Africa-Press – Angola. A project to place boxes for denouncing cases of violence and abuse against children was launched this Thursday in schools in the municipality of Ombadja, by the National Children’s Institute (INAC) in Cunene.
The project, in partnership with World Vision, covers all schools from primary to secondary education.
On the occasion, the director of INAC in Cunene, Helder dos Santos, said that the creation of the boxes and of receiving anonymous and confidential complaints from people who notice any occurrence of violence against the child.
He informed that after registering the complaint, the focal points placed in the educational institution will seek to solve the child’s problem, if it is of greater dimension it will be forwarded to the direction of INAC.
He asked for the population’s collaboration in denouncing abuse against children, as many are victims of physical aggression and sexual abuse, but are not reported to the institution for proper treatment.
Helder dos Santos underlined that the denouncement boxes will be managed by the Municipal Protection Networks, through the focal points, indicated by the teams of trainees from the respective schools.
The representative of World Vision in Cunene, Nazaré Zambi, said that this initiative is intended to strengthen the mechanisms for reporting and quick responses to cases of violence and other types of abuse against minors.
“We are sure that the project will help to protect the privacy and integrity of the victims, as well as inhibition by the perpetrators of such practices”, he said.
For his part, Ombadja Municipal Administration secretary, Geci José, said that child protection is one of the fundamental tasks of the State, which is why society is called upon to observe and safeguard their rights.
“The project is a mechanism that will guide parents and guardians, in guiding children on ways to protect themselves from acts that may endanger their physical and moral integrity”, he considered.
Geci José highlighted the initiative of INAC and World Vision for their work, hoping that the launch of boxes for denouncing cases of violence will be replicated in remote areas of the municipality.
Cunene has seven child protection networks, one provincial and six municipal, which are responsible for boosting activities to combat and prevent violence against minors in families.
In the current academic year, Cunene province has 200 thousand students and six thousand 257 teachers, distributed in 333 primary schools, first cycle of secondary education.
During the year 2022, INAC registered, at the level of the province of Cunene, 77 cases of violence against minors, eight more in relation to the same period of 2021.
In the same year, 2,231 cases of early pregnancy were reported, involving girls between 12 and 17 years of age, against 1,665 in the same previous period.
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