By Samsideen Ceesay
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare in collaboration with a project supporting the protection of children victim of violation of their rights dubbed (PAPEV) recently conducted a day’s training on national profiling of childcare residential facilities in The Gambia for data collectors and supervisors at Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau.
The training aims to take stock of the number of childcare facilities in the country, their locations and services provided. It also intended to enable government; child protection stakeholders and partners monitor their operations in conformity with the minimum standards.
Speaking at the event, Karamo Kebba Keita, the lead facilitator said the national profiling exercise seeks to establish and maintain an updated database of all childcare residential facilities for development planning, decision-making in the allocation of resources and the much-needed support for the protection of children in the country.
He pointed out that it is collective responsibility to safeguard children against all forms of abuse and exploitation such as trafficking and molestation.
“Having a comprehensive database for the childcare residential facilities will ensure a responsive and timely decision-making for child protection in the country,” Mr Keita stated.
Marie Adams, PAPEV National Project Coordinator said training of enumerators and data collectors on profiling childcare residential facilities is a major intervention objective of the Project, as accurate and reliable data are crucial in formulating responsive policies toward child protection.
She maintained that the exercise will also enable the data collectors and enumerators establish a child welfare system in the country.
“It is important we have a tool that will accelerate the protection and profiling of children in The Gambia”, Mrs Adams stated.
Lamin Fatty, the National Coordinator, Child Protection Alliance (CPA) underscored the importance of having a broad-based mechanism that regulates childcare facilities as well as provides protection for children in those facilities.
Director of Policy Development, Strategic Planning and Reporting at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Mr. Omar Mbakeh, said the exercise said reliable reliable data that informs policy decisions to regulate these facilities and guarantee full protection of children in the country.
