World Vision International signs a MoU with the Public Prosecution Office to strengthen child protection for the most vulnerable Palestinian children

Ramallah, 2 February 2023

On the 2nd of February 2023, World Vision International (WVI) in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Palestinian Public Prosecution Office. This new two-year partnership aims to strengthen child protection for the most vulnerable Palestinian children. It has two main objectives:

• Reinforcing the protection of children and youth including their safeguarding through World Vision’s programmes.
• Strengthening the national child protection system and the operationalization of the relevant policies and laws to improve child protection services for the most at risk and vulnerable children and youth.

Through this partnership, World Vision and the Public Prosecution Office will especially focus on strengthening the National Reporting, Referral and Response System to ensure that child protection issues at the local level are reported and that the relevant stakeholders respond to them. This will:

• enable to better coordinate and connect World Vision’s local child protection groups with the National Reporting, Referral and Response System,
• raise awareness to promote the use of the reporting mechanism by local communities, and
• strengthen the processes and protocols used as part of the reporting mechanism to make it more efficient and ensure confidentiality.

Child protection is a critical priority for World Vision. World Vision’s child protection programmes in the West Bank focus on children and youth empowerment, positive parenting and local child protection system strengthening. To support this work, our organization supports a network of 12 local child protection groups (140 volunteers) across 9 governorates of the West Bank. In 2022, around 125,000 children, parents and caregivers took part in our child protection programming, leading to significant impact. For example, after 12 months of implementing our Everyday Parenting program’s targeting parents of vulnerable children, only 37% of the participating mothers were still using corporal punishments on their children (vs. 91% at the beginning of the training).

Despite the efforts of the Palestinian Authority and partners, children still face high levels of violence on the way to and from school, during school, and in their homes. A study conducted by World Vision in 2020 found that 85% of Palestinian adolescent boys and girls reported experiencing physical violence and/or psychological aggression over the past 12 months. The 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) shows that 93% of children aged 2 to 14 years experienced violent disciplining at home, and 23% of children experienced severe physical punishment. Palestinian children also face several other child protection issues related to child marriage, child labour, sexual violence and gender-based violence.

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About the Public Prosecution Office

The Public Prosecution is led by the General Attorney, Dr. Akram Al-Khatib. It initiates and follows up on penal cases and represents the State in civil cases before administrative courts. The Law of the Judicial Authority governs operation and jurisdiction of the Public Prosecution. The Attorney General’s Office supervises the prosecutors’ district offices and several specialized prosecution units in the Palestinian governorates. The Public Prosecution also:

• Implements court decisions
• Supervises police officers vested with judicial powers
• Monitors correction and rehabilitation centres (prisons)

The Public Prosecution Office plays a critical role in relation to children in conflict with the law. It is responsible through the prosecution for the protection of juveniles, the investigation and appearance in all criminal offenses committed by juveniles. It implements the penal mediation system and all procedures in the best interests of juveniles. It also inspects detention centres, care and rehabilitation homes, vocational training centres, and specialized hospitals, and it follows up on adults who have been appointed by the Juvenile Prosecution through the mediation system to take care of the child, or by the Juvenile Court through a ruling to take care of the child, and to care for children at risk and at risk of delinquency, and juveniles that are in need of special care or are handicapped

The public Prosecution Office also plays an important role in policy-making regarding justice for all children, drafting the executive regulations for the decree-by-law regarding the protection of juveniles and the Law of the Palestinian Child and the protection of other groups of children such as child victims, witnesses, and child deaths by accidents caused by carelessness, negligence, and failure to provide required care, as well as victims of the occupation that fall within the jurisdiction of the other specialized prosecution entities.

About World Vision International in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. The organisation started to work in the West Bank and Gaza in 1975.

Since then, World Vision International in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza has developed one of the largest community-based presence of any organisation operating in the West Bank with 91 dedicated staff and a total annual budget of $11 million USD for 2023. In 2022, our programming on education, early childhood development, child protection and child resilience benefited directly more than 232,000 people, including 169,000 children in 150 villages in the West Bank.