Namibia: Post-VACS Data-to-Action Activities
In 2022, Project Hope and LifeLine/ChildLine Namibia agreed to work together to amplify specific aspects of the country’s response to Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) results.
The Namibian Government developed a scope of work referencing key takeaways and recommendations from a landscape analysis and country briefs. Lifeline / Childline (LLCL) and Project Hope Namibia (PHN) are respectively focused on two of the government’s key priorities in relation to ending violence against children: strengthening parenting and caregiver programming and making schools safer.
Achievements
- Training of social workers and parents through a pilot program to reinforce child protection networks
- Training of trainer materials ready for programs across the country wanting to adopt the national parenting curriculum
- Endline data collection among learners and parents in 26 schools and a case study competition among the schools featuring specific violence prevention programs they have tried
- Memorandum of Understanding signed to enable the piloting of an integrated electronic case management system for youth survivors of violence, care providers and relevant stakeholders.
Stakeholder Reflections
National Parents and Caregivers Strategy: Drawing on Violence Against Children and Youth Survey Data to Break Cycles of Violence in Namibia
The strategy was developed in response to the 2019 Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in Namibia, which showed that girls and boys experienced high rates of physical, emotional, and sexual violence. Based on the data, and through the post-survey Data-to-Action process, the Government of Namibia focused on positive parenting as a key tactic to address the violence. Given Lifeline/Childline Namibia’s experience in running gender-related positive parenting programs, they tapped the organization to create a technical working group to develop the nation’s first violence-prevention National Strategy for Parents and Caregivers.
Ending Childhood Violence Through Schools in Namibia
As part of the post-survey Data-to-Action process, the Namibian Ministry of Gender and Ministry of Education partnered with Project HOPE Namibia to create programming to reduce violence in and through schools. The goal of the initiative is to build the capacity of teachers to effectively prevent and respond to violence and self-harm by developing and piloting an electronic case management system for responding to violence against children, including gender-based violence.
