Holding The 2nd Inter-Community Dialogue on the Child Protection Structures’ experience Sharing in Herat province

The 2nd Inter-Community Dialogue on the Child Protection Structures’ experience Sharing in Herat province was held by the OSAA organization on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. The dialogue was held with the participation of HELP country director in Afghanistan, OSAA director, INGO and NNGO representatives, representatives of DOLSA, community elders, Arbabs, religious leaders, women activists, and university professors from Herat city and districts.

At the beginning of the program, Ms. Fareshta Yaqoubi, director of OSAA organization, while welcoming the guests, explained the OSAA social, educational, and TVET activities and its achievements in the fields of TVET, employment, and livelihood projects. She added that the purpose of holding this dialogue was to exchange experiences between local elders and heads of councils to understand the social structures of child protection and ways for the betterment of children’s situations in western Afghanistan.

Mr. Mohammad Asif Foulad, Country Director of HELP Germany organization in Afghanistan, shared the activities and accomplishments of HELP INGO with the participants. He added that since 2008, HELP INGO has been able to include TVET projects for 16,000 children and provide some other services such as mental health support, literacy, life skills, and small businesses to the most vulnerable children in 4 provinces of western Afghanistan.

Mr. Hafiz Mirza Muhammad Abu Mansour, head of DOLSA in Herat Province, emphasized on making the most effective use of the present opportunities and effective projects for the vulnerable children, mostly street children, which are being implemented by HELP Germany, OSAA, and their donors. He promised to cooperate and assist the NGOs in supporting vulnerable children.

Mr. Hikmat, OSAA program manager, welcomed the participants and appreciated the project donors and stakeholders for creating such a great opportunity to support vulnerable children and families and make great changes in their lives. He introduced the OSAA activities regarding the current TVET project. Mr. Hikmat added that in addition to urban areas, this project covers the most remote districts in Herat province. These programs are adapted for the disabled and vulnerable children, and the beneficiaries will benefit from the TVET, literacy, small businesses, and psychosocial counseling programs in the 6-month courses, and at the end of the program, they will receive a package of vocational toolkits. The working tools for their vocations are maintained to continue their business and become financially independent. According to the results of the tracer studies of the last TVET project of HELP INGO, which was held by EESC of OSAA in Herat, 71 percent of the graduated beneficiaries have been included in the labor market and are self-sufficient.

Subsequently, the dialogue participants expressed their ideas and views in the framework of open discussion to improve the situation of vulnerable children and emphasized the implementation of strategies to protect children and support them against possible harm.

At the end, Mr. Abdul Sattar Zarifi, head of social affairs of Herat DOLSA, summed up the program, while thanking for the creation of supportive programs for vulnerable children in the western region and considering the balanced development in all urban and remote areas by Help Germany and OSAA organizations. He also requested to focus on basic programs in order to turn short-term projects into long-term ones.