Ensuring better child protection

Violence as a tool to educate children?

According to the statistics, yes. Corporal punishment of children is accepted by the public as a traditional means to educate and discipline children. Research shows that in Mongolia, prevalence of hitting as a punishment for children aged 10-13 years was 45.6%, other direct assault 5%, indirect assault 9%, deliberate neglect 1.2% and verbal attack 33.8%*.

The physical and psychological effects of child abuse vary in severity, but have in some cases resulted in the death of a child.

Just a few years ago, a father of six, drunk at the time, beat his three-year-old son to death and got a 15-year of sentence. Depressed, the mother also became an alcoholic, leaving the children uncared for. It was only when the children were taken into care by the police and then by World Vision’s interim children’s home, did they start to heal psychologically. To reduce the number of cases such as this, Multi Disciplinary Teams (MDT) were launched a few years ago.

The physical and psychological effects of child abuse vary in severity, but have in some cases resulted in the death of a child.

MDT was launched with the goal to reduce, stop and prevent violence against children, consisting of district governor, police officer, family doctor, social workers and representatives from NGOs.

MDT is one of the most effective tools to tackle issues of child protection, as MDT approaches an issue from perspectives of different professions.

World Vision, as one of the leading child-focused organizations in Mongolia, organised capacity development training for the Multi Disciplinary Team for Family and Child Protection, in collaboration with local Municipality on 19th December. With the training, members of MDTs are now better equipped to resolve child protection issues.

The main aim of the training was to give deeper insight into the duties and responsibilities of MDT to the new members, to develop the team’s capacity to prevent, stop and decrease the rate of violence. During the training family and child protection specialists gave talk on various issues, including World Vision’s Amgalan Area Development Program Manager S.Ganmurun on the international NGO’s works in Child Protection, Professor Tsendsuren from Mongolian State University of Education on case management and Ms.Odgerel from Family and Child Development Agency of Capital City on duties and responsibilities of MDT.

“According to survey conducted by our organisation, more than 70% of the children living in Mongolia are worried at home, especially those living in the ger district. When children and families become victims of violence, they don’t know whom to turn to, or don’t get proper response for the trauma they experience. MDTs are the best solution when it comes to this kind of situation” says S.Ganmurun, World Vision Mongolia’s Amgalan ADP manager.

Participants of the training also emphasized the importance of the training in improving the knowledge of MDT members.

“MDT plays very important role in providing comprehensive solution to the issues of violence, as different approaches from various professions are used in solving a case. Therefore training such as this one is crucial in capacity developing of the MDT,” said social worker Ms.Uugantsetseg. With this training organised by Bayanzurkh District Municipality and WVM, MDTs will be better equipped for providing safer environment for children and families.

Note:

* http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/start/countries/mongolia accessed 8 Jan 2013