The Mapping Project
Ensuring every child’s rights are respected and protected, especially during challenging times.
Project Overview
Due to the outbreak of the Pandemic, there have been alarming issues regarding the violation of children’s rights as schools and workplaces have closed down, leaving almost all children indoors. Issues of abuse, maltreatment, and exploitation have risen to an alarming rate.
In response, the Welfare of Children and Youth Association (WCYA) has organized activities to ensure the safety of children who are vulnerable on the streets, in workplaces, homes, schools, and other environments. This project aims to identify working children in difficult situations and find better ways to improve their living conditions with the involvement of children and young people themselves.
Our project activities have been carefully outlined to address the specific needs of children and young people, based on consultations to identify concrete activities to implement on the ground.
Our Key Initiatives
Intergenerational Dialogue on Children in Fishing
For years, children have engaged in fishing activities mostly to earn a living and support their families. These children often leave school for these economic activities, and their masters exploit them to do hazardous work without proper safety equipment.
Children and young people of Axim organized a dialogue to advocate for these children who need support to return to school and engage in vocational training. The dialogue had about 35 attendees including community patrons.
National Health Insurance Card Support
Access to health facilities and national health insurance is a critical need in many communities. We supported 660 children (408 girls, 252 boys) from communities like Klefe, Gblafedo, Aveyibome, Liati, Avetome, Axim, Ve-Golo-kwati, Leklebi-Dugan, and Sodogakope who previously did not have health insurance cards.
We continue to advocate for better healthcare infrastructure, as some communities like Avetome lack health centers entirely, forcing children to walk miles to access medical care.
Income Generation Activities Support
To empower members of our grassroot groups to be self-reliant and fund their own activities, we support income-generating initiatives. Members have engaged in Beads Bag making, Mushroom production, liquid soap production, and Bee farming.
Eight grassroots groups benefited from this initiative, reaching 128 children (86 boys, 42 girls) and 226 youth (165 boys and 61 girls), providing them with start-up kits to begin their own businesses.
Capacity Building Training
We aim to reinforce our members' capacity, empowering them to fight for their rights and those of their peers. We organize sessions on sexual and reproductive health education, career guidance, and advocacy strategies.
These training sessions ensure our group members learn new skills that improve their activities and make them more effective in reaching vulnerable children and youth in their communities.