Preventing Child Trafficking and Protecting Child Victims in the Congo
A child is not only a subject of law, but a fragile being whose protection must resonate with us as an imperative, a moral duty
Séraphin Ondelé, Director of Cabinet, Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation (MID)
Durée du projet : 2010 - 2012
This project to train police forces and social workers in the Republic of the Congo was implemented in 2010 by the IBCR thanks to the financial support of the U.S. State Department and the support of UNICEF. Spanning two years, the project was part of a national effort to combat child trafficking that had been launched the same year with the adoption of a child protection code. However, until that point, its operations had been limited to the city of Pointe-Noire. The IBCR came to strengthen existing local initiatives by developing training for trainers aimed at Congolese police officers, gendarmes and social workers.
Our goals :
The IBCR’s main mission with this project was to train key stakeholders, such as the police, gendarmes and social workers, to better equip them to combat trafficking and prevent and protect child victims.
The IBCR began with a mapping exercise aimed at identifying the different actors involved in the fight against child trafficking. This approach allowed the IBCR to paint a comprehensive picture of the child trafficking situation in the Congo, the mandate of the different state and non-state actors, and the activities held up to that point. Next, the IBCR conducted an analysis of the skills that needed strengthening among police officers, gendarmes and social workers with a view to offering them a training programme tailored to their needs and reality. This initial work led to the drafting of a training manual intended for students of the National Police Academy and the National Gendarmerie Academy, and fully adapted to the Congolese context. The first training session was given at the two schools in 2011. A second cohort of police officers and gendarmes received similar training in Brazzaville the following year. A manual and training were developed soon after, this time for social workers, and a series of pilot training sessions were offered in Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville.
- Intervention locations : Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, in Republic of the Congo
- Project duration: 2010-2012
- Partners :
- Highlights:
- 12 instructors from the Police Academy and Gendarmerie Academy received children’s rights training
- 81 police officers and gendarmes were trained by Congolese instructors from the Police Academy and the Gendarmerie Academy
- Over 115 social workers were trained in Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville by Congolese trainers and the IBCR
- 150 representatives from the international community gathered on September 13, 2012 for the closing ceremony of the project to discuss child trafficking in the Republic of the Congo
- Fields of activity and expertise :
- Capacity building
- Training leadership
- Child sexual exploitation
- Children and the justice system
