Youth dialogue to protect SA children
JOHANNESBURG - Take part in a dialogue to promote child protection, this Child Protection Week.
It’s Child Protection Week and Afrika Tikkun is doing its part to empower Johannesburg’s youth.
Afrika Tikkun, the organisation dedicated to redressing the inequalities of apartheid and empowering young people, will hold their fourth annual Child Protection Dialogue at the Children’s Memorial Institute in Braamfontein.
The organisation plays a large role in Child Protection Week, which runs from 29 May to 5 June, and their efforts will be detailed at the dialogue as a number of their beneficiaries come together to show the outcomes of the various programmes.
“To promote child protection, we run empowerment programmes which focus on two areas including gender rights and disability rights, both of which also have a lot to do with child protection,” said Jean Elphick, general manager of the Afrika Tikkun Empowerment Programmes.
The organisation runs three empowerment programmes, one of which organises clubs that educate the youth about issues of violence, sexuality and furthermore promote anti-violence in each community. The Young Urban Women’s Club operates in four Johannesburg townships and aims to empower women to realise their full potential. The organisation also runs three Help@Hand self-help groups for mothers and caregivers and also aims to train and educate the youth through a pilot peer education programme that has been rolled out in one school so far.
“We train 10 children from the school, run a course for them and, with our guidance, help them speak to their peers about relevant issues. Some of these issues are very sensitive and it can be hard to talk to the children about them across the generation gap,” said Elphick.
On 30 May, beneficiaries from each of the aforementioned programmes will take to the podium at the Children’s Memorial Institute and open the dialogue regarding child protection and report of each programme’s results thus far.
Those in attendance will hear the stories of those in need of support and assistance, and will actively devise a way to protect the country’s vulnerable youth.
Details: www.afrikatikkun.org
