Understanding child labour, why it happens and how to address it can be powerful tools to fight it. Engaging communities to work together and support each other and their children is a critical step. Community Child Protection Committees, or CCPCs, are a locally-led and owned way to do this. Through our projects, ECLT helps build local capacity to form and sustain CCPCs. Read what Salomé told us about how this has changed things in the Angónia region of Mozambique.
My name is Salomé
I have 4 children, I am a farmer, and I am a member of a Community Child Protection Committee. When a community comes together it can feel like a balloon of oxygen that can help us fight for the well-being of our children. A few years ago, thanks to my friends and neighbours, I made it through that dark time, now I hope that I can help others do the same.
“I see that when the community is united, we develop solutions to help our children have a brighter future.” Before being part of the project, I wasn’t aware of the challenges facing children in the community. It was normal to see early marriages, and some families would send their children to do too much work on the farm to sustain the family’s income. By attending community meetings, I learnt about some of the issues in my community and that by becoming a member of the children protection committee I could help improve people’s wellbeing, especially for children, and promote quality education.
“It’s a privilege to be able to contribute to the development of our school, community and to learn good from our children” Since becoming a member, I have informed and changed the mentality of many parents and caregivers on the importance of keeping our children in school. I hope that by having more of our children getting a quality education they will become nurses, teachers, and police officers and that one day they will serve their communities. This would help not only families do better but also our entire community to develop.
“Our children and students need good teachers, with the capacity to influence a student for their future. To discover difficulties of each child, care for them so that they can feel secure in school during the learning process so they can learn” Without the help of the project, it would have been very difficult for me to contribute and collaborate with the CCPC members and as an influential person in my community. For my neighbours and colleagues from the church who are not involved in the project activities, I feel as if they don’t see the important role they can play for the future of our community. Our children need adults, parents, caregivers, and friends to find ways to teach them with care in a safe and well-looked environment so that they can reach their full potential. The families in my community can actively participate in the development of the school and the community leaders should support the school to build awareness of the consequences of child labour, premature marriages and other activities that could harm their health or future.
“Education is the key to success of a child and the development of their community.” My plan as a community child protection committee member is to continue to train others on child labour, child protection, what we can do to treat or refer suspicious child abuse cases and the importance of education. With farmers in my area, I plan to inform of the list of worst forms of child labour working in collaboration with other parents and guardians.