development, children's rights, and child abuse prevention.
- Intensify implementation of family/domestic violence prevention programs at the community level.
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Establish effective, built-in screening and detection programs for children at risk and for abused children within basic social services at the barangay, city and municipal levels.
Essential to prevention efforts is the early detection of any sign of abuse or the identification of children who are at high risk because of conditions that make them vulnerable to abuse at the family or household level. Effective components of secondary prevention are the health and social services that provide close contact with families who have children of various ages.
Tasks
- Coordinate with implementors at the LGU level and policy makers involved in early childhood care and development programs to ensure that early child development screening tools include attention to signs of abuse or of high-risk families, and that training for all service providers on the use of these tools will be conducted.
- Collaborate with LGUs, national agencies and NGOs to establish a functional referral system for child development screening and detection of disability and child abuse.
- Strengthen and expand parent education programs in various contexts, particularly within the national early childhood development programs as well as livelihood and other socio-economic support programs within poverty alleviation programs.
- Organize capacity-building activities for public and private ECCD service providers on parent education with special attention to preventive actions for child abuse.
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