The goal of this activity is to strengthen the response to reported cases of child sexual abuse, violence, and exploitation by building the capacity of existing Child Protection Committees (CPCs), government structures, and other relevant partners to respond more effectively, and to increase the number of vulnerable children accessing basic services on a regular basis. This activity began with COP 09 funding as a pass through with Pact. PEPFAR Swaziland is exploring options for a regional implementing mechanism in COP 10 and therefore the activity is currently TBD.

This program addresses the Impact Mitigation goals of the PF by enhancing the protection of vulnerable children and it will also contribute towards the PF's objective of increasing the percentage of vulnerable children receiving basic support services on a continuous basis. Save the Children Swaziland (SCSWD) aims not only to enhance legal protection, but also seeks to provide and/or facilitate access to psychosocial support (PSS) and economic strengthening.

Strategic objectives of the project are:

1) To reach an increased number of vulnerable children within the targeted constituencies and towns with basic services which are responsive to their needs, either directly or through referral to partner organizations and/or government, with a primary focus on PSS.

2) To build the quality and scale of CPCs through measures to promote capacity and sustainability creating an environment of increased safety for children, raising community awareness of sexual abuse and its link to HIV, and improving community recognition and support of Child Protectors (CPs).

3) To facilitate clear and strong linkage between CPCs and relevant government, non-government, and legal agencies so that they all respond in an effective, well-coordinated manner to reported cases of sexual and other child abuse.

With funding from UNICEF and GFATM, SCSWD has been nationally coordinating the establishment of CPCs since 2005 with three sub-partners. Implementation of this project will be undertaken with the same partners and the program will be carried out in eight rural constituencies and twelve towns spread across all four regions. Each partner is responsible for conducting CPC training and providing services for vulnerable children in their target constituencies or towns with managerial oversight and quality assurance provided by SCSWD. The target population consists of vulnerable children between the ages of 0 17, with a particular focus on those who have experienced sexual or other abuse, children in child-headed households, and children who are living with HIV.

Per-capita costs will be lower in the second year of implementation due to a decrease in overhead costs from start-up projects (such as enhancing the database that will track sexual abuse, the development of standardized CPC training curriculum, and intensive training for field officers to become certified in PSS). Thus, in the second year, the program will have become more cost-efficient and will be able to reach more children with an increased budget allocation dedicated to direct services. The cost of investing in PSS certification of field officers will continue to make up for itself in the second year as field officers pass these skills on to a higher number of targeted CPs and serve as an ongoing resource for them. This will result in a decrease in current transportation and human resource costs for repeated visits to widespread communities to reach children with PSS. In addition, the training provided to CPCs will continue to be geared towards achieving sustainability. By the second year, improved linkages between CPCs and government as a result of the project's interventions will mean that direct involvement from SCSWD in cases of sexual abuse will not be as heavily required.

One full time M&E Officer will be supported for this activity. During the first year, a baseline study is planned to inform the development of a Performance Monitoring System. SCSWD will collect and compile standardized data from sub-partners on a monthly basis and will report on a semi-annual basis to PEPFAR. Data collection tools will include the database on sexual abuse that will be developed as part of the proposed project, monthly reports from sub-partners and surveys conducted with children and caregivers. Data will be analyzed and utilized internally for program improvement and scale up. Results from this project will also inform the implementation of best practices in training nationwide and will be shared with other partners, including UNICEF and Global Fund.

As described above and in the HKID budget code narrative, gender and economic strengthening are cross-cutting key issue for this program.

This activity will continue to address the following priority actions in order to meet the needs of vulnerable children: a) improving quality service delivery; b) community support and coordination; c) strengthening systems/government/policy; and d) increasing data development and use for strategic planning.

SCSWD and partners will improve quality service delivery by providing or facilitating increased access to basic services, with a focus on strengthening PSS services available within communities and to a lesser extent providing children (particularly those heading households) with economic strengthening through Entrepreneurial Skills, as well as with Life Skills training. CPs in each community will be trained in providing PSS to vulnerable children, which will increase the number of children receiving PSS within their communities on a continuous basis. Where SCSWD and sub-partners do not provide services directly, referral protocols to relevant partners will be in place for children in need of other services, such as health care, food and nutrition, clothing, shelter, and protection and legal support.

One of the key strategies to improve community support and coordination will be to select CPs from each community to become "Community Facilitators" to strengthen their skill base and connect them with local and regional authorities. Community Facilitators will be trained as trainers of other CPs. CPCs will be made more sustainable because ownership will remain within the community and not with an NGO, as well as through the creation of lasting ties with government structures. This model has already increased retention of CPCs in communities trained by one of the sub-partners. Local ownership and improved linkage with government will help to streamline and improve the response to reported cases of child sexual and other abuse. Ongoing education for community members (including teachers and local, church and traditional leaders) will also take place so that the work of CPCs will be more widely recognized and supported. SCSWD will explore options for successful interventions to increase retention among CPs. As volunteers, they are often in need of economic strengthening and SCSWD will explore livelihood interventions. Efforts may include providing material or financial support for CPC activities, offering Entrepreneurial Skills Trainings for Income-Generating Activities and lobbying government to provide CPs with small financial remuneration. Specific interventions will be informed by consultations with field officers, research on best practices in the region and by the results of the ongoing UNICEF co-sponsored national dialogues with CPCs.

Efforts to streamline the response to sexual abuse cases will include integrating government field officers (social workers, police, etc.) into trainings, working to update documentation required to process cases of abuse, and training CPs in providing PSS to vulnerable children.

To strengthen systems and increase data development, SCSWD will utilize the sexual abuse database and provide a centralized compilation of information accessible by relevant partners. Data compiled in the database will inform future interventions and will be utilized internally in the M&E framework for this project. Advocacy efforts for the passage of important policies and legislation affecting the lives of children will continue.

SCSWD has a strong track record both in advocacy and in establishing and supporting CPCs in Swaziland. To date, more than 11,000 CPs have been trained. Challenges include a need for more comprehensive and ongoing training for CPC members, a low level of integration of field officers from relevant partners with the work of CPCs (particularly those in government), difficulty sustaining committees and their members, and a lack of effective monitoring/tracking of children accessing basic services as a result of interventions by CPCs. The strategies described above were designed to address these challenges.