Strengthening Child Protection in Raja County

Child Protection Challenges

Located in the north-western corner of South Sudan in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State, Raja county shares a long international border with the Central African Republic to the east, and Sudan to the north. The county has been impacted by both cross-border and local level violence, and these in turn triggered displacement from the northern parts of the county to Raja Town on various occasions. The situation is made worse by the economic hardship of the area. 

In such environment, children have increased vulnerability to child protection concerns. For instance, children who interacted with NP’s Raja Team often had bruises over their bodies an indication of child abuse and many complained of being beaten by their parents or guardians, with some even suffering from burning and starvations as a form of punishment.

Many children also came from nearby villages to Raja Town, pushed away from home by the lack of food and harsh treatment, and drawn to the town by the employment opportunities there. Many ended up working or begging in the markets.

The Role of Child Safe Spaces in Addressing Vulnerabilities

Since mid-2020, NP has been conducting Child Safe Space (CSS) sessions with children from four locations in Raja County: Raja Town, Khorshamam, Boro Medina, and Diem Zubeir. Children were given a chance to play games like cards and volleyball, and learn important life lessons such as how to maintain their personal hygiene. A visible impact of these sessions is that children became more confident as they were given a space where they are free to be themselves, play with each other, and make friends.

The CSS also proved to be a good opportunity for NP to observe the child protection concerns in Raja County. For instance, NP learned about the extent and severity of the physical punishment taking place in homes after children started to open up about what they faced at home. As a protection organization, NP took these reports seriously and met with local chiefs to gain greater insight into the contributing factors of child abuse in the community. During the meetings, the chiefs confirmed that child abuse is rampant, something that they attributed to lack of knowledge of what constitutes child abuse, negative coping mechanisms to economic hardship, and alcoholism.

Community-Led Efforts to Confront Child Abuse

Recognizing that reducing the prevalence of child abuse requires mental health interventions, NP approached its consortium partner, ALIMA, who has a mental health clinic in Raja Town. It was eventually decided that NP and ALIMA would raise awareness to increase the community’s knowledge of available mental health services such as counseling and stress management. NP worked to raise community awareness about the community protection teams that it established (Women Protection Teams and Youth Protection Teams especially) and held sessions focused on child protection and child rights with the expectation the participants would sensitize their own communities.

Thanks to these sensitization efforts, communities became more aware of child protection and children’s rights. While child abuse still occurs, community members have become more active in monitoring and reporting such cases to the local chiefs and authorities. According to community reports, parents became more accountable in their behaviors as they know the community is watching their actions and would report them in cases of maltreatment. 

In one particular incident, community members reported a case where a child was burnt by his mother herself suffering from mental health issues as a punishment. Upon hearing this, the local chief referred the woman to ALIMA’s mental health service. The chief also used the opportunity to sensitize the community of the importance of using ALIMA’s services and to continue monitoring child abuse cases in the neighborhood. 

Going forward, NP will continue working with ALIMA and the community protection teams to disseminate information regarding the availability of mental health services as well as child protection and child rights. This has enabled the community protection teams to take a leading role in ending child abuse in Raja County.