Provision of life-saving protection assistance and services to vulnerable, conflict-affected children in Akobo and Uror County, Jonglei State INTERSOS has been present with child protection activities in Northern Jonglei since 2014, specifically in Nyirol, Uror and Akobo county. Prior to the recent crisis in Northern Jonglei INTERSOS managed 3 CP helpdesks in Yuai, Walgak and Lankien where over 900 UASC and OVC could safely access the assistance and support of qualified Case Workers. Furthermore, INTERSOS managed 10 Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in the area, of which 5 had to be closed between February and April due to the insecurity in the area, which led to massive displacements and widespread looting (Yuai, Pathai, Pieri, Walgak, Koangdeng). 

With the proposed project INTERSOS intends complementing its ongoing CP response in Nyirol county by retaking suspended activities in Akobo and Uror counties. In particular, it aims at providing activities for family tracing and reunification services in areas not covered by such, including the provision of safe interim care arrangements for UASC, orphans and children leaving armed forces. Families that have adopted one or more UAC will be trained on the main principles of interim care provision and positive parenting skills. The intervetion further aims at strengthening individual case management and elaboration of case plans for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) through CP helpdesks including provision of referrals to other services (education, health, NFIs, nutrition). Individual psychosocial support (PSS) activities will be provided to decrease children’s psychosocial distress, which is a result of protracted exposure to violence. Additionally, INTERSOS intends re-opening its CFS in Wechjal and Pieri as well as building additional temporary CFS in areas with an elevated number of recently displaced children. CFS will be used as the entry point for the wider systems’ building component of the project. This critical intervention enables children who are exposed to an elevated level of violence and stress to participate in activities that help them gain a sense of normalcy, thus mitigating the possible negative developmental impacts. The CFS will be staffed with qualified CP staff as well as community volunteers with the appropriate set of skills and interest in working with children, who will undergo an intensive training in child protection and CFS management, followed by ongoing mentoring and coaching by INTERSOS Child Protection staff.

INTERSOS intends to enhance the quality of its CP intervention by directly involving parents and caregivers through workshops aimed at reinforcing their resilience, strengthen positive coping mechanisms and supportive parenting skills, including positive discipline. This is coupled with the continuous efforts INTERSOS undertakes to establish and strengthen community-based child protection systems and referral mechanisms through capacity building among community members, delivering knowledge on violation of child rights, signs and symptoms of different forms of abuse thereby contributing to the active identification of the most vulnerable children who suffer any form of harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation. As part of the continuous strengthening of community child protection systems the project will further implement awareness raising activities, including through public drama sessions, around child protection in emergencies. This will include a component of SGBV to ensure that children have access to the relevant information and services. This initiative will involve peer-to-peer education initiatives through the CFS. Additionally, adolescents will be supported to develop and lead on initiatives to increase local understanding of child protection risk factors and what kinds of steps children themselves can take to be protected from abuse, violence and exploitation.

Overall, INTERSOS wants to achieve a protective and child-friendly environment, free of any threats and harm for children, in Wechjal (Akobo County) and Pieri (Uror County) and other major IDP sites in the area.