The City of Cape Town has recently concluded a series of workshops around children’s rights and child abuse with Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners, facilitated by the non-governmental organisation, Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAPCAN).

The 30 workshops were held across the city, with more than 350 participants currently working in the Early Childhood Development sector.

RAPCAN is one of eight organisations that benefited from grants-in-aid disbursed by the City’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Directorate in the 2015/16 financial year, totalling R2 million.

The focus of the workshops included building an understanding of children’s rights, the signs and symptoms of abuse, and identifying dangers posed to children attending Early Childhood Development facilities. Principals and educators were trained to support children who experience abuse by linking the child with the child protection system. Participants also received a resource toolkit which included a poster to educate parents about the types of abuse and the famous book ‘A trolley full of rights’ developed by RAPCAN with children, for children.

‘ECD staff interact with children on a daily basis and so they are perfectly positioned to pick up on any signs of abuse, whether physical or psychological. That’s why we decided on this training intervention: to capacitate staff with the knowledge and tools to act where they do come across such cases. The other big focus point has been ensuring that ECDs are spaces that are child-friendly and compliant with the Children’s Act. ECDs must be able to provide the foundation for a solid education, but in a safe space and that’s what this training programme has been all about,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Social Development and Early Childhood Development, Councillor Suzette Little

The workshops also underscored the importance of developing a code of conduct for ECDs that protects children, their parents, and ECD staff. Parents carry the primary responsibility for their children’s protection and can insist that ECDs have a code of conduct to ensure that children are protected from harm. Principals and educators must, by law, act as child protection agents and report child abuse.

‘Government is an important duty-bearer to realise children’s right to protection. By supporting parents in making sure that children are safe at ECDs, government is creating an enabling environment for children to grow to their full potential. This commitment to skills development workshops with ECD forums demonstrates that the City of Cape Town is serious about ensuring children are safe from harm,’ said RAPCAN Executive Director, Christina Nomdo.

End