Community Child Protection Committees

Child headed house hold training in Shiselweni

In this current year, Save the Children, through a partnership with UNICEF, is working in twenty Tinkhundla, five in each region.  In each of these Tinkhundla, the organization will identify all the Chiefdoms under each Tinkhundla and begin to introduce the concept of LL key community leaders.  Community leaders will then be expected to call community meetings where Save the Children will conduct sensitization meetings.  The community will then be guided to choose representatives to form LL for that particular community. 

Once LL members are elected, Save the Children then conducts training on the following:

• Child’s rights,
• Child abuse, including sexual exploitation,
• Referrals to other structures within the community and at sub-regional and regional levels.

Queuing at the post office - Sphofaneni Lubombo

Coordination of Implementation of LLs

Save the Children is not the only organization establishing and capacitating LLs.  There are other sister organizations implementing the same programme in different geographical locations.  Given Save the Children’s experience in working with LLs and the fact that the organization’s work is grounded on children’s rights, it was proposed that the organization also plays a coordination role.  Save the Children has allocated a full time officer to coordinate meetings between stakeholders, collate information from partners, facilitator capacity building of partners (where necessary), liaise with UNICEF, facilitate the development of a strategy to sustain LLs, play an advocacy role on child protection issues etc.