Two British charities, ChildHope UK and the Consortium for Street Children (CSC),
are launching two sets of special training materials designed to protect some of the
world's most vulnerable children from further abuse. One of the training toolkits is
for police forces, the other for the staff of charities and other NGOs working with
children in developing countries. The toolkits are designed to protect many of these
children who are involved with the police or with agencies which set out to help
them. The toolkits should lessen the risk that already traumatised and exploited
children will be exposed to further damage.

Marie Wernham, Director of Advocacy and Child Protection at CSC, said: "The police
training manual is the first of its kind to draw together international experience
and to package it into a format that is really practical and useful to the police.
It was developed in response to demand from the police, NGOs and street children
themselves."

Elanor Jackson, programmes manager at ChildHope, said: "The child protection toolkit
is the first resource and training manual aimed at providing organisations,
particularly those in developing countries, with a set of practical tools and
techniques to enable them to protect children. In the words of one organisation in
India, 'if we don't take the lead on safeguarding the children in our care, how can
we expect to effectively prevent abuse and exploitation of children in the
community, on the streets or by the police?'"

In many countries street children make up a large proportion of those children who
enter the juvenile justice system. Arrests are often arbitrary and accompanied by
beatings, humiliation, extortion and sexual abuse. Some street children have even
been killed by law-enforcement officers. CSC has found that in those countries where
street children are abused by the authorities, few law enforcement officials have
received training in child protection.

In several countries, many of the poorest and most vulnerable children find
themselves in the care of a range of placements run by the state or voluntary
organisations. They have a special responsibility to make sure the children they
work with are protected from both deliberate and unintentional harm. But there have
been many reported cases of abuse of children by the staff of such agencies.
Research shows that implementing child protection policies and procedures is an
effective deterrent to would-be child abusers seeking to infiltrate an organisation.
The toolkit offers a simple approach to help organisations understand, develop,
implement and monitor safeguards.[Source: CRIN]

For more information about the NGO toolkit, contact:
John Griffin, Childhope UK
Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street
London  EC2A 4JX, United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 20 7065 0950; Fax: + 44 20 7065 0951
Email: chuk@gn.apc.org
Website: http://www.childhopeuk.org
Main contact person(s): 
 
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5375

For more information about the police toolkit, contact:
Marie Wernham, Consortium for Street Children 
Unit 306, Bon Marche Centre
241-251 Ferndale Road, London SW9 8BJ, UK
Tel: + 44 20 7274 0087; Fax: + 44 20 72740372
Email: info@streetchildren.org.uk
Website: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk