A total of 200 residents in two sub-counties of Nama and Nakifuma-Naggalama have been skilled in strengthening child protection at village levels.
The trainees qualified as para social workers (PSW) after fifteen-day training.
PSWs are widely used to address inadequate capacity in the professional workforce.
In Mukono, they shall be the first line of response for children in harm’s way reporting to the local council-LCI Chairpersons.
The District Community Development Officer, Minisa Kirya Namukose reveals that 108 residents were selected for the training at Nakifuma-Naggalam and 92 from the Nama sub-county.
“We have equipped them with skills to work closely with children and families, identify and manage risks that children may be exposed to at home and elsewhere,” Namukose says.
Records at the Mukono district probation office indicate that children face challenges related to violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, discrimination, and poverty.
According to Namukose, such challenges have forced many children to run away from home to the streets.
Presiding over the closure of training at Nama Sub County headquarters, Ronald Kibuule, the former state minister for water resources, asked the para-social workers to champion the fight against gender-based violence within communities.
According to him, parental substance abuse and violence cause mental illness among children and eventually frustrate their proper growth.
The para social worker’s program in Mukono is funded by United Nations Children’s Fund formerly UNICEF.
Apart from funding the fifteen-day training, it has also provided gum boots, a bag and rain jackets to the response team.
Trained residents are confident of providing significant additional capacity to community-level child protection arrangements at little cost in a culturally appropriate fashion.
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