Save the Children has joined the worldwide community in commemorating African Children’s Day, along with crucial stakeholders from around the country.
The participation is intended to provide children with the chance to exchange ideas and network on how to eliminate harmful behaviors that impact them.
Children from the Children’s Forum Network, Prince of Wales Secondary, Saint Edwards Secondary, Saint Joseph Secondary, Fattah Rahman Secondary, and War Wounded Primary Schools were present in the Western Area Urban District.
The goal of the engagement is to provide safe places for children to truly comprehend what harmful behaviors imply in the Sierra Leone setting, as well as to discuss the work they have been doing in Sierra Leone since 1999.
The seminar also tracked policy and practice improvements since 2013, looking for methods to combat harmful practices that harm children’s well-being. Children and stakeholders were taught about several types of abuse as well as their Safe Guardian Policy, which protects children from both deliberate and inadvertent injury.
Save the Children also developed games and other activities to demonstrate harmful habits and their implications. They related the difficulties to what is going on in Sierra Leone and what happened many years ago in Soweto, South Africa.
The Organization thinks that children are still facing challenges that prevent them from reaching their full potential, which is why the workshop intended to ensure that children have an equal voice in the field of protection, particularly in areas of harmful behaviors.
Speaking about the workshop’s impact on children, Save The Children’s Advocacy and Communication Director Ramatu Jalloh says, “For us, it’s really a platform where children can really speak to each other and understand what’s going on in their country as well as understand some of the work we’ve been doing for them to be able to go out in their communities and be able to become advocates, especially around harmful practices.”
Zainab Kargbo, 15, from Fattah Rahman Junior Secondary School, was equally ecstatic with what she learned during the Workshop. She acknowledged that this is her first opportunity to attend a program addressing issues impacting children.
She expressed gratitude to Save the Children.
Kolleh Bangura, 13 secondary school student from Murray Town Army Junior Secondary School, is the program’s facilitator.
Kolleh Bangura expressed gratitude to Save the Children for the chance to moderate the educational event.
He went on to say that what they learned at the training will enable them to raise concerns by phoning Save the Children’s free toll number if they detect any detrimental behaviors involving children in their respective areas.
