Anda, corre, cuenta, proyecto piloto para la intervención frente a la violencia contra niños, niñas y mujeres en Pueblo Libre de Belén

Project Description and Background to Evaluation

Through a strategic alliance between SF and the Bernard van Leer Foundation in 2013, La Restinga implemented "Go, Run, Tell" Project, which aimed at promoting the change of a culture that accepts and tolerates violence against children and women in Belen, Iquitos. The project aimed to intervene at individual, family and community sceneries, where violence, abuse, sexual abuse, etc. against children and women are exercised and also reproduced. These practices are assumed as "natural" and entirely private; therefore they are not questioned, punished or modified. In each one of these spaces, different intervention strategies were proposed to strengthen child protection systems at home and community, but interconnected among all.

Purpose/objective

To determine how pertinent the project management and intervention proposal were by analyzing whether the developed strategies and processes have responded to the identified situation of change and to the dynamics of social context.

To identify the degree of project impact on people’s lives, inquiring about the aspects in which the change occurred?. To check if there were necessary environmental conditions in order to develop strategies that promoted and strengthened changes in caring mothers, adolescents and young entrepreneurs, especially in children.

To recover team’s and participants’ learning, when they implemented and participated in the project, with the purpose of identifying approaches, strategies and challenges for new interventions.

Methodology

It was a guided participatory evaluation with the direct beneficiaries and various stakeholders involved in the project. Quantitative aspects are addressed (to evidence the status of indicators) as well as qualitative (for further analysis of the processes, achievements, methodologies, etc.).

Primary sources of information were used allowing the register of information from the project team, direct beneficiaries (children under 8 years old and their mothers), community leaders and representatives of institutions and organizations involved in the prevention and treatment of violence. Also, secondary sources such as document related to management and project outputs were used to verify the degree of achievement of the proposed indicators and project components.

Key findings

• The substantive and relevant contribution of the project is seen in the approach of its intervention model. This includes different intervention strategies to strengthen child protection systems in various stages such as family and community. At these levels, it was aimed that the participants recognize their role in the reproduction and transformation of their violent practices; in such a way that caregivers and other people around kids (youth promoters, leaders and advocates) fulfill a role of violence interrupters and contribute to the development of protective factors.
  
  
• The intervention model also considers the coordination of public institutions in the prevention, detection and treatment of cases of violence against children. At the end of the project, they have played a key role to articulate these two public entities: DEMUNA and Micro Health Network, both in Belen district.
  
  
• The level of impact of the project has been significant in several of the actors, which is seen as follows:
  
  - To change mothers’ and caregivers’ conceptual thinking of parenting practices and children’s education. They recognize and self-criticize because of the persistent use of violence as a mean to discipline their children. They also recognize the need to implement other strategies for raising their children, which may contribute to eradicate the use of violence because they understand the negative effects of this in their children’s lives.
  
  - The adaptation of housing infrastructure has generated great impact on beneficiaries. They value this change because of the direct impact on their quality of life and because it helps to have available places for children as they also need their own privacy and their own space for activities such as playing, school homework, etc.
  
  - The strengthening adolescents’ self-esteem. It is expressed in their skills to develop and keep actions to prevent violence against children, adolescents and youth; as well as their expressions of solidarity and motivation for this work and their feelings of self-worth.
  
  - The achievement of the foundations for reactivation and articulation of public entities that can contribute steadily in the prevention, detection and treatment of cases of violence against children in the Belen district.
  
  - The recognition of Belen municipal district, because of the work performed by DEMUNA with the support of La Restinga within the project framework. An added value is participation and attention provided by the Mayor to the Household Infrastructure Adaptation Strategy. He participated in the presentation of Adjustment Protocol and also the visit to families that participated in this strategy.
  
  - - The Social Development Manager of Belen Municipality expressed his interest of continuing the strategy of the Adaptation of Housing Infrastructure next year, because he considers it as a key strategy for prevention of sexual abuse against Belen children.
  
  - - The coordination and joint work with teams of different public institutions to develop the "Guide to report violence cases in the health centers ", which meant a challenge for the project team.

Recommendations

• To continue with the capacity building of promoters in order to facilitate processes for maltreatment prevention. Likewise to invest in the consolidation of the child-youth organization, because it is a key aspect for the project sustainability due to their commitment to improve their community and prevention of abuse.
  
  
• The caregivers’ training must be considered a key and permanent strategy, which involves a process of change. It should be based on both the information on various topics and a critical review of their experiences regarding children and maltreatment. It should also include a process of searching alternatives instead of the use of violence in order to improve their role as caregivers and nurturers.
  
  
• To retake the initial project strategy to train and sensitize leaders at community level because management and implementation of programs and actions to build safe community environments as well as presentation and or demand of public policies in favor of children, will be mostly in the hands of community leaders.
  
  
• In order to be able to implement the Violence Report Form prepared by the project and also to implement the agreements agreed by the Sub Management Office of DEMUNA (Ombudsman), Human Rights Office of Belen Municipality and Micro-Health Network of Belen, it is necessary to get the official written approval of these agreements together with a written approval from Regional Health Direction of Loreto. Moreover it is necessary to get the participation of the Ombudsman and Prosecutor in charge of violence cases. This will make clearer the action of state institutions in protecting children.
  
  
• To emphasize advocacy actions to authorities and Belen Municipality’s officer, because they have expressed their interest in going on with the adequacy of housing infrastructure. The local government must be involved in it to achieve the official recognition and implementation of this initiative through an official policy established by the local municipality.
  
  
• To clarify methodologically how to address the participants’ experiences related to violence. It means that before reviewing what is happening with children, the team should define to what extent violence topic will be worked with mothers and young promoters.
  
  
• The team should increase their knowledge about approaches and intervention strategies. In addition they should develop the autonomy and capacity to negotiate with people.
  
  
• The team should socialize and deepen the conceptual thinking of the project as well as strategies for the intervention model. Also they should try to incorporate the recommendations that have emerged from the experience.
  
  
• To promote gradual approach and/or coordination between the various community stakeholders involved in the prevention of violence against children.