Golden Jubilee For Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Child Friendly Policy and Card book
In addition to the Child Safeguarding Policy the Education Commission
produced a Child Friendly Policy for Child Safeguarding which is used by
children. The Policy clearly states the Rights and Responsibilities of children,
Channels followed in reporting cases of abuse, different forms of abuse, and
ways of dictating cases of Child trafficking. Card books were also developed
specifically for children in Early Child Development (ECD) classes. The Card
book has illustrations or images which helps a child to identify different forms of
abuse and how to report them. It also shows images of the people whom a child
can report to if he or she is abused such as, Police, Nurse, Teacher, Religious
Priest or Sister, Parent or Guardian or a Child Safeguarding officer at school or
children's home. The Commission worked on the translation of Child
Safeguarding Policies into local
languages.
In order to reach many people in
Zimbabwe, the Education
Commission found it necessary to
translate Child Safeguarding Polices
into Shona and Ndebele. The
translations were distributed in
Catholic Schools, Parishes, Children's
Homes and Hospitals in order to raise
awareness and to educate different
people on issues of Child
Safeguarding.
Training other Conferences and Organisations on Child Safeguarding
The Education Commission had an opportunity of training some members of the
Ethiopian Catholic Bishops' Conference. We trained delegates on the following
areas: Procedures of developing Child Safeguarding Policies, Methodologies
which are followed when training Child Safeguarding Officers such as
Teachers, Religious Brothers and Sisters, Priests, Boarding Matrons and anyone
who cares for children, Procedures of Handling cases of abuse and Procedures of
implementing Child Safeguarding policies in all Catholic institutions.
Furthermore, the Education Commission has trained individuals from different
organisations such as Missionary Childhood Director from Germany,
Association of Churches Education Secretaries. The Commission has shared
Child Safeguarding Policies and Handbooks with the Ministry of Primary and
Secondary Education, UNICEF, Save the Children and many others.
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