Child Protection Facilitators Manual (Final)

CHILD
PROTECTION
Facilitation Guidelines for Capacity Building
Acknowledgments
In line with the Afghanistan National Strategy for Children At Risk, this collaboration was established
between the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), UNICEF and other key stakeholders
to develop a cadre of trained social workers to support the efficient functioning of child protection
systems. The process envisages serious and intentional capacity building efforts. To build the
capacity of child protection systems specialists, three types of training guidelines were developed,
including this current facilitator’s manual on ‘Child Protection’.
This manual was developed through collaborative work between MoLSA, UNICEF and World Vision
International, which aimed to complement and strengthen the capacity of stakeholders from child
protection related sectors in both government and non-government organizations in Afghanistan.
Special thanks go to the following individuals who contributed to the adaptation and conceptualization
and/or writing and revision of the Child Protection Facilitator’s Manual. Special appreciation goes to
the IKEA Foundation for its generous financial contribution.
MoLSA:
Najibullah Akhlaqi Director, Child Protection Secretariat
Sayed Khushal Haris Senior Child Protection Specialist
UNICEF Afghanistan Country Office:

Dr. Tatjana Colin Chief, Child Protection
Yoko Wada Child Protection Specialist
Sayed Abdul Sami Hashemi Child Protection Specialist
Khalid Ahmed Child Protection Specialist
Dr. Mohammad Nawroz Ibrahimi Child Protection Officer
Farzan Hossaini Child Protection Officer
World Vision International:

Kristine Mikhailidi Technical Advisor, Child Protection and Participation
Martha Medhanie Children in Emergencies Technical Advisor
Brikena Zogaj Child Protection and Participation Advisor
Safiullah Amarkhail Child Protection Sector Lead
Acronyms

CPAN Child Protection Action Network
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
D-CPAN District Child Protection Action Network
MoLSA Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
NGO Non-Government Organization
NSFCAR National Strategy for Children At Risk
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CHILD PROTECTION
Contents
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction and getting started .......................................................................................................9
Welcome and setting training norms................................................................................................11
Module 1: Childhood and the protective environment.......................................................................12
Session 1: Ecology of the child ......................................................................................................12
Session 2: Child development........................................................................................................14
Session 3: Contributing to a child’s development and growth ........................................................25
Module 2: Children and vulnerability...............................................................................................37
Session 1: Defining vulnerability.....................................................................................................37
Module 3: Understanding child protection......................................................................................47
Session 1: Understanding child protection.....................................................................................49
Session 2: Afghanistan’s legislative framework for child protection ...............................................63
Session 3: Analysing existing child-rearing practices.....................................................................77
Module 4: Child protection systems strengthening approach.........................................................88
Session 1: Conceptual understanding of a systems approach to child protection..........................88
Session 2: Partnering and multi-sector responses for child protection ..........................................99
Module 5: Understanding child participation ................................................................................103
Session 1: Importance of child participation .................................................................................103
Session 2: Ethical considerations of child participation ...............................................................109
Session 3: Ensuring participation of children with disabilities ......................................................114
Module 6: Child protection is everyone’s responsibility ................................................................121
Session 1: Responding to a child’s disclosure of abuse ..............................................................121
Overview
Intense and on-going armed conflict in Afghanistan continues to negatively impact the fundamental
rights of children across the country. The extreme poverty of Afghan families, compounded by
conflict and disaster-induced displacement, has exposed most children to significant vulnerabilities
that threaten their rights to survival, protection, development and participation. Afghanistan has a
large population of children, with almost half (47.3 per cent) of all people under 15 years of age. 1
Concerns related to the protection of children include:
• Child labour – 51.8 per cent of children are working, with 45 per cent of them being forced to
work because their family is poor .2
• Psychological and physical violence – 74 per cent of children aged 2 to 14 years were
subjected to at least one form of psychological or physical punishment by mothers/caregivers
or other household members. In cases of ‘moral offences’ associated primarily with girls, they
undergo humiliating and in some cases abusive physical examinations, with little consideration
for their psychosocial wellbeing .3
• Child marriage – Nearly half of girls (46 per cent) in Afghanistan are married before the age
of 18 .4
• Internal trafficking – Afghan children often end up in carpet-making or brick factories,
domestic servitude, engaged in commercial sexual exploitation, begging, poppy cultivation,
drug smuggling, or forcibly recruited to become suicide bombers by insurgent groups .5
In 1994 Afghanistan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The
CRC enshrines the basic rights of every child for survival, development, protection and participation.
Ratification obligates states to develop legislation, policies and practices that lead to the fulfilment
of these rights in accordance with the provisions of the CRC. However, Afghanistan is still aiming
to fulfil the promises made by ratifying the CRC and there is an urgent need to strengthen child
protection systems to protect girls and boys from violence.
To enhance the protection of girls and boys, in May 2006 then Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs,
Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) which is currently the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
(MoLSA), supported by UNICEF and other child protection mandated organizations, developed
and launched the National Strategy for Children at Risk (NSFCAR). The NSFCAR provides a
road map for building sustainable child protection systems. It outlines social services provision,
policies and programmes to protect children at risk and enable them to reach their full potential
free from violence, exploitation and abuse. The NSFCAR, backed by the ratified CRC has led to
the establishment of the Child Protection Action Network (CPAN) as a mechanism for protecting
children and their families. The CPAN was established by MoLSAMD at that time, with the support
of UNICEF and Save the Children in 2003. It was piloted in the Northern Region before being
expanded to other provinces in 2007. Although formal mechanisms for child protection systems
are defined in Afghanistan, the overall capacity of the systems to perform is still lacking at various
levels.
1. Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey 2016-2017, Mid-term results highlights April-September 2016,
http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/ALCS/ALCS%20Mid-termresult-Highlights%202016-17.pdf
2.Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission: Children’s Situation Summary Report (14 September 2013), retrieved from:
http://www.aihrc.org.af/home/research-reports/2115
3.Justice for Children: The Situation for Children in Conflict with the Law in Afghanistan,
https://www.unicef.org/media/files/Juvenile_Detention_Study_engl.pdf
4.Central Statistics Organization (CSO) and UNICEF (2012), Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey
2010-2011: Final Report. Kabul: Central Statistics Organization (CSO) and UNICEF.
5.Office of Monitoring and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report,
https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2016/258708.htm
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CHILD PROTECTION
Along with formal child protection systems, in Afghanistan extended families and community are
the main sources of protection and support for children. Religious and community leaders/‘Shura’
are Afghanistan’s traditional ‘gate keepers’ for making local decisions, as they have credibility and
moral authority among a large percentage of the Afghan public. They are mandated to ensure the
protection of people within the community, including children, and to support the prevention and
management of reported cases.
Nevertheless, traditional family and community support networks are stressed or disrupted due to
on-going conflict, resulting in increased poverty and displacement and leaving children at increased
risk of child labour, recruitment by armed groups, trafficking, child marriage and other forms of
exploitation. Social systems for the protection of children and the support of families are weak and
underdeveloped. As a result, many children are exposed to and subjected to violence, such as child
exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, and child marriage.
To improve functionality and to strengthen links with formal and non-formal child protection systems,
MoLSA, in collaboration with UNICEF and World Vision International, developed a capacity building
programme targeting key actors and stakeholders of child protection systems at various levels. The
programme focuses on three major areas:
1. Child protection
2. Community social work for child protection
3. Case management
This child protection manual is designed to offer training to deepen the knowledge and skills of
participants in the areas of child protection and a systems approach to child protection. It intends
to encourage practitioners to apply child protection principles, and be able to support prevention
strategies and act on incidents of violence against children.
1.1 GOAL
The training aims to contribute to building the capacity of the cadre of professionals, enabling them
to understand child protection and efficiently address child protection concerns
1.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To understand the concept and main principles of child protection

• To grasp the concept of a systems approach to child protection, its nature, scope and main
features of child protection systems in Afghanistan
• To learn how to strengthen the prevention of child abuse and how to act on incidents of
violence against children
1.3 EXPECTED RESULTS
By the end of the training, participants will:
• Be fully conversant with the concepts of child protection and child protection systems
approach
• Be informed about current legal and institutional frameworks that exist in Afghanistan
• Have operational knowledge on a systems approach to child protection
• Have increased capacity to apply guiding principles when responding to child protection
issues
• Have a strengthened ability to address child protection issues by prioritizing the principle
of Best Interests of the Child
• Be able to respond to child protection issues through a child protection systems approach
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CHILD PROTECTION
1.4 TARGET AUDIENCE
• Individuals working for the Afghan government and non-state organizations in areas related
to child protection, social services, education, development, health and justice.
• Community and religious leaders
• Parents and caregivers
1.5 DURATION
The training programme is designed for four days, although there is a possibility to adjust the
duration depending on the needs of the targeted audience.
1.6 TRAINING METHODS
Lecture Illustration of the key concepts with examples and best practices
Group Work Facilitation of small group discussions (five to six participants) around a
given topic to generate group reflections and increase opportunities for
participants to participate and contribute practically
Brain Generation of participants’ creative thinking and development of new

Storming ideas and solutions
Individual Maintaining personal reflections, capturing observations, accomplishing

activity individual assignments
Q & A Participation in plenary discussions around sets of questions to jointly find

the answers
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CHILD PROTECTION
Introduction and getting
started
Afghanistan is among the least developed countries in the world, ranked 169th out of 188 countries
in the Human Development Index (UNDP, 2016). War has hindered Afghanistan’s development and
made it one of the world’s poorest countries. It also ranks as one of the top ten most Fragile States
in the world, and is ranked 154th out of 159 countries in the Gender Inequality Index.
Decades of violent conflict and severe poverty have caused the widespread practice of human
rights violations, which includes impunity and inadequate investment in and attention to human
rights, particularly exacerbating the vulnerability of children. Children are often the first to suffer,
as schools are destroyed and basic services are disrupted, resulting in extreme deprivation and
violations of their rights.
Every failure to protect children has negative consequences that continue into their adult life. This
in turn affects the country’s development. Violence or exploitation can undermine any other child
wellbeing outcome, just as a safe environment provides children with the opportunity to develop
holistically and to thrive. Adverse childhood experiences (such as abuse, exploitation and neglect)
are shown to have long-term consequences on wellbeing and development. The consequences
often include difficulties in school/learning, poor health, and problems gaining employment and
interacting socially, sometimes lasting for their whole lives.
Thus, sustained improvement in child wellbeing requires protecting children from violence.
Notwithstanding current government efforts, there is still a lack of sufficient financial resources,
human services and effective accountability mechanisms. This undermines the effectiveness of
the efforts and generally results in weak child protection performance. The operating environment
for child protection in Afghanistan is characterized by major weaknesses of systems at all levels.
It requires systematic, targeted and coordinated effort, and acknowledgement at all tiers of
government, donors and civil society.
To contribute to strengthening child protection in Afghanistan, a comprehensive child protection

training programme was developed. This Child Protection Training Manual was designed in
consultation with key state and non-state stakeholders. The manual has six modules:
Modules
Module 1: Childhood and the protective environment
Module 2: Children and vulnerability
Module 3: Understanding child protection
Module 4: Child protection systems strengthening approach
Module 5: Understanding child participationon of outcomes
Module 6: Child protection is everyone’s responsibility
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CHILD PROTECTION
Going through these manuals will help participants understand the concepts and main principles of
child protection, to grasp what a systems approach to child protection means, and how to create a
protective environment for all boys and girls, especially the most vulnerable. Through a number of
group work activities and interactive exercises, participants will gain knowledge and skills on how
to strengthen the prevention of child abuse. They will also learn how to act on incidents of violence
against children.
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WELCOME AND SETTING
TRAINING NORMS
• Help participants introduce each other in a participatory and empowering way.
• Help participants begin to build relationships with each other.
• Marker, pen, flipchart papers and tape.
• 60 min.
• Encourage participants to decide on a set of guidelines for the attitudes and behaviours
that will guide their interaction during the sessions.
• Introducing people to each other helps participants and facilitators get to know
one another. It helps them start building a relationship of mutual trust and respect.
Introductions set the tone for the rest of the sessions by showing respect and confidence
in their community’s capacity.
• Every community is guided by values, norms and guidelines. In the second part of the
session participants will set their own norms and expectations to guide the way they
interact together as a learning community.
• These norms and guidelines will help to create a good learning environment. They will
be especially important when there are strong disagreements or situations of potential
conflict.
Note: These are the first building blocks to creating an environment in which respectful discussion,
learning and change can happen for both participants and facilitators.
Introduction Give participants a warm welcome to the Child Protection training.

60 min Introduce yourself and say where you are from.
Ask participants: “Do you know why we are here today?” Have a few
volunteers share their understanding of the meeting.
Activity Activity 1:
20-30 min. Use instructions in Activity 1
In each session, this icon will remind you to document the discussion
for the ‘Learning Corner’
KEY MESSAGES:
1. Each participant is important and deserves to be introduced.

2. All participants are respected and appreciated.
3. Participants can decide on the guidelines for their learning community.
4. All participants are responsible for following the guidelines they have set.
5. Each person’s contributions will be listened to.
6. Trusting relationships and common guidelines will help make the process of decision-making
more productive and pleasant.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Module 1:
Childhood and the protective
environment
Session 1: Ecology of the child

• Help participants explore the environment in which the child develops.
• Discuss and analyse the interactions of different aspects of the environment with the
child.
• Marker, pen, flipchart papers and tape.
• 2 hours 30 min.
• In addition to the innate nature of a child, interaction with the environment shapes a
child’s development.
• Understanding the aspects of bi-directional interaction of a child with different aspects
of physical and social environment is critical.
• Adults have an important role to play in building a protective environment to support
children to thrive and develop to their full potential.
Introduction Understanding a caring and protective environment

50 min
• Show a hand full of raw pistachio seeds to the participants.
Ask if Afghanistan’s hot and dry climate is best for growing
pistachios. Then, ask the participants to divide into three
groups. Each group represents three key parts of growing
pistachios (helping seeds germinate, planting and growing
trees, and harvesting pistachios)
• Ask the groups to discuss and write key steps they need to
do to successfully germinate, grow and harvest – as per their
assigned topics.
• Ask the groups to share with the larger group.
Note: The facilitator should support reflections pointing to common

environmental conditions to harvest successfully. Similarly, when a
child grows, there are different factors associated with the environment
that will affect how successfully he/she grows or develops.
Activity Activity 1: Circle of care

90 min. Use instructions in Activity 1
In each session, this icon will remind you to document the discussion
for the ‘Learning Corner’.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Circle of care
• Participants will learn to analyse situations surrounding children.
• On flipchart paper, draw a child in the middle. Draw three circles around the child.
• Explain to participants: In a community, it is common for children to interact with
different individuals every day. Many actors at different levels are responsible for taking
care of a child.
• Ask the participants to think who might be represented in each circle. Mention that the
closer the circle is to the child, the stronger the connection will be with him/her, and
the higher the responsibility for caring for the child.
• Ask participants to divide into three groups. Give each group a flipchart with a child
in the middle and three circles around. Ask Group 1 to discuss who are the first people
responsible for caring for a child in Afghanistan and fill in the first circle. Group 2 will
focus on the second circle and Group 3 on the third circle.
• Once the small groups have finished, ask each group to share a summary of their
discussion at the plenary.
Note to the facilitator: Example STATE
Summarize the groups’ work on one Cultural value

chart. Include the heading for each circle: s
tem
‘Family’, ‘Community’, ‘State’ (as per ys
ool Media Re
sch
S
example provided).
Hi
li g
io
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Conclude by saying: Children’s wellbeing s

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ry
ie
us
depends on their relationships with gs Au

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Econ
nt
se
Si
n Health Fac
others and the social, political, spiritual,

tting
ies
Social Condi
physical and environmental contexts in

d parent
s Comm
child
Uncles
which they live. This is called the ecology

of the child or an ecological model.
n
s
ra
The approach helps us to consider

Law
re
G Pa
un
ild
rents
the different relationships, institutions,
ti o
it y
ch
Ne
systems and structures that create a
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n
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ors Peers/o b
positive environment where children can
n
o Et
develop to their fullest potential. ati u ics
hn
l sit FAMILY
Politica
COMMUNITY
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CHILD PROTECTION
Session 2: Child development
• Explore the meaning of childhood in a local context and under Afghan law.
• Discuss the needs of children as per their age and developmental domains.
• Analyse the factors influencing the development of children.
• Flipchart paper, tape, marker and coloured paper
• 3 hours 20 min.
• Understanding the characteristics and needs of children and childhood will help
participants be more child-focused in their respective roles and responsibilities.
• Explain that attitudes and values related to children impact children’s development
and their futures as adults.
Introduction Think like a child

40 min
• Ask the participants: “If you were given an opportunity to
think or behave like a child, what would be the first three
things that you would think about or would like to do?”
• Ask participants to break into pairs or small groups
to share their thoughts with each other. Ask the small
groups to share with the larger group the summary of
their discussions.
Note: Make sure the reflections of the thoughts of participants are
related to child-like characteristics, such as asking what they like,
playing with different things, moving around to touch things, messing
everything up from its proper place, going outside to run or play with
other children, kites, collecting things, etc. Write all the points in the
flipchart. Ask the participants how different these ideas would be from
an adult perspective? Ask what the reasons for the differences might
be.
Activity Activity 1: Perspectives on what is a child or childhood

20-30 min. Use instructions in Activity 1
This icon will remind you to document the discussion for the ‘Learning
Corner’
Activity 2: Needs of children and child developmental domains

20-30 min.
Use instructions in Activity 2
Activity 3: Stages of child development and developmental

30 min.
characteristics/milestones
Activity 4: Perspectives on maturity and childhood

40 min.
Activity 5: Effects of adversity and nurturing on child development

30 min.
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ACTIVITY 1:
Perspectives on what is a child or childhood
• Explore the perceptions that remain the same or differ about children and childhood
from one generation to the next.
• Analysing the different perspectives is important while defining terms related to

social construct.
• It is known that a community’s perception about children and childhood is influenced
by powerful groups and ideas at particular times.
• Explain that we will think about and discuss how childhood is changing in our society
and culture, and how each generation is different. We will think about childhood from
different perspectives.
• Ask participants to divide into three small groups. Each group will be discussing
childhood from the following perspectives:
o Our parents’/elders’ perspective

o Our own perspective
o The perspective of children today.
• Ask each group to discuss, according to individuals’ perspectives, using the

questions below:
o How do you think our elders, ourselves, or today’s children would describe a
child (a boy and a girl separately)?
o What are the words used in each generation to describe childhood (for boys
and for girls separately)?
o How does each generation see childhood? What do we expect from it, or
understand by it?
• Ask the small groups to present a summary of their discussion to the larger group.
• Facilitate the larger group’s reflections using the questions below:
o How did you feel about this discussion? What did you think while you were
answering the questions?
o What differences and similarities did you observe across generations?
o What do you think are the factors that influence how each generation defines
or describes a child and childhood?
*Note to the facilitator:
Summarize the discussion emphasizing that some perceptions about children and childhood
change from one generation to the next, while others remain the same. A community’s perception
about children and childhood is influenced by powerful groups and ideas at particular times. For
example, they can be influenced by interpretations of religious leaders, or views of community
elders. They can be affected by the international community or other factors. The changes from
one generation to another can be viewed as positive or negative depending on the values that are
held by a community or group.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Needs of children and child developmental
domains
• Understand the meaning of child development and its domains.
• Explore how humans and their needs differ from other living things (plants and
animals).
• Ask participants to divide into smaller groups and share their views on:
o What are the differences or similarities between the terms child growth and
development?
o How do you know a child is growing or developing?
o What are the domains that commonly show change or progress when a child
grows or develops?
o What are the common needs for children to grow and develop?
o What do children need to grow and develop to their full potential?
• Ask the small groups to summarize their discussions and present to the larger group.
• After the presentation of all groups, further probe the larger group to summarize the
key needs of children and the developmental domains/features.
If the participants could not understand how to

describe aspects of child growth and development Fruit
please provide an example of how plants start to grow
from seed, roots, trunk, leaves and fruits with different
timing, shape, strength and size.
Growth: Refers to structural and physiological changes
shown in the net increase in size, proportion or mass Trunk
of tissue.
Water
Development: Refers to a progressive series of
qualitative changes in growth and capability occurring
as a result of maturation and experience for optimal Soil
functioning of the individual. Roots
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Developmental needs of children Child development domains
Love, affectionate care, attention Physical: Includes height and weight,

of adults to listen and talk to small and big hands and legs, muscle
them, guidance, appreciation/ coordination, physical health.
encouragement, proper nutritious
food, opportunity to play and interact
with other children, learn about their Intellectual/cognitive: Includes the
surroundings, proper behaviours, development of a wide variety of
followed by formal education, thought processes and intellectual
protected from harm, be healthy, etc. abilities, including attention, memory,
problem solving, imagination,
creativity and the capacity to
communicate through language.
Social: Includes interpersonal

skills, communication, self-esteem,
relationship skills, moral reasoning
and behaviour.
Emotional: Development of emotional

communication, ability to manage
own feelings and impulses. Emotional
development forms the foundation
of cognitive and social development.
Most information collected by children
comes from those closest to them
– their families and immediate
community – who act as role models
for children.
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ACTIVITY 3:
Stages of child development and developmental
characteristics/milestones
• Understanding expectations of age-appropriate characteristics.

• Learning to engage and communicate with children depending on their age and
evolving capacities.
• Each child develops individually at his or her own pace and style. In addition to
obvious minimum biological needs such as breathing, eating, drinking and sleeping,
children have psychosocial needs that are essential for their development. Children’s
development is influenced by individual characteristics, as well as by relationships
and external support provided to the child.
• Discuss with participants: If they were asked to explain the changes in the
development of an individual until he or she reached 18 years of age, how would
they categorize the age intervals among the almost similar patterns of growth and
development.
• After reaching similar categorizations, ask participants to divide into four groups and
discuss the characteristics/milestones of each developmental stage with regard
to four domains:
• Physical
• Intellectual/cognitive, including language
• Social
• Emotional
• In addition to listing the characteristics of each domain, ask the groups to share a
story of a child who showed all the domains in a comprehensive way.
• Bring the smaller groups together and ask them to present their discussion points.
Simultaneously ask the larger group to write the key characteristics of each stage
according to the four domains.
• When each group tells their story, ask the larger group to reflect on how
comprehensively the critical characteristics of the child were incorporated within the
four domains.
The process of categorizing development in stages is helpful to be able to support the developmental
needs of children in a comprehensive way, considering the unique nature of each individual child.
Thus, encourage the discussion by asking how children are given labels according to their age
characteristics. For instance, starting to walk or talk, likes to play, pre-schoolers, likes to spend
more time with other children, differs in their physical appearance to look more like adults, etc.
Categorize the developmental stages as:
• Birth to 2 years (infants)

• 3–6 years (early childhood)
• 7–11 years (middle childhood)
• 12–18 years (adolescence)
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Birth–2 years old 3–6 years old 7–11 years old 12–18 years old
• From uncoordinated • Fast physical growth in • Develops balance • Physical and sexual
reflex movement at birth height and weight maturation (e.g. voice
• Slow growth in height
to start to climb, jump changes, appearance of
• Physically active and and weight
and pick small things up beard for boys, hips becoming
exploring the world,
with fingers • Varied facial larger for girls, beginning of
can’t stay in one place
expressions mensuration, etc.)
• Most rapid period for long, improved
Physical
of physical growth, complex physical skills • Actively engages in
development of senses of hopping, climbing and more sophisticated use
riding (bicycles) of hands and legs: sport,
• Reliance on caregivers
carrying things, sorting
for survival • Can dress and undress
objects
alone
• Most rapid period of • Does not clearly • Can accurately • Understands logical
intellectual growth understand time or recognize and consider possibilities of actions,
abstract things other’s view points learns to systematically solve
• Begins to imitate
problems
others, repeat activities, • Egocentric and illogical • Understands concepts
movements and speech of space and time • Able to think abstractly and
• Cannot understand
analyse different ideas
• Able to understand another person’s • Can remember events
Mental
orders and purpose of thinking, so they focus from months or years • Understands views of others
objects/things on their own ideas and earlier and social systems
opinions. This looks like
• Thinking becomes more • Decisions might be impacted
‘naughty’ behaviour, as
logical and rational by emotions
they usually follow their
own way of doing things. • Interested in collecting • Interested in ideas, the future
• Curious to know things things and topics to and social problems
through exploration and know more
questioning
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Birth–2 years old 3–6 years old 7–11 years old 12–18 years old
• Emotional part of the • Self-awareness: • Develops likes and dislikes to • Acute sense of identity
brain (limbic system) develops likes/ dislikes/ specific things and actions • More emotional; feelings
develops significantly fears fluctuate easily as
• Starting to be able to control
influenced by peer
• Forms attachments • Able to leave mother emotions
pressure
(e.g. recognizes
• Emotion regulation • Can emphasize and • Can feel uncertain or
mother’s voice). Loss or
developing recognize the feelings and worried at times
separation is the biggest
Emotional
emotions of friends, family
challenge to a child’s
and the community
development at this
stage.
• Understands caring • More curious/ • Believes rules can be • Friendships often

responses independent changed through negotiation selected on personal
characteristics and
• Smiles at others • Enjoys pretend or • Takes on more responsibility
mutual interest
imaginative play with at home
• Gradual socialization
different social roles • Acceptance by peer
with others • Imitates, learns and adopts
group is critical to
• Develops positive or age-appropriate social roles
• Dependency self-image
negative self-esteem with peers
Social
depending on what • Vulnerable to emotional
• Enjoys games involving
others tell him or her stress
teams or competition
• Understands concepts • Prefer to conform and
• Sensitive to others’ opinions
of right and wrong identify with peer group
about them
support that may result
• Friendships start to be
• Influenced by adults outside in rejection of parental
based on common play
the family (e.g. teachers) standards
interests
• Can understand viewpoints
and social expectations of
others
ACTIVITY 4:
Perspectives on maturity and childhood
• Explore contextual perspectives of defining maturity.

• Create mutual understanding on how maturity goes beyond physical growth.
• In psychology, maturity is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate

manner. Many factors contribute to how a child reaches a point where they act
as expected for their age and responsibility. Through the previous activities,
developmental changes are key indicators to show how a child grows into maturity.
• Ask the participants to divide into small groups.

• Ask them to think of a situation where a young child matured earlier than the usual
expected age.
• What criteria did we use to decide the level of the child’s maturity?
• Does our criteria apply to all children? If not, why?
• How do we define maturity in relation to taking responsibility and obligation?
• How does our community define adulthood?
• What are the major risks associated with giving a child an adult responsibility and
obligation before maturity?
• Bring the groups together and guide the discussions to consider physical and mental
readiness to hold responsibilities and obligations.
• At the end share the age groups listed in Afghan legislation related to children and
child protection as per the table below.
Maturity is something that children acquire over time as they learn skills and develop the capacity to
deal with the complexities of life. Humans start to mature after puberty, anywhere between the ages
of 8 and 13 years for girls, and between the ages of 9 and 14 years for boys. Reaching the age of
puberty should not be considered the only criteria for deciding a person’s maturity.
It is He who created you from dust, then
from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging
clot; then He brings you out as a child; then
[He develops you] that you reach your [time
of] maturity, then [further] that you become
elders. And among you is he who is taken
in death before [that], so that you reach a
specified term; and perhaps you will use
reason.
The brain’s executive functions–logical reasoning and planning–generally reach maturity by age
18, to bear heavy responsibilities and difficulties, for example, family life.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Ages listed in Afghan legislation Under 18 years
related to children and child Constitution
protection Male Female
Any person who has not reached 18 Civil law (Article

Under 18 years
is called a child 40)
Minimum age for child justice

Juvenile code
procedures for children in conflict with 13 years
2005
the law
Maximum age for child justice

Juvenile code
procedures for children in conflict with 18 years
2005
the law
Civil code (15

with permission
Minimum age of marriage 18 years 16 years
of father/
guardian)
Age of sexual consent As per marriage Criminal code
Labour code
Minimum age for light work 15 years
2007
Labour law (15

Minimum age for legal employment 18 years
for light work)
Presidential
Minimum age for voluntary
Complete 18 years Decree #97,
recruitment into armed forces
December 2003
Presidential
Minimum age for direct participation
Complete 18 years Decree #97,
in hostilities
December 2003
22
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 5:
Effects of adversity and nurturing on child
development
• To understand the role of love and nurture on child development.

• To understand how situations of adversity impact a child.
• Children might deal with different levels and kinds of stressful situations in their
different developmental stages. Stress is a part of every child’s life, but not all of it
is bad. Some stress builds resilience, while some increases risk and hinders brain
development. If a child experiences prolonged periods of stress, such as family
violence, abuse or neglect without adequate protective adult support, this can cause
a ‘toxic stress’ reaction, which damages neural connections. It is the role of the
caregiver to buffer toxic stressors. Generally, most stress is not harmful. But toxic
stress can have a negative impact on children’s development.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups. Give each group different statements
about the situation of a child.
• Ask the group to identify the adversity in the situation and how it could impact the
development of the child (specifically physical, social, emotional and intellectual).
• Ask the same group to discuss what would be the impact if those same children
grew up in caring, loving families.
• Bring the small group discussions to the larger group reflection session by inviting
each group to present a summary of their discussions.
• In each of the presentations, encourage discussion by asking how a chronic level
of stress would affect the physical and emotional wellbeing of a child. The severity
could be decided by how strong, prolonged or repeated the stressful event was in
the life of a child, resulting in toxic stress.
• If there is time, a Harvard University video can be shared with participants:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNNsN9IJkws
Note to the facilitator:

Statements of different situations of children
1. A boy who is working in the streets has an addicted father and the child never went to school.
2. A boy who lost both of his parents and is living with his grandparents.
3. A hungry child living with parents with no income; parents always harshly hit him and insulted
him.
4. A girl lost her father due to a conflict and in the displacement camp was sexually abused by a
stranger. She did not inform anyone about what happened. Her family never showed her love
or cared for her, and she was always called a burden for the family.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Some of the adverse factors could include:
• Incidents of physical or sexual abuse

• Incidents of loss and bereavement
• Situation of chronic neglect
• Too much responsibility too young
• Family chronic illness and substance abuse
• Socio-economically disadvantaged (poor, minority, etc.)
Notes for the facilitator to summarize the session: Chronic neglect, nutritional deprivation, persistent
infections, abuse, mental illness or exposure to violence are examples of toxic stress. They are
unhealthy and do not promote development. Toxic stress is always negative and can lead to unhealthy
brain structure in children. It occurs when strong, frequent or long-lasting adverse situations are
experienced without adult support. Children are sensitive to repeated stress activation, as their
brains and bodies are in the process of development. Thus, high doses of adversity not only affect
brain function and development, they affect the developing body’s immune and hormonal systems.
On the contrary, loving, nurturing experiences with caring adults activate the circuits between brain
cells. This helps children to learn positive skills and ways of interacting with others through modelling
that meets their needs. Early detection of toxic stress when a child is very young could prevent or
reverse damaging effects by providing supportive, loving, trusting and responsive relationships.
When conditions are negative, children’s development is constrained, resulting in more vulnerability
to risk now and in the future. When conditions are positive, children’s healthy development is
supported, and resilience is built. The concept of resilience relates to a human’s ability to ‘bounce
back’ when faced with bad situations or even extreme hardship. It is important to contribute to building
children’s capacity for resilience, so they can overcome and respond creatively to challenges and
continue growing and developing to their full potential.
24
CHILD PROTECTION
Session 3: Contributing to a child’s development
and growth
• Help participants appreciate the developmental assets that promote safe
environments for children.
• Discuss different factors promoting child development and wellbeing.

• Analyse risks that hamper positive outcomes for child development and wellbeing.
• Flipchart papers o Print hand out of Developmental Assets table for

• Tape and markers each participant
o Print 3-4 copies of case studies to give to each
• Post-it notes in group
different colours o 2 flipcharts: 1 with titles for External Assets, 1 for
Internal Assets
• 4 hours.
• As opposed to weaknesses, a strengths and assets-based approach has been

empirically evidenced to build stronger and more sustainable support for the effective
development and wellbeing of children.
• Understanding how Developmental Assets interact could be helpful for adults to
think about a range of protective factors to promote child wellbeing.
Introduction What do you see?

30 min • Ask the participants to look around the training room and
remember one thing that is not interesting or a thing that is
useless and cannot be applied for a certain purpose.
• Ask the participants to say what they see to one other
person in the room.
• Bring them back to their seat. You are going to play a little
trick on your participants!
• The group will groan and say, “You said what is not
interesting!”
Note: This activity illustrates that when we see only bad or wrong
things, we may miss out on building on good things that strengthen
positive outcomes and successes in life. It is always important to
remember to find the strengths and assets to build on.
25
CHILD PROTECTION
Activity Activity 1: Shifting our views on approaches to support the
40 min. development of children and adolescents
Activity 2: Developmental assets framework

40 min.
Activity 3: Analysing risk and protective factors to strengthen

50 min.
building a more child-safe environment
Activity 4: Attitudes and behaviours that promote child development

40 min. and wellbeing
40 min. Activity 5: Supporting the provision of environments that promote

wellbeing, development and positive outcomes for children
26
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Shifting our views on approaches to support the
development of children and adolescents
• Understanding existing perspectives on which approach supports children’s
development.
• What comes to mind when we think of the children and adolescents who live in our
community? We may think of their different needs and challenges as they grow;
often we think of the difficult problems or risks they may be exposed to.
• Ask the participants to discuss in pairs:

o Think of the children living in your community. If you are asked to say what
they might have been thinking about themselves, what would you say on
their behalf? What do you think children in your community would think about
themselves?
• Encourage the participants to list out both positive and negative views they think
children might think about themselves.
• Bring the group back together to discuss and reflect. Write the points on the flipchart
in two categories–positive and negative.
• At the end, emphasize that in many communities around the world, children do not
consider themselves as a problem to be solved; they think of themselves as the
solution!
Positive child/youth development is a specific approach developed by several organizations and

institutions. It focuses on building children’s strengths, skills and possibilities by developing key
assets (or competencies), instead of focusing on negative, risky behaviour and backgrounds.
For example, instead of asking what we can do to prevent and fix behavioural problems, we should
consider what opportunities, learning experiences and support we can give children so that they
feel connected and prepared for each new challenge or goal in their lives .6
The value of this approach is that it avoids viewing children as a problem that has to be ‘fixed’,
but rather sees them as competent and capable young people needing positive influences and
opportunities in their lives. This does not mean that problems should not be addressed or that
needs should not be met, but these efforts should be complemented by a positive approach that
helps children succeed in reaching their potential. This shift in thinking about children also means
re-thinking how we work with them.
• Instead of concentrating on problems and prevention, better to focus on what is needed for
success.
• Instead of reacting to problems and needs, we become proactive.
• Instead of looking at children as recipients of services and programmes, we look at children as
resources and as partners who can make valuable contributions to our community.
• The Positive Children/Youth Development theory sees children and adolescents as having
an inner force that pushes them to achieve goals or develop assets or competencies both
internally and externally.
• Internal assets are the positive changes that happen inside a child or adolescent.
• External assets are positive factors in the environment or community that can help a child or
adolescent’s development.
6. From the ‘Positive Youth Development Resource Manual’ by Jutta Dotterweich. Act for Youth.
27
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Developmental Assets Framework
• Understand the components of Developmental Assets.

• The Developmental Assets Framework was introduced by the Search Institute7 to
enable children and young people to develop into successful, contributing adults.
• Developmental Assets are a combination of external experiences that support and

nurture children, and internal attitudes, values and competencies to help children
develop successfully and lead productive lives.
• Explain to the participants that there will be a group activity that involves identifying
key assets.
• Ask the participants to divide into eight small groups. Give them the eight scenarios
below to discuss the following questions:
• What external supportive actions did you identify? By whom?
• What positive characteristics or qualities does the child possess?
• Ask the participants to put each characteristic they identified on a separate post-it
note. Ask them to use one coloured post-it note to respond to the first question and
another coloured note to respond to Question 2.
• Bring participants back to the plenary. Show them a flipchart with the title of external
and internal assets (as per image below). Let each group present their answers. As
they share their discussions, reflecting on the post-it notes ask them to match the
respective areas of external and internal assets. Let the larger group reflect on each
presentation. Make sure that the focus of the discussion is on the key external and
internal assets, and guide them to match these with the assets listed below.
Najiba: Najiba has a family who provides her with love and support and always communicates with
her positively. She feels comfortable seeking advice from her parents. Najiba’s parents are very
active in talking to her school teachers about her progress in school. Najiba always thanks Allah for
giving her supportive teachers, neighbours and friends who encourage her and care for her.
Parwana: Parwana lives in a home, community and neighbourhood that involves her in decisions
and appreciates her contribution, while she helps others. She always feels safe at home, at school
and in her neighbourhood.
Munir: Munir lives in a village where his family and the school he is attending have set very clear
and consistent rules with consequences. His parents and teachers always encourage him to do
well. He loves his family, neighbours and friends who are positive role models for him. They believe
he displays responsible behaviour. The community members are responsible for monitoring the
behaviour of children in their village.
Ali: Ali loves participating in a writing competition of Dari Calligraphy and regularly participates in
different club activities in his school. He also regularly goes to Masjid. He loves spending time with
his parents and supporting them at home.
7. Search Institute is a non-profit organization that studies and works to strengthen children’s success in schools, youth programmes, families
and communities: http://www.search-institute.org/
28
CHILD PROTECTION
Farhad: Farhad always strives to do well in school. He does his homework on time and enjoys
learning at school. He likes the teachers and the other adults in his school. He always participates
in and outside of school learning activities. Farhad spends most days of the week reading his
beloved adventure stories.
Saeed and Farzana: Ahmad is the father of Saeed and Farzana. He always tells his children to
help other people and speak up for equal rights for all individuals in the community. He guides them
on the importance of having good health. He also tells them about the importance of accepting
personal responsibility for behaviour and to always tell the truth. He is very serious about telling
them to stand up for their beliefs.
Tobasom: Tobasom thinks about decisions and she is usually very happy with her decisions. She
cares about and is affected by other people’s feelings. Sometimes she gets frustrated or angry
and takes time to calm herself. She understands that various communities have their own cultural
specificities and traditions. Tobasom has a relative who pushes her to do dangerous things, but
she always stays away from her and rejects her ideas. She seeks to resolve conflict non-violently.
Hamida: Hamida feels she has some influence over things that happen in her life, for example what
kind of profession she might choose for herself in the future. She has confidence in herself. She
decided on her life’s purpose and feels optimistic about her personal future.
29
CHILD PROTECTION
DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS FRAMEWORK
The first four asset categories focus on external structures, relationships and activities that create a positive
environment.
1. Family support
1 Young people need to be
surrounded by people who
2.
3.
Positive family communication
Other adult relationships
Support love, care for, appreciate 4. Caring neighborhood
and accept them. 5. Caring school climate
6. Parent involvement in schooling
8 CATAGORIES MEASURED WITH THE DAP
40 DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS
EXTERNAL ASSETS
Young people need to fell 7. Community values youth

valued and valuable. This 8. Youth as resources
2 happens when youths feel 9. Service to others
Empowerment safe and respected. 10. Safety
11. Family boundaries

Young people need
12. School boundaries
clear rules, consistent
3 consequences for breaking
13.
14.
Neighborhood boundaries
Adult role models
Boundaries and roles, and encouragement
15. Positive peer influence
to do their best.
expectations 16. High expectation
Young people need

17. Creative activities
opportunity – outside of
4 school – to learn and
develop new skills and
18.
19.
Youth projects
Religious community
Constructive interests which other youth
20. Time at home
use of time and adults.
The first four asset categories reflect internal values, skills, and beliefs that young people
also need to fully engage with and function in the world around them.
Young people need 21. Achievement motivation

a sense of lasting 22. School engagement
5 importance of learning 23. Homework
Commitment and belief in their own 24. Bonding to school
abilities. 25. Reading for pleasure
to learning
ENTERNAL ASSETS
26. Caring
Young people need to
27. Equality and social justice
6 develop strong guiding
values or principles to help
28. Integrity
Positive them make healthy life
29. Honesty
30. Responsibility
values choices.
31. Restraint
Young people need the 32. Planning and decision making

7 skills to interact effectively
with others, to make difficult
33.
34.
Interpersonal competence
Cultural competence
Social decisions, and to cope with 35. Resistance skills
competencies new situations. 36. Peaceful conflict resolution
Young people need to 37. Personal power

8 believe in their own self-
worth and to feel that they
38. Self-steam
39. Sense of purpose
Positive have control cover the 40. Positive view of personal future
identify things that happen to them.
30
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 3:
Analysing risk and protective factors to strengthen
building a more child-safe environment
• Understand the actual factors that protect children and reduce risks.
• The Developmental Assets Framework, developed by the Search Institute, provides
guidance on how to build a protective environment to enhance the development of
children.8 It will be important to analyse the risk factors so that families, communities
and individuals working with children can learn to reduce or eliminate them.
• Different levels of interaction with the child will provide different ways to analyse the
factors. Risk factors refer to stressful conditions or circumstances that hamper the
survival and development of a child.
• Protective factors are conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities
or the larger society that mitigate risk and promote healthy child development and
wellbeing. Children face risks and threats to their physical, social, emotional and
intellectual development due to the external environment of family, neighbours,
school, peers and the community at large.
• The Developmental Assets Framework provides lenses through which to analyse
the presence of risk or protective factors in the lives of children.
• Ask the participants to divide into two groups and assign one group to analyse the
risk factors that affect the development of children and the other group to discuss the
protective factors that foster the development of children.
• Emphasize the importance of considering the factors from the perspectives of
parents or families, the child and the environment.
• Bring the groups together and allow participants to add to the overall presentation
of each group.
Both the protective and risk factors take into consideration the internal and external development
assets components. See examples of both risk and protective factors in the table below.
8.For further information on Development Assets, see: http://www.search-institute.org/assets
31
CHILD PROTECTION
Risk factors to a child-safe Protective factors to build a child-
environment safe environment
Lack of understanding of children’s Parental knowledge and skills promoting

needs and child development by parents, positive relations, care, love and positive
teachers and the community discipline
Family members’ mental health issues Children’s life skills, strong internal and
(depression) or substance abuse external assets/competencies, enhanced
resilience
Parental characteristics: young age, low Positive cultural norms and traditional
education, single parenthood, low income, practices that promote child development
large number of children and wellbeing
Lack of positive parenting skills and Government commitment and legislation

behaviours enforcement to protect children from
violence, provision of health care,
education and social services
Displacement resulting in poor social Children have the opportunity to freely

connections speak about issues that concern them
with their family, at school and in the
community
Cultural norms promoting violence, Presence of programmes to raise public

including physical punishment, awareness and equip families, teachers
discrimination or inequality and communities with knowledge and
skills to ensure the safety and protection
of children
32
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 4:
Attitudes and behaviours that promote child
development and wellbeing
• Understand the core attitudes and behaviours that promote the development and
wellbeing of children.
• Parents/caregivers are among the most important people in children’s lives. Attitudes
and behaviours towards children will highly influence their development.
• Prepare a blank table flipchart and be ready to write responses on it.
• Ask the participants to divide into small groups and prepare a role play that shows
positive behaviours and attitudes of parents, teachers or community members
towards promoting child development.
• When each group shows its role play, the larger group needs to write down in their
notes the attitudes and behaviours they observed from each character. After the
completion of each role play, ask the larger group to share their notes.
When the larger group reflects after each role play, write the responses on the flipchart. Summarize
the activity with the key points (below) to be added on to what the participants discussed.
33
CHILD PROTECTION
Supportive attitudes of caregivers Supportive caregiver behaviour
Children can contribute to finding Consistently express affection and care

solutions to family and community for children
concerns
Play has a foundational role in the Interact clearly and openly, encourage
development of children children’s participation
Children need to be supported with Support and encourage relationships with

opportunities to engage in meaningful peers
conversations, and receive feedback on
their ideas and accomplishments
Close relationships with family and other Manage stress and help children deal with
community members are important in stressful situations
children’s lives, irrespective of age and
gender
Every child is unique and has unique Teach and model acceptable behaviour
experiences and capabilities, thus with consistent mentoring and follow up
individualized support needs to be
provided to each child
It is important to take time to listen to a Give reasons rather than directives when
child setting the boundaries and expectations
Apply positive disciplining practices
Guide on how to do things and encourage

learning together and from each other
Provide for children’s needs and ensure

safety and protection from violence
34
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 5:
Supporting the provision of environments that
promote wellbeing, development and positive
outcomes for children
• Analyse approaches to support the provision of asset/competency building
environments to promote the development of and positive outcomes for children.
• Building a supportive environment for children needs to be done in accordance with

the ecology of the child.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups based on the four ecological levels
that start from the child. Give each group one question to discuss and emphasize
that they need to provide realistic and contextual responses:
o What kind of opportunities could be provided for children to help them develop
internal assets for themselves and their peers?
o How could families help their children and how could others support families
to improve their knowledge and skills, to strengthen support for their children?
o How would communities, friends, schools and faith leaders separately, as well
as collaboratively, support the development of children?
o How could other government actors and other partners support the development
of children?
• Bring everyone back to the larger group and let each group present their proposed
actions. Allow the larger group to reflect and add to each presentation.
Encourage participants to explore the opportunities deeper and give specific suggestions on
approaches that could support:
• Children’s health
• Safety, security and protection from violence
• Enjoying and achieving
• Social and civic participation
35
CHILD PROTECTION
KEY MESSAGES:
1. The environment around a child has a significant impact on shaping the child’s development.
Thus, understanding the environment and context of where a child lives will help better
address the needs of children and their families.
2. Different members of a community, including parents, families, neighbours, teachers, mullahs

and others, have a shared responsibility for creating a caring and protective environment for
the wellbeing of children and adolescents.
3. We can play a part in raising awareness and helping different members involved in building
healthier communities for our children and adolescents, bearing in mind child protection
system strengthening.
4. The Developmental Assets identify a set of skills, experiences, relationships and behaviours
that a child experiences internally as well as externally with the community and society in
their environment.
5. Although there are many things to explore about helping build assets in children, it is good to
remember these five key asset building messages:
1. All children and adolescents need assets/competencies

2. Everyone can build assets
3. Relationships are key
4. Little things add up
5. Asset building is an on-going process
36
CHILD PROTECTION
Module 2:
Children and vulnerability
Session 1: Defining vulnerability

• Help participants explore the environment where the child develops.
• Discuss and analyse the interactions of different aspects of the environment with the
child.
o Printed story cards

• Marker, pen, flipchart papers and tape
o Different coloured paper
• 8 hours and 50 min
• Children have a range of different and complex developmental needs that must be met
during different stages of childhood if optimal outcomes are to be achieved.
• Each child’s development is significantly shaped by his or her particular experiences
and interactions, and by a series of factors that could result in their failure to thrive and
achieve their full potential.
• Understanding the factors that expose some children to risks more than their peers
would help to effectively address and reduce overall vulnerability.
Introduction Why are children different from adults?

120 min
• Ask each participant to write one difference between children
and adults. Ask the participants to reflect on each proposed
difference and to suggest the effect of the difference on the life
of a child.
• Summarize the discussion points according to the summary
list9 below (this does not have to be limited to the list).
Activity Activity 1: How does it feel to be vulnerable?

90 min. Activity 2: Vulnerability in the local context

60 min. Activity 3: Problem tree analysis: What makes children vulnerable?

120 min. Activity 4: Mapping vulnerability: Who are the most vulnerable
children?
60 min. Activity 5: Ways to identify and map the most vulnerable children
9.Adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People:
37 http://www.cdc.gov/childrenindisasters/differences.html
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
How does it feel to be vulnerable?
• Help participants experience what it feels like to be vulnerable.
• Start by asking participants about what happened and how they felt during the
activity, then go on to talk about the issues raised and what they learned.
• Before they answer any questions, have them share what their role was. Some key
questions:
o How did you feel during the exercise?

o How did it feel to step forward? To be left behind? What did this make you feel
about yourself and others?
o What reflections do you have about exclusion and vulnerability of children from
this exercise?
• Give each participant a story card (see example below). Invite the volunteers to read
their story card silently and keep it to themselves (do not show anyone else).
• Ask the participants to line up beside each other (as if starting a race).
• Tell the participants that you are going to read out a list of situations or events.
• Ask the participants to imagine being in the role of the given statements.
• Read the questions (listed below) to help them build an image, as if it were their life.
• What is your childhood like? What sort of house do you live in?
• What kind of games do you play? What sort of work do your parents do?
• How much money do your parents earn each month? How do you contribute to the family’s
livelihood?
• What do you do in your holidays and/or free time, if you have any?
• What excites you and what are you afraid of?
• Now ask participants to remain silent as they line up beside each other.
Tell the participants that you are going to read out a list of situations. Each time you read a statement, if
their role confirms it or they respond “yes” have them take one step forward. Otherwise, they should
not move from where they are standing. Read the statements loudly and wait for participants to take
their step. At the end, ask everyone to take note of their final position and think like themselves.
Statements
• Your family has never encountered any serious financial difficulty

• You have a decent house with a television
• You feel your language, religion and culture are respected in the society where you live
• You feel that your opinion on social and political issues matters and your views are listened to
38
CHILD PROTECTION
• You have never felt discriminated against because of your origin
• You have adequate social and medical protection for your needs
• Your family provides high levels of love and support
• You can go away on holiday with your family once a year
• You can invite friends for dinner at home
• You can buy new clothes at least once every three months
• You can fall in love with the person of your choice
• You can use and benefit from the Internet
• You receive support from three or more non-parent adults or peers
• You go to church regularly or attend another religious institution
• You go to a school that provides an encouraging, caring environment for learning
• Your parents get involved in your school and homework
• You feel safe at home, at school and in the neighbourhood
• Your best friends model positive, responsible behaviour
• You are encouraged by parents and other adults to do well
• You spend time in cultural or recreational activities with other young people
• You are optimistic about your future.
Story cards for each participant (Note to the facilitator: give one card per participant. If there are
more participants either add story cards or ask remaining participants to be observers)
• Girl whose father recently died and her mother is making arrangements for her marriage
• Girl from a displaced family who has recently moved to the city from a rural area
• Son of a faith leader. He is involved in youth club activities.
• Daughter of a government official. She is attending a private school.
• Teenage boy whose parents are recently divorced after much domestic violence. He works in
a metal factory.
• Boy in primary school. His father is a farmer and a village elder. He helps with the farm on
weekends.
• Boy who is fighting for government military forces. His family was killed by the Taliban.
• Boy living and working on the streets. His father beats him. He uses some drugs.
• Girl who lives with her parents and 11 brothers and sisters in a small house.
• Disabled boy who is carried every day to school by his father.
• Girl who has been displaced by conflict. She helps her mother teach children who are out of
school.
• Girl of disowned mother living in a village.
• Girl with intellectual disability and learning difficulties. She spends most of the time lying in the
bed. Her father abuses drugs.
• Son of a local shopkeeper and recent immigrant. Other children often make fun of him and
laugh at him.
• Teenage boy who lost his legs during fighting.
39
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Vulnerability in the local context
• Increase understanding and define vulnerability for the local context.
• In each community, vulnerability can be defined according to existing conditions

and situations. As per our previous sessions, children have diverse needs and
their vulnerabilities will differ in duration and severity in both stable and emergency
settings. Thus, vulnerability needs to be understood from the ecology of the child
within the four developmental domains. There are a variety of vulnerability factors;
World Vision defines four main factors of vulnerability that are highly systemic and
define the context where a child lives. They are:
o Abusive or exploitative relationships

o Extreme deprivation
o Serious discrimination
o Catastrophes and/or disasters
• Ask the participants to divide up and work in small groups
*Note to the facilitator: Explanations for the four vulnerability factors:
1. Abusive or exploitative relationships: Relationships which are characterized by violence or

use of a child to benefit others sexually or commercially, or which consistently harm the child
through intentional acts or negligence
2. Extreme deprivation: Extreme material poverty or deprivation of caregivers
3. Serious discrimination: Severe social stigma which prevents girls and boys from accessing
services or opportunities essential to their protection or development
4. Catastrophes and/or disasters: Natural or human-made events can seriously threaten the
survival or development of a child. Certain children are more likely to be affected negatively and
less likely to be able to recover. Individual catastrophes, such as death or serious illness of a
close family member need to be considered for this vulnerability factor.
The more factors a child experiences, and the

longer a child experiences any factor, the more
vulnerable he/she becomes, until he/she is
among the most vulnerable.
When children receive care and support, and
their resilience is built, they will develop to be
stronger and healthier.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 3:
Problem tree analysis: What makes children
vulnerable?
• To analyse the complex causes of child vulnerability.
• After defining vulnerability and imagining how it might feel to be most vulnerable,
participants are going to explore the causes of vulnerability.
• Ask participants to brainstorm who the most vulnerable children in their communities
are. Write their responses on the flipchart.
• Divide participants into smaller groups, give each group one of the characteristics of
a vulnerable child mentioned by participants.
• Ask the participants to write down the causes of the children’s vulnerability, the
reasons for identifying these groups of children as vulnerable, and why they are
more vulnerable than other children?
o Ask the participants to get to the root, while discussing the causes of child
vulnerabilities by asking ‘why’ to each identified immediate cause. Give
examples such as: if the identified vulnerability is ‘a child is working in a mining
company for long hours and not going to school’, the questions needs to be
asked: Why do you think the child works long hours? >Family is poor? >Why
are they poor? >Lack of knowledge and skill? >Why do they lack knowledge
and skill? >Not educated? >Why are they not educated? >No access to
education/low value of education /insecurity.
o Thus, the last causes will be considered as the root causes and the remaining
three will be considered as immediate causes.
• Explain the importance of identifying the root causes to effectively address and
eliminate factors that contribute to the vulnerability of a child.
What are the immediate causes of What are the root causes of child’s
The child
the child’s vulnerability vulnerability
In addition, ask participants to discuss the immediate and long-term effects of vulnerabilities on
children, classifying them into three age lifecycles.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Examples of vulnerability by Immediate and long-term
developmental stage effects
Early childhood (birth to 6 years)
Vulnerability examples: Poor diet,

infections, disease, lack of care and
love, lack of cognitive stimulation.
School-age children (7 to 11 years)
Vulnerability examples: Family

resource constraints, gender bias,
inadequate social services, low
education
Adolescence (12 to 18 years)
Vulnerability examples: Lack of

opportunity to access and complete
primary and/or secondary school,
relevant non-formal education,
relevant health services, reproductive
health information, participation in
decisions affecting their lives

Emphasize the importance of linking interventions for strengthening the protection of children with
addressing the root causes of the identified vulnerabilities, to achieve a more sustainable impact.
42
CHILD PROTECTION
Vulnerability may include children Causes of vulnerability may include:
who:
• Conflict and war
• Face discrimination and are • Harmful traditional practices
orphaned (without family care) • Lack of positive parenting capacities
• Live without basic necessities • Discrimination, prejudice, poverty and
(malnourished children) ignorance
• Do not go to school • Children living in isolated
• Suffer from some type of violence or communities with little support
humiliation • Lack of information and lack of
• Observed stressful or frightening systems for child protection
situations of losing someone they know or • Low quality or absence of social
seen someone being harmed by others protection service provision
• Involved in exploitative labour • Poorly equipped hospitals/health
that harms the child physically and/or facilities
psychologically and deprives the child of • Inadequate or inaccessible
basic needs infrastructure
• Have physical or mental disabilities, • Lack of commitment to implement the
or are cared for by an adult with law
disabilities • Lack of policies/procedures and
• Got married systems to support child protection
legislation
• Lack of places or opportunities to
hear children’s voice
Vulnerability by developmental stages Immediate and long-term effects
Early childhood (birth to 6 years): • Irreversible effects on physical and

Poor diet, infections, disease, lack of cognitive growth and development
sufficient care and love, lack of cognitive • Increased likelihood of learning
stimulation disabilities, delayed school entry, poorer
school performance, increased likelihood
of early drop out and lower grade
attainment
School-age children (7 to 11 years): • Loss of human capital development

Family resource constraints, gender bias, and capacities
inadequate social services, low education
Adolescence (12 to 18 years) • Long-term unemployment or low-

Vulnerability examples: Lack of wage employment (reduced productivity)
opportunity to access and complete • Inter-generational transmission of
primary and/or secondary school, relevant household and community violence
non-formal education, relevant health • Increased probability of engaging in
services, reproductive health information, risky behaviours
participation in decisions affecting their • Lost opportunities for involving
lives adolescents as agents of better
governance, accountability and
development of democracy
• Child marriage
43
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 4:
Mapping vulnerability: Who are the most
vulnerable children?
• To increase understanding of the most vulnerable children in the local context.
• We have looked at the different causes and factors that expose children to
vulnerability. Now, we are going to look at which groups of children are vulnerable in
our communities. Using the definition developed in the previous exercise, consider
the following questions and develop a list of the groups or types of most vulnerable
children.
• Ask the larger group:
o Which children are living in the worst situations in this community? Why?
o Which children face the most discrimination in this community? Why?
o Which children have the lowest possibility of a bright or good future? Why?
• Make sure that the participants identify the most at-risk children as identified by the
NSFCAR.
Vulnerability factors Most vulnerable children
Abusive or exploitative Any child identified through local community ‘shura’,

relationship CPAN and relevant local government departments, who
is experiencing abuse in any form (physical, emotional,
sexual), exploitation, and other forms of violence.
• Kidnapped and trafficked children
• Child soldiers and other war-affected children
• Child labourers
• Children suffering from corporal punishment
• Children living or working on the streets
• Children using and/or selling drugs
• Children forced into early marriage
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CHILD PROTECTION
Vulnerability factors Most vulnerable children
Extreme deprivation • Severely malnourished children

• Moderately malnourished children
• Children living in child-headed households
• Children whose household is designated ‘Poor’
• Children who have no, or extremely limited, access
to certain services (healthcare, education, etc.)
because of poverty
Vulnerability to • Children living with a parent or caregiver with

catastrophe or disaster chronic illness
• Children living with very old adults or caregivers
• Internally displaced and returnee children
• Children living in areas that are highly prone to
flooding or drought
Serious discrimination • Children left out of school because of disability or

gender
• Children living in isolated locations far from
accessible basic social services
• Children in conflict with the law
• Children with disabilities
• Out-of-school children/school drop outs
• Children living with parents from marginalized
groups (ethnic minorities)
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 5:
Ways to identify and map the most vulnerable
children
• Understand approaches to identify and map the most vulnerable children.
• In addition to understanding the factors that expose children to vulnerability

and identifying vulnerable children, it is also important to map where the most
vulnerable children are located in communities. Now that we have an agreed-upon
understanding of vulnerability, we are going to create maps to help us see where the
most vulnerable are.
• Ask participants to divide into small groups based on their knowledge of specific
geographic areas, such as neighbourhoods, villages or communities. Participants
should group together by the places they live or know best.
• Provide each group with a flipchart.
• Ask each group to draw their assigned geographic area. Ask the groups to locate
places and draw on the map where the most vulnerable children live. In addition, ask
the groups to include on the maps:
o Individuals, groups or organizations who work with the most vulnerable boys
and girls and their families
o Risky places/areas for children in the community
o Safe places/areas
o Places where children gather (disaggregated for boys and girls, as well as
other groups of children)
o Available services for children.
• When the groups have completed their maps, ask them to post then on the wall.
Review through a gallery walk.
• Discuss similarities and differences between the areas.
• Add anything that comes up during the discussion.
• After all groups have shared, look again at the list of vulnerability factors developed
in
• the previous exercise. Ask the participants to reflect on and discuss the factors. Is
there anything missing, any points to add?
KEY MESSAGES:
1. Risk factors are individual or environmental hazards that increase children’s vulnerability to
negative developmental outcomes.
2. Most-vulnerable children are children whose quality of life and ability to fulfil their potential
is affected by extreme deprivation and violations of their rights. These children often live
in catastrophic situations and relationships characterized by violence, abuse, neglect,
exploitation, exclusion and discrimination.
3. Most-vulnerable children are defined as the accumulation of vulnerability factors.
4. Children can become increasingly vulnerable, experiencing more and more vulnerability
factors until they are defined as most-vulnerable children.
46
CHILD PROTECTION
Module 3:
Understanding child protection
Child protection systems in Afghanistan
On-going conflict and the current humanitarian situation negatively affect child protection systems
in Afghanistan. Coupled with the issues mentioned, a lack of capacity and negative social norms
also affect child protection systems across the country. These situations have exposed most
children to significant vulnerabilities that threaten their rights to survival, protection, development
and participation, resulting in the following challenges:
• Child labour: 51.8 per cent of children are working, 45 per cent are forced to work to support
their families’ livelihood 10.
• Physical (including sexual) and psychological violence: 74 per cent of children aged
2–14 years were subjected to at least one form of psychological or physical punishment by
mothers/caregivers or other household members.
• Juvenile justice: In cases of ‘moral offences’ associated primarily with girls, children undergo
humiliating and in some cases abusive physical examinations, with little consideration for
their psychosocial wellbeing 11 .
• Child marriage: Nearly half of girls (46 per cent) in Afghanistan are married before the age
of 1812 .
• Children in armed conflict: 560 children (556 boys and four girls) have been recruited and
used in support and combat roles throughout Afghanistan; 75 per cent were used by armed
opposition groups (401 children) and 20 boys were killed carrying out suicide attacks 13.
MoLSA is the ministry that ensures the protection of most-vulnerable children. It functions at the
national and provincial levels. As an important element of child protection systems in Afghanistan,
MoLSA is chairing the CPAN, which is a combined structure of UN agencies, international non-
government organizations (NGOs) and local organizations.
To strengthen child protection systems and enhance the capacity of stakeholders to support
them, MoLSA established the Child Protection Secretariat in 2015. The primary purpose of the
Child Protection Secretariat is to lead national efforts to prevent and respond to child protection
issues, and enhance the capacity of MoLSA to protect children from abuse, violence, neglect and
exploitation, by supporting the following key functions:
10. Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission: Children’s Situation Summary Report:
http://www.aihrc.org.af/home/research-reports/2115
11. The Situation for Children in Conflict with the Law in Afghanistan:
https://www.unicef.org/media/files/Juvenile_Detention_Study_engl.pdf
12. Ibid.
13.https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/dashboard_on_violations_against_children_affected_by_armed_conflict_in_afghanistan_
from_september_2010_to_december_2014.pdf
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CHILD PROTECTION
• Update the NSFCAR
• Establish and manage a Child Protection Information Management System
• Conduct research and policy development, including monitoring
• Evaluate the effectiveness of programmes and research into child protection and welfare
• Conduct quality assurance, including care standards for alternative care services
• International relations and NGO liaison including the encouragement and support of NGOs
• Staff capacity development and training
• Provide leadership for CPAN
• Provision of forums for inter-sectoral co-operation and networking
• Co-ordinate services and programmes for vulnerable children and their families
• Organize consultations with children as appropriate.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Session 1: Understanding child protection
• Understand the definition of child protection.
• Analyse the signs of child abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence.
• Marker, pen, flipchart, o Flipchart with three definitions of child protection

tape and post-it notes o Child protection cases, paper
• 8 hours.
• To create a protective environment for children, it is important to understand the

meaning of child protection, as well as to strengthen skills to recognize the diversified
issues of child protection in the local context. This understanding will enable the use of
a holistic framework when responding to child protection issues within the community.
Introduction
Factors contributing to child vulnerabilities
120 min
• Say, “In the previous sessions, we explored the different
factors that expose children to vulnerabilities that harm
their development. In this session, we are going to look
at protecting children from the risks that harm their
development.”
• Ask the participants to name the negative factors that
contribute to harming children’s development and
wellbeing.
• Write responses in the flipchart. Make sure the responses
include:
o Children are not allowed to participate in decision

making
o Family stress and mental conditions
o Harmful practices and norms against children in
communities
o Limited access to basic social services such as water,
education, health care, food, preschool and safe
recreational places for children
o Family financial burden (poverty)
o Insecurity
o Lack of enforcement of the national policies and laws
that deal with child protection.
Activity Activity 1: Defining child protection and key related issues

Activity 2: Categorizing child protection issues
Activity 3: Myths related to issues of child protection
Activity 4: Understanding child protection issues in Afghanistan
Activity 5: Identifying signs of child abuse, violence, neglect and
exploitation
49
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Defining child protection and key related issues
• To explore the definition and understanding of child protection.

• Understand the different terminologies related to the definition of child protection.
• There are various definitions of child protection and some definitions have limitations.
• Ask participants to read the three definitions on the flipchart (as shown below).
Definitions Strengths Weaknesses
Child protection refers to reducing physical

threats or harms to children in their home
and community
Child protection refers to ensuring legal

standards to the rights of children in the
community
Child protection refers to prevention of

vulnerability factors that negatively affect
children
• Ask participants what they think are the strengths and weaknesses of each definition?
• Write the responses according to the format below in a flipchart.
• After the final discussion, introduce the comprehensive child protection definition as
“All measures taken to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation and all
other forms of violence against children” (UNICEF/World Vision).
• Ask the participants for detailed meanings of each phrase of the definition:
o What do we mean by all measures taken to prevent and respond?

o What are abuse, neglect and exploitation?
o What are other forms of violence?
• Ask the participants if the definition is comprehensive enough to include all the
weaknesses they identified in the other three definitions.
50
CHILD PROTECTION
The first definition focuses only on the physical aspect of protection and is very narrow. The second
definition focuses only on enforcement of rights and standards of children and lacks the actions and
programmes that stems from the standards.
Child protection is a broad term used for efforts to safeguard children from actions or situations that
place their healthy development and wellbeing at risk. Children need to be protected because they
are physically, mentally and emotionally immature and unable to adequately protect themselves.
Child abuse: According to the World Health Organization, ‘Child abuse’ or ‘maltreatment’ constitutes
“all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, or
commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival,
development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power” 14 .
Child neglect: The deprivation of a child’s basic needs when an adult caregiver has the means to
provide for those needs. Basic needs include health, education, emotional and spiritual development,
nutrition, clothing, medical care, supervision, shelter and safe living conditions.
Exploitation: The use of a child for the benefit of others. This includes, but is not limited to:
o Child labour: defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential
and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development (refers to
work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children;
depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; forcing them to leave school
prematurely or requiring them to combine excessively long and heavy work with
school attendance) 15.
o Child trafficking: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child
by means of threat, force or deception, by forces within or outside a country for the
purpose of getting money by them 16.
o Sexual exploitation: when adults gain financial profit through engaging a child in
sexual activities (World Vision International).
Other violence: Additional threats of physical force or power that harm a child, including bullying,
harassment, gang violence, murdering a child, forced early marriage, domestic violence and
playground violence (World Vision International).
14. World Health Organization (WHO) (1999) Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention. Violence and Injury Prevention Team and Global
Forum for Health Research, Report of the Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention, 29-31 March 1999, WHO, Geneva.
15. Taken from International Labour Organization Website, retrieved from: http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm.
16. Retrieved from: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html#What_is_Human_Trafficking
51
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Categorizing child protection issues
• Understand the classification of child protection issues.
• In many situations, a child could be exposed to different types of abuse, neglect,

exploitation and violence.
• Ask the participants about the most common forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation
and other violence in Afghanistan.
• Ask the participants to divide into 11 pairs or groups depending on the total number
of participants.
• Give each group one category of child protection issues, as per the list below (physical
abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, medical
neglect, emotional neglect, educational neglect, child labour, child trafficking, sexual
exploitation, murdering a child, gang violence, child marriage, domestic violence,
harassment, bullying).
• Give each group the list of child protection cases (below) and ask them to define the
category they have and to select the cases that relate to their category.
Statements of child protection issues:
1. A 9-year-old boy whose father yells at him and hits him harshly whenever he is angry. He
always goes to school with painful bruises on his body.
2. A 4-year-old boy who only eats bread in the morning. His father works on the streets and his
mother works for a neighbour as a house cleaner. The neighbours do not allow her to bring
her children, so she leaves her 4-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter with nothing to eat and
nobody to look after them.
3. An 8-year-old boy working in a brick-making factory from the morning until 8 pm. The owner
gives him bread and water once per day.
4. A child who is severely ill, and his parents leave him at home to continue their work.
5. A 12-year-old girl married to a 40-year-old man.
6. A 16-year-old boy voluntarily recruited who joins the armed forces.
7. Children who go to play sports instead of doing their homework.
8. A 12-year-old girl whose mother insulted her and told her that she was ugly and a burden to
the family.
9. A 12-year-old boy who is made to do housework (washing dishes) before going to school.
10. A 7-year-old boy and girl who watch their father insulting and badly hitting their mother. Their
mother cries and shouts, saying she wants to die.
11. A 10-year-old boy forced to dance and stay the night with men, for which his family receives
money.
12. A mother tells her young son that she wishes he had never been born.
13. A 9-year-old girl is raped.
14. A child is adopted by a loving family.
15. A 10-year-old girl who has never been to school, but her brothers go.
16. A 7-year-old girl that no one in her family talks to, shows love, or encourages, but her brothers
are always being hugged and encouraged by her family.
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CHILD PROTECTION
17. A 14-year-old boy who left Afghanistan with his friend to go to Iran because a man told them
they could get jobs to help their poor families and could continue their education.
18. A 13-year-old boy badly injured by a group of boys from his neighbourhood.
19. A 6-month-old child repeatedly and severely shaken by his mother to stop him crying.
20. A 9-year-old boy with a disability has been left at home without food or any one to take care of
him.
21. A child injured during a conflict. He has only one leg. His teacher says he will never get a job,
he is useless and there is no point in him being at school.
Plenary:
• Ask each group to share which form(s) of violence they have identified in relation to the case.
Allow additional feedback and questions from the larger group.

In the table below are the definitions and related case numbers for the statements
Definitions of the four categories Forms of child protection issues

of actions and situations that harm
children
Child abuse: Any act within relationships Physical abuse: action that physically harms
of responsibility, trust or power (e.g. or injures a child (slapping, pinching, kicking,
parent, clergy, coach, teacher) that results punching, throwing, burning). All corporal
in harm, potential for harm, or threat of punishment and all other forms of torture,
harm to a child 17. cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment, as well as physical bullying and
hazing by adults or other children (cases #
1and 19)
Emotional/psychological abuse: attacking

a child’s sense of self-worth (constantly
criticizing, teasing, belittling, insulting,
rejecting, ignoring, isolating, humiliating in
public). Psychological maltreatment, mental
abuse, verbal abuse and emotional abuse or
neglect (cases # 8, 12 and 21)
Sexual abuse: the involvement of a child

in sexual activity that he or she does not
fully comprehend, is unable to give informed
consent to, or for which the child is not
developmentally prepared and cannot give
consent, or that violates the laws or social
taboos of society. Child sexual abuse is
evidenced by this activity between a child
and an adult or another child who by age
or development is in a relationship of
responsibility, trust or power, the activity being
intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the
other person. (case # 13)
17. Adapted from CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/definitions.html
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CHILD PROTECTION
Definitions of the four categories Forms of child protection issues
of actions and situations that harm
children
Neglect: Depriving a child of his/ her Physical neglect: consistent failure to

basic needs when an adult caregiver has provide basic necessities (food, shelter or
the means to provide them. Basic needs clothing, failure to ensure the safety of a child,
include health, education, emotional and abandonment) (cases # 2 and 20)
spiritual development, nutrition, clothing,
medical and dental care, supervision, Medical neglect: consistent failure to seek
shelter and safe living conditions. medical care for a child who has an acute
illness, other than inadequate resources (Case
# 4)
Emotional neglect: consistent failure to

provide affection, stimulation, nurturing and
encouragement (cases # 16 and 20)
Educational neglect: failure to enrol a child in

school at the mandatory school age (cases #
8, 20 and 15)
Exploitation: The use of a child for Child labour: engaging children in work
profit, labour, sexual gratification, or some that deprives them of their childhood, ability to
other personal or financial advantage. attend school, and is harmful to their physical,
social, mental and moral wellbeing (cases #
3 and 6)
Child trafficking: a modern form of slavery,
moving children from one area/country to
another for the purposes of using them to
make money (case # 17)
Sexual exploitation: when adults gain

financial profit through engaging a child in
sexual activity (cases # 11)
All other forms of violence: The intentional use of physical force or power,
Violence–the use or threat of physical threatened or actual, against a child by an
force or power that either results in or has individual or group, that either results in or
a high likelihood of resulting in actual or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or
potential harm to a child’s health, survival potential harm to a child’s health, survival or
or dignity 18. dignity (cases # 5, 10 and 18)
18. Adapted from the WHO Report on Violence and Health (2002): “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual,
against a child, by an individual or group, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s
health, survival, development or dignity.”
54
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 3:
Myths related to issues of child protection
• Explore myths and facts related to child protection issues.
• Lack of knowledge about the facts related to child protection has led to a number of
misconceptions or myths.
• Ask participants if they know any misconceptions or myths in the Afghan community
related to the protection of children, especially around child protection issues. Ask
more probing questions on what the participants think about:
o What would the community think about methods of discipline and care for
children?
o What would the community say about how to act with children?
o What would the community say regarding how and why child abuse, neglect,
exploitation and other violence occurs?
o What would the community say about the effects of child abuse, neglect,
exploitation and other violence?

Below are some general misconceptions and facts about child protection issues.
Issues Myths Facts
• Children in homes should be • Harsh physical

punished excessively punishment makes
children submissive,
• Children need a good spanking to fearful and/or aggressive.
show who is boss
Physical abuse
It also teaches children

that hitting is a way to
• Unless they are hit, they will not do
solve problems with other
what they supposed to do
people.
• We have grown up to be well
• Positive discipline
disciplined; it is the best way to
and guidance teaches
control children
children rules and
• If children are not hit or spanked, self-control.
they will be spoiled
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CHILD PROTECTION
Issues Myths Facts
• Sexual abuse is taboo and is a rare • As a taboo is not talked

occurrence about, the act of sexual
abuse is kept in the dark
• A child is most likely to be sexually
abused by a stranger • Children are often
sexually abused by
• Young children such as pre-school someone they know and
age children (3-6 years) do not trust
need to know about sexual abuse
and would be frightened if educated • Numerous educational
Sexual abuse
about it programmes are

available to teach young
• Children who are sexually abused children about body
will never recover safety skills and the
difference between ‘okay’
and ‘not okay’ touching
• Many children are quite

resilient and with a
combination of effective
counselling and support
from their parents or
caregivers, they can and
do recover from such
experiences
• Paying attention and showing love • Young children usually

will spoil a child express their frustration
towards a situation or
• When children have temper person through temper
tantrums, it is good to ignore them tantrums. They are
Neglect
and not provide them with food or needy and want things
things they need immediately. Setting
reasonable limits helps
• Children will continue to grow even
children develop patience
though they only eat once a day
and delays their need for
satisfaction.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Issues Myths Facts
• Education takes too long and • Depriving a child of the right

wastes the time of a child who to education is an act of
could otherwise be taking depriving a child of future
responsibility and sharing the success
burden of the family income
• Child trafficking is the
• It is not trafficking unless victims act of benefiting from the
are moved across borders exploitation of a child, not
the act of moving a child
• Child sexual exploitation does not
happen • In Afghanistan, sexual
Exploitation
exploitation occurs, such as

• Trafficking is the same as ‘Bacha Bazi’
smuggling
• Trafficking is the acquisition
of people by force, fraud
or deception with the aim
of exploiting them. But
smuggling is the illegal
movement of people
across a country’s borders.
Smuggled people may
become trafficked, but not
all trafficked people are
smuggled 19 .
• Young children will not remember • Children do not forget what

the violence they have witnessed they have witnessed
Other violence
• Most children who witness

violence manifest some
symptoms associated
with post-traumatic
stress disorder, are more
aggressive and fight more,
and have difficulty focusing
and concentrating at school.
19. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2014) Human Trafficking.
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html
57
CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 4:
Understanding child protection issues in
Afghanistan
• Learn and understand the definitions of child protection issues in Afghanistan.
• It is critical to know and recognize the different child protection issues occurring
in Afghanistan and to understand the situations that put children at risk. This
understanding is important to support and strengthen the protection of children from
violence.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups and identify the critical child protection
issues that are prevalent in Afghanistan.
• After identifying them, the groups need to provide descriptions of the conditions
associated with that specific issue. For example, if the participants identify child
labour as a critical child protection issue prevalent in Afghanistan, they need to
describe what the conditions are that allow a child to be in an abusive situation of
child labour.
• Allow the group to present a summary of their discussion and invite the larger group
to reflect on the presentations and provide additional inputs.
Some of the definitions of critical child protection issues are:

Child labour: Not all work by children is considered harmful. When work is appropriate to a child’s age
and takes place under healthy and safe conditions, it can be beneficial to the child’s development
and allow them to contribute to their family’s basic needs. But work that interferes with a child’s
education, or is likely to jeopardize their health or safety, is generally considered ‘child labour’ and
is prohibited under international law. Under Afghanistan’s Labour Law, 18 years old is the minimum
age for employment. Children between the ages of 15 and 17 are allowed to work only if the work
is not harmful to them, requires less than 35 hours per week, and represents a form of vocational
training. Under the law, children 14 years and younger are not allowed to work.
In accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, no child
under the age of 18 years should be engaged in the worst forms of child labour comprising:
a. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery

b. The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of
pornography or for pornographic performances
c. The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities
d. Work, which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to
harm the health, safety or morals of children.
Corporal punishment: The CRC defines corporal punishment as “any punishment in which
physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however slight”. It
calls physical punishment, “invariably degrading”.
Children in conflict with the law: Children charged and convicted of crimes ranging from escaping
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from home due to forced and child marriage, to petty theft and murder, as well as “crimes against
the Afghan National Security or terrorism”.
Children affected by armed conflict: Includes children recruited either in government security
forces and armed groups, internally displaced, forced to migrate, and living in the midst of on-going
conflict.
Child soldiers: A child associated with armed forces or armed groups refers to any person below
18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in
any capacity, including but not limited to boys and girls used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for
sexual purposes (source: Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 2007).
Children who live either in institutions or with ‘adoptive parents/family members’: Children
who have lost both parents to any cause of death, or abandoned children. They face multiple
challenges in getting adequate care.
Children in emergencies: These are children who are in danger of physical or emotional harm due
to acute or prolonged crises as a result of disasters or conflicts that could result in displacement or
migration.
Separated children: Those separated from both parents, or from their previous legal or customary
primary caregiver, but not necessarily from other relatives. These may therefore include children
accompanied by other adult family members.
Unaccompanied children (also called unaccompanied minors): Those who have been
separated from both parents and other relatives and are not being cared for by an adult who, by
law or custom, is responsible for doing so.
Child trafficking: This is the recruitment of, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of
threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse
of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purposes of exploitation
(UNICEF).
Children working or living in the streets: Children who are abandoned and may live on the
streets for survival and shelter, or children who live with very poor families and do small jobs like car
washing, shoe shining, begging or garbage collecting to support their family income.

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ACTIVITY 5:
Identifying signs of child abuse, violence, neglect
and exploitation
• Able to identify the signs and effects of child protection issues.
• Very often children and adolescents will not talk about abuse or other harmful
experiences they are facing. They usually make excuses for their injuries or feelings.
Thus, recognizing the signs of the different categories or forms of abuse, neglect,
exploitation and other violence is critical for timely and effective prevention and
responses to protect children.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups and assign each group one of the four
categories of child protection issues.
• Ask each group to prepare a role play on identifying different signs or patterns of
child protection issues. The role play should show:
o How a child could be exposed to a specific injury or harm

o How others in the family or community are able to recognize the possible
signs of abuse
o Ask the group members to involve different roles to show the reality in the
community and the possible effects of a specific child protection issue in the
lives of people in the family or community
• Invite each group to present their role play to the larger group. Ask the larger group
to write the identified signs and note down their observations.
• After all role play presentations, ask the larger group to reflect on the identified signs
of abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence.

Below are summaries of signs of child protection issues (not exhaustive)
Issues Possible signs and effects
Abuse
• Injuries, burns and cuts

• Broken bones and internal injuries
• Marks on the skin
Physical abuse
• Physical abuse creates mental health problems (depression, anxiety,

stress, aggression, suicidal behaviour, self-harm, limited achievement
of intellectual ability/potential, increased risk of doing harm to others
through physical fighting or drugs
• Physical abuse can lead to delayed development, learning disorders,
motor disorders, intellectual disabilities, hearing loss or poor physical
growth
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Abuse
• Fear, shame and stress

• Low self-esteem and hostility
psychological abuse
• Attempted suicide or self-harming behaviour

Emotional and
• Isolating oneself, loneliness and internalizing the abuse

• Redirect the abuse to another sibling
• Extreme behaviour – overly demanding or extreme passivity or
aggression
• Eating disorder
• Attention-seeking behaviour
• Sudden speech disorder
• Self-harm, run away

• Low appetite or over eating
• Low self-esteem, post traumatic stress disorder
• Sexually explicit behaviour, play or conversation that is inappropriate
Sexual abuse
to the child’s age

• Redness/chronic itching round genital area
• Discomfort when walking or sitting down
• Depression, suddenly changes behaviour (becomes secretive/
isolated, difficulty walking or sitting)
• Nightmares, bedwetting
• Unable to concentrate, excessive aggression
• Pregnancy
Neglect
• Severely thin, loss of weight or being constantly underweight

• Complaining of being tired all the time, weak, sleepy and unable to
Physical neglect
concentrate
• Constant hunger, sometimes stealing food from other children
• Failure to physically grow, including mental growth, malnutrition,
frequent and serious illness
• Lack of personal hygiene, including dirty hair, body odour and
inappropriate clothing
• Child abandoned or left alone for excessive periods
• Frequent sickness
• Deterioration of the child’s condition
Medical
neglect
• Chronic hospitalization
• Disability and death
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Neglect
• Poor self-image and self-esteem, drug abuse and other

Emotional
destructive behaviours in adult life

neglect
• Unable to read or write

• Threat to the proper development of critical thinking, decision
Educational
making and problem-solving skills

neglect
• Threat to the proper development of managing emotions (like

anger management)
• Threat to the development of the ability to communicate ideas
logically and positively and ability to comprehend and analyse
others ideas
Exploitation
• Drop out of school early, before finishing

labour
Child
• Requiring children to do heavy work for long hours

combined with attending school
• Forced labour
trafficking
• Removal of internal organs

Child
• Chronic illness
• Death
• Shows inappropriate sexual behaviour

exploitation
• Use of overly explicit sexual language for the child’s age

Sexual
• Child prostitution
Other violence
• Bullied child may come home from school with cuts and
violence, forced
violence, gang
bruises or torn clothes

Domestic
marriage
• Being moody and bad tempered

• Becoming quiet and withdrawn
• Stress and sleep problems
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Session 2: Afghanistan’s legislative framework
for child protection
• Introduction to the legislative framework and laws on the protection of children.
• Afghanistan’s position and responsibilities related to international commitments about
children.
• Internal commitments in light of laws and legislation in terms of child rights and
protection.
• Marker, pen, flipchart o CRC article cards and child protection cases
papers and tape o Ask a juvenile justice prosecutor to come to this
session to answer participants’ questions
• 6.5 hours.
• The legislative framework of a country is the foundation on which to create and

promote a safe environment for children. Without legislation, no measures will be taken
to prevent or respond to cases of abuse and exploitation. Analysing the legislative
framework of Afghanistan will enable practitioners and other adults to plan, implement
and monitor preventive and responsive actions.
Introduction A legislative framework is an overarching basis for ensuring the

90 min commitment of different authorities and entities to the protection
of children. A legislative framework will guide sector policies, and
coordinate and ensure the effective implementation of social services
and the prevention of violations.
Activity Activity 1: International conventions ratified by Afghanistan to protect

300 min. children
Activity 2: Afghan laws and policies on child protection
Activity 3: Four main groups of child rights and principles
Activity 4: Main duty bearers and key service providers
Activity 5: Child rights in Islam
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
International conventions ratified by Afghanistan
to protect children
• Understand how Afghanistan is aligned to existing international judicial instruments
on the rights of children and the CRC.
• Afghanistan has ratified and signed different overarching children’s rights

conventions and protocols.
• Ask the groups to go through the printed international treaties and conventions and
provide feedback if there are others that are not incorporated.
• After going through the conventions for 10 minutes, give participants an
opportunity to reflect on their observations, and on how comprehensively
Afghanistan aligns with international conventions and protocols.

Compliance of Afghanistan with international treaties and conventions 20
International instruments Status Date
International Convention Economic, Social and Cultural

Ratified 24 January 1983
Rights (1966)
International Convention Civil and Political Rights (1966) Ratified 24 January 1983
Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or

Signed 01 April 1987
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN-CRC, 1989) Ratified 28 March 1994
Optional Convention on the Rights of the Child, Protocol 19 September

Ratified
on Sale of Children, Prostitution and Child Pornography 2002
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of

Ratified 05 March 2003
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979)
Optional Convention on the Rights of the Child, Protocol 24 September

Ratified
on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 2003
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 24 September

Ratified
(2000) 2003
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) Ratified 24 December 2003
Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) Ratified 27 June 2005
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Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) Ratified 30 August 2005
Protocol to the Convention Relating to the Status of

Ratified 30 August 2005
Refugees (1967)
Minimum Age Convention (ILO, Convention #138, 1973) Ratified 07 April 2010
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (ILO, #182,

Ratified 07 April 2010
1999)
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 18 September

Ratified
(CRPD 2007) 2012
(Palermo) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish

Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children Acceded 15 August 2014
(2000)
20. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and UNICEF, Mapping and Assessment of Afghanistan’s Child Protection System: Strengths,
challenges and recommendations (2015-2016).
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ACTIVITY 2:
Afghan laws and policies on child protection
• Understanding the legislative environment related to child protection in Afghanistan.

• Analysing existing policies and laws that support the protection of children.
• Explain the importance of understanding issues confronting children in Afghanistan,

and the importance of knowledge on polices or laws that assist in addressing issues
that put the development and survival of children at risk.
• Ask the participants to divide into four or five groups and read through Afghanistan’s
legislative frameworks and policies.
• Ask each group to prepare a summary of what they read to present to other groups.
• Ask the groups to provide additional inputs and identify further gaps in the legislative
framework to create a safe environment for children to physically, intellectually,
socially and emotionally develop to their full potential.
• Take note of all additional inputs and feedback identified by participants and
incorporate these into updates of the facilitators’ guideline.
One of the main causes of limitations to Afghanistan’s legislative framework is that the country still
does not consider the CRC a legally binding instrument that should be systematically incorporated
into the domestic legal system. The on-going revision of main laws, and their integration into one
comprehensive framework, the Child Act, will help promote and ensure stronger protection of
children’s rights.
All the information in the table below is taken from the Assessment of Afghanistan’s Child Protection
Systems (2015-2016).
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Vulnerable
Policies and laws to prevent vulnerability factors Aspects that need to be improved
children
Children • National Strategy for Children At Risk (NSFCAR, 2006) • NSFCAR needs to be revised and updated
experiencing • The Law on Public Health (2006) to take into account the current challenges
serious • National Public Health Policy (2015-2020): focuses on prevention measures and faced by the country and its children.
deprivation due nutrition information. In 2014, it included a Gender-Based Violence Treatment • The Social Protection Strategy was not
to poverty Protocol for health professionals, with a strong focus on women and general holistically accepted as a priority agenda of
guidance for dealing with children (boys and girls) and men. ministries.
• Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (2017-2021) incorporated
the Social Protection Strategy as one of its priority areas of concern.
Child labour • The Labour Code and the Labour Law (2007) prohibit the recruitment of children • The Government of Afghanistan has not
younger than 18 years of age for work that is harmful to their health or causes defined hazardous working conditions and
physical damage or disability. conditions prohibited for children.
• The Constitution of Afghanistan Article 49 prohibits forced labour • The Labour Code does not prescribe
• National Labour Policy (2012) penalties for child labour violations. The
country has no list of penalties or other
sanctions for non-compliance, or any kind
of record keeping and reporting in relation
to child employment.
Corporal • Corporal punishment and psychological abuse are prohibited in schools under the • Legal provisions against violence and
punishment 2004 Education Law abuse are not interpreted as prohibiting all
• Corporal punishment is expressly forbidden under Article 39 of the 2008 Education corporal punishment in child rearing.
Act • Corporal punishment should be prohibited
• The Penal Code 1976 (Article 54/2) attempts to draw a line between acceptable and in all alternative care settings (foster care,
unacceptable forms of corporal punishment – in the family, in other forms of care, in institutions, places of safety, emergency
schools, and in the penal system care, etc).
• Article 194 (6) of the Shiite Personal Status Law (2009) confirms the rights of fathers • Corporal punishment should be prohibited
and teachers to punish sons and students. as a disciplinary measure in all institutions
• The Juvenile Code 2005 prohibits “contemptuous and harsh punishment, even if accommodating children in conflict with the
for correction and rehabilitation purposes” (art. 7) but does not prohibit all corporal law.
punishment
Children living • National Strategy for Street Working Children (2011) • The strategy has faced challenges to its
or working on implementation due to a lack of a clear
the streets set of top priorities, human resources and
funding.
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Children • The Shiite Personal Status Law (2009) provides the meaning of guardianship, • The Afghan legislation does not allow
living in and allows the mother precedence over the custody of a girl child up to 7 years the child to express his/her views on
institutions of age, while of a boy child only up to 2 years of age, after which the father where/with whom to live in the event that
or children takes over custody. The Sharia prescribes several duties, such as financial life with both parents is not possible, nor
without requirements of the child, as the responsibility of the father. grants the child the right to protest or
parental • Afghanistan Civil Law (1977) defines ‘custody of children’ as the period during appeal decisions taken by the family or
care which children need protection and nurturing from mothers. It also indicates that by the court.
the primordial role for the raising of a child lies with the family and that only under • The Civil Law does not specifically
exceptional circumstances should children have to be cared for by other means. recognize that parents should have
• The Law on Rights and Privileges of Survivors of Martyrs and Disappeared financial and legal responsibilities for
Persons was enacted as per the provision of Article 53 of the 2004 Constitution to their children. Civil law treats children
ensure the rights and privileges of survivors of martyrs, and the disappeared. as dependent, invisible and passive
• The Law on Prisons and Detention Centres grants provisions for children to stay family members at best, and as property
with their imprisoned mothers until the age of 7 years, and that children above of the family at worst, often impacting
the age of 7 years who have no other option should be placed in government-run inheritance.
residential care homes.
Children • Education Law (2008) • Only children of those martyred or

with • The Law on the Rights and Privileges of Survivors of Martyrs (2010) disabled in conflict receive indirect cash
disabilities • The Law on the Rights and Privileges of Persons with Disabilities (2013) allowances via parent/guardian.
• The Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees the rights of all
children with disability, and the 2008 Education Law guarantees the right of every
child to education, irrespective of their level of physical, sensory or intellectual
ability.
• National Disability Action Plan 2008-2011.
Sexual • The Law against Domestic and Foreign Security Crimes prohibits the broadcast • Neither the Law on the Elimination of
exploitation of any type of pornographic pictures/films, and covers exploitation of young boys Violence against Women nor the Penal
(boy play, in the entertainment industry as sex slaves. Code prohibits forced child prostitution
etc.) • The Government of Afghanistan has committed to the Action Plan to Prevent the or child pornography, nor defines them
Recruitment of Minors into Armed Forces, which includes measures to prevent as acts that should be criminalized and
young boys from being victims of bacha bazi (boy play). It is implemented by prosecuted.
the government’s Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee on Children and Armed • Texts do not differentiate various forms
Conflict and monitored by a UN task force. of sexual exploitation and abuse.
• The 14 February 2018 New Penal Code responds to reform needs by codifying • The Penal Code does not specifically
the crime of bacha bazi. prohibit forced child prostitution and
forced child pornography.
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Violence • The Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women enumerates a list of forms • May help in combatting the different
against of physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence against women and girls forms of abuse that occur within the
children that are punishable, whether they occur inside or outside the family environment. family (i.e. forced and child marriage,
sale of children, economic exploitation,
forced self-immolation.
Child • The Population Registration Law (2013) • Afghanistan does not have a single child
marriage • The 2004 Constitution, Article 54, allows the government to take appropriate marriage legislative package.
measures to combat all harmful traditional practices, especially for women and • Inconsistency between Civil Law
children, which are contrary to the principles of Islam. (puberty for legal limit; nothing on child
marriage), Sharia Law and customary
laws for the minimum legal age of
marriage for boys and girls.
Children in • The Juvenile Justice Code (2005) states the minimum age for criminal • Poor understanding and enforcement of
conflict with responsibility is 12 years. The Juvenile Justice Code applies to all children the provision.
the law who are under the age of 18 years; parents, guardians or legal representatives
of children in custody are responsible; children’s views should be taken into
account during investigations and trials; and children cannot be sentenced to life
imprisonment or capital punishment.
• The Law on Prison and Detention Centres (2005)
• The Law on Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres (2009)
• National Justice Sector Strategy (2008)
Children • In early 2003, Presidential Decree No. 20 determined service in the armed forces • Outstanding challenge is the revision
recruited to be voluntary for those aged between 22 and 28 years. This was amended in of national legislation to ensure that
into the the same year to 18 years, in Presidential Decree No. 97. arrested, accused and convicted children
armed • The Law to Ban the Recruitment of Child Soldiers in Security Institutions (2014). are informed promptly and directly of
forces This includes criminalization of recruitment and use of children; the development the charges made against them, of the
of a policy to ensure that children arrested and detained on national security proceedings and the sentence, and
charges are treated in line with international juvenile justice standards; and an when needed, through their parents or
improvement to age-verification mechanisms. legal guardian.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Children in • The Law on Counter Abduction and Human Trafficking (2008) • Need to formulate comprehensive national
trafficking counter trafficking strategies and establish
and irregular coordination mechanisms for prevention
migration and prosecution.
Children • Education Law (2004) • Gaps in quality implementation of the

deprived of • Education Law (2008) policy.
education • National Education Strategic Plan (2017-2021)
opportunities • Community-Based Education Policy (2018)
Children in • National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons (2014) • Afghanistan lacks sound national asylum
emergencies • Annual update of Emergency Plan legislation to receive asylum seekers
and determine their status. A direct
consequence is that refugees, returnees
and internally displaced children continue to
face harsh living conditions and problems
in accessing birth registration, identity and
education.
Children • The Population Registration Law (2013)

without birth • The Statistic Law (2013) Stated the Birth registration is compulsory in Afghanistan
registration (Article 17).
Children are • Article 22 of the Constitution on non-

discriminated discrimination makes it illegal to
against discriminate on the basis of colour, gender,
participating language, religion, political orientation,
due to their national, ethnic or social origin, or disability.
age and low Men and women have equal rights and
value of their duties before the law.
opinions
ACTIVITY 3:
Four main groups of child rights and principles
• Provide understanding of the concept of children’s rights.

• In the previous session, different instruments, policies and laws to provide safe
environments for children to thrive were discussed. It is good to explore the basis
on which these international conventions and protocols are formulated. The ‘Rights
of the Child’ were recognized in the aftermath of the First and Second World Wars,
which resulted in the UN Charter that recognized the plight of children.
• The roots of the CRC can be traced back to 1924 when the League of Nations
adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, written by Eglantine Jeb, the
founder of Save the Children. In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
recognized the “special nature of childhood and motherhood”, and in 1959 the UN
adopted a Declaration on the Rights of the Child. After a 10-year drafting process
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations on
20 November 1989.
• Brainstorming discussion on the difference between rights and needs. Ask the
participants: “What is the difference between a right and a need?”
o A right is an entitlement–it entails a legal obligation by government and other

duty bearers for its provision and protection and can be enforced 21
o A need is a desire that can be very legitimate but it cannot be enforced by
law and entails no obligation by government or others for its provision or
protection.
• Ask participants if there is any difference between human rights and children’s rights.
• Summarize the discussion by pointing out that:
o Children and young people have the same basic general rights as adults, and
specific rights that recognize their specific needs.
• Tell participants that the CRC was formulated based on four guiding principles. Ask
the participants if they know the four guiding principles. Ask what they think the
principles should be to ensure that the rights of all children can be addressed.
BEST
INTERESTS
1. Non-discrimination/equality
2. Best interests of the child
3. Survival and development
4. Participation/inclusion SURVIVAL
&
DEVELOPMENT
NON-
PARTICIPATION DISCRIMINATION
21. Taken from: https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/sites/default/files/learning/Child-rights/2.5.html
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• In addition, the rights in the CRC and the optional protocols are set out in 54 articles.
These articles can be clustered into four pillars.
Four groups of CRC
• Survival
• Protection
• Development
• Participation
• Divide the participants into four groups and ask them to define the pillar and the
principle they have been assigned. Give each group the article below and ask them
to identify the articles that match the given pillar and principle.
CRC Articles
The right of every The right to birth The right to the best The right to be
child to live free from registration, name, interests of the child protected from
discrimination nationality, care (Article 7) (Article 3) danger
(Article 2) (Article 36)
The right to life The right to health care The right to enough The right to privacy
(Article 6) (Article 24) food and clean water (Article 16)
(Article 24)
The right not to be The right not to be hurt or The right not to be The right to life,
used as a cheap neglected (Article 19) used as a soldier in survival and
worker (Article 32) wars (Article 38) development
(Article 6)
The right to be with The right to meet with The right to special The right to a free
their parents or with other children (Article 15) care, education and primary education
those who will care training, if needed (Article 28)
for them best (Article 23)
(Article 9)
The right to a name The right to have a say The right to have The right to practice
and a nationality about things that affect ideas and say what their religion
(Article 8) them (Article 12) they think (Article 14) (Article 14)
The right to learn The right to know The right to get The right to speak
about and enjoy their about their rights and information they need their own language
own culture responsibilities (Article 13) (Article 30)
(Article 30) (Article 42)
The right to freely The right to benefit from The right to The right to be
express their social security rehabilitation and brought up by both
thoughts and (Article 26) reintegration for parents
opinions (Article 13) victims of violence (Article 18)
(Article 39)
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*Note to the Facilitator:
The four guiding principles are:

Article 6 (Survival and development): Children have the right to live. Governments should ensure
that children survive and develop healthily.
Article 3 (Best interests of the child): The best interests of children must be the primary concern
in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults
make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. This particularly
applies to budget, policy and lawmakers.
Article 2 (Non discrimination): The Convention applies to all children, whatever their race, religion
or abilities; whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from. It does not matter
where children live, what language they speak, what their parents do, whether they are boys or
girls, what their culture is, whether they have a disability or whether they are rich or poor. No child
should be treated unfairly on any basis.
Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child): When adults are making decisions that affect
children, children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken
into account. This does not mean that children can now tell their parents what to do.
Survival rights (having basic needs met)

• The right to life (Article 6)
• The right to health care (Article 24)
• The right to enough food and clean water (Article 24)
Protection rights (protection from harmful influence)

• The right not to be used as a cheap worker (Article 32)
• The right to benefit from Social Security (Article 26)
• The right not to be hurt or neglected (Article 19)
• The right to not to be used as a soldier in wars (Article 38)
• The right to rehabilitation and reintegration (Article 39)
• The right to be protected from danger (Article 36)
• The right to privacy (Article 16)
Developmental rights (education and experiences which allow a child to successfully

develop into an adult)
• The right to be with their parents or with those who will care for them best (Article 9)
• The right to the best interests of the child (Article 3)
• The right to meet with other children (Article 15)
• The right to be brought up by both parents (Article 18)
• The right for every child to live without discrimination (Article 2)
• The right to special care, education and training, if needed (Article 23)
• The right to a free primary education (Article 28)
• The right to play (Article 31)
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Participation rights (taking part in the wider society and having an input into relevant
decisions)
• The right to a name and a nationality (Article 8)
• The right to have a say about things that affect them (Article 12)
• The right to have ideas and say what they think (Article 14)
• The right to practice their religion (Article 14)
• The right to get information they need (Article 13)
• The right to speak their own language (Article 30)
• The right to learn about and enjoy their own culture (Article 30)
• The right to freely express their thoughts and opinions (Article 13)
• The right to know about their rights and responsibilities (Article 42)
• The right to birth registration, a name, a nationality, care (Article 7)
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ACTIVITY 4:
Main duty bearers and key service providers
• Map main duty bearers and key service providers for child protection.
• Through the process of signing and ratifying the CRC Afghanistan has made a
promise to children, to society and to the international community that it, as a State
Party to the CRC, has an obligation and is committed to make available maximum
resources, and to prioritize children’s interests in decision making affecting their
lives.
• Ask the participants to think and write their responses in their notebook regarding
• Who are the different actors and key stakeholders ensuring the protection of
children’s rights, keeping in mind that the State is the primary duty bearer?
• Who are the key service providers?
• Draw a circle in the middle of the flipchart and write ‘child’ on it. Then ask the
participants to list who they identified as main duty bearers for child rights protection.
Put each identified duty bearer and stakeholder in a separate post-it note.
• Map the sticky notes against three Ps.
o Provision: rights of children to be provided with goods and services ranging

from a name and nationality (identity), to health care, nutrition and education.
o Protection: rights of children to be protected from acts such as torture,
exploitation, arbitrary detention and removal from parental care, including
trafficking.
o Participation: rights to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
Duty bearers include:

• Central government ministries, provinces and districts, as well as municipalities (urban sub-
units of provinces), especially:
• MoLSA: Child protection officers, social workers, case managers, child protection
technical and monitoring teams
• Ministry of Interior Affairs: Birth registration team
• Ministry of Public Health: Maternal and child health team
• Ministry of Education: Teachers
• Ministry of Justice: Prosecutors, lawyers and Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre
team
• Law enforcement bodies: Police
• International and local NGOs play a key role through their planning and implementation of a
wide range of support services to child protection
• Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
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• Parents, family members, community and faith leaders
• The private sector
• UN agencies and donors.
Some roles of government in child protection include:

• Policy making
• Origination of appropriate legislation
• Allocation of adequate budget
• Provision of resources to meet children’s needs
• Enforcement of child protection policies and laws
• Adoption and ratification of international instruments on child protection
• Advocacy for child protection
• Coordination of partners
• Monitoring the situation of child protection
• Based on the ministry, provide health and nutrition, education and social protection services.
ACTIVITY 5:
Child rights in Islam
• Explore and understand the basic rights of the child in Islam.
• Islam views childhood with hope and inspiration, as something to look forward to,
that is sought after and that is longed for. When the long-awaited hope is achieved,
the fruit reaped is happiness of the soul, delight of the heart and elation of the
chest. According to the Qur’anic text, progeny is a gift from the Almighty Allah to His
faithful servants; it is one of the bounties bestowed upon them by the Almighty Giver
of Bounties, Be He Exalted. It is also a fulfilment of the hope that is longed for by
sincere believing servants of Allah. The Almighty says:
To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he
wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills
males. (49) Or He makes them [both] males and females, and He renders whom
He wills barren. Indeed, He is Knowing and Competent. (50) 22
22. https://quran.com/42
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Session 3: Analysing existing child-rearing
practices
• To reflect on existing child rearing practices in Afghanistan.
• Analyse the myths and realities of child rearing.
• Understand Islamic teaching towards proper child-rearing practices.
• Explore ways to play a role in raising awareness in the community.
• Markers, pens, flipchart paper and tape, print out of the child myth for practice, coloured
paper
• 3 hours and 50 min
• The way a child is raised can affect how successful the child will be in adult life. The
goal of child rearing is for a child to grow up into a fully functional adult who can take
care of himself/herself and make a positive contribution to society. Often parents raise
their children according to what they experienced through in own childhood. Parents’
beliefs and values influence the child-rearing practices that determine the growth,
health and social skill development of children in the existing ecological context. Thus,
it is important to understand current child-rearing practices, as well as the underlying
attitudes and beliefs that influence the behaviour of parents and their parenting
practices.
Introduction Building blocks of positive parenting:

50 min.
• Child rearing in Afghanistan is a shared responsibility primarily
among the female members of the household–mother,
grandmothers, an aunt, older sisters or neighbours.
• In order to foster optimal development of children, it is important
to understand and strengthen the basic necessary skills on
positive parenting and ways for both female and male caregivers
to engage with a child.
• Ask participants to think individually and share some common
types of parenting practices.
Activity Activity 1: Common parenting practices

180 min. Activity 2: Existing child-rearing practices in Afghanistan
180 min. Activity 3: Islamic teachings about child-rearing practices
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ACTIVITY 1:
Common parenting practices and styles
• Analysing existing parenting practices in Afghanistan.
• Raising children from birth to adulthood is one of the most important journeys
granted to a parent. Parenting practices are specific behaviours, while parenting
styles represent broader patterns of parenting practices. A child’s temperament and
parents’ cultural patterns influence the kind of parenting style a child may receive .23
• Ask the participants: “Have you ever thought how you want to see your child when
they become adults?” (Think about your own child or a child of your close relatives).
Some of the goals may include:
o Responsible, loving and dedicated family member and friend

o Knowledgeable and skilled to earn a good income and master tough
challenges
o Mature to make informed decisions and solve problems
o Caring for his/her parents when they are old.
• Ask participants: “What do you think are some reasons why children misbehave or
are naughty?” Write the responses on a flipchart.
• To summarize this discussion ask the participants to refer back to some features of
child development based on the lifecycle stages (give each participant a hand out of
the list of features presented below 24 ).
• Remind participants that in most cases, so-called ‘behavioural problems’ observed
by adults in children are merely an indicator that their child is going through one of
the natural stages of development. A true behavioural problem usually lasts for more
than six months and occurs consistently in different locations and situations.
Some characteristics of development for different age groups and some suggestions
relating to positive discipline:
0-1 year old
• Children at this age are learning to trust their parents and caregivers.
• They establish the secure attachments that are very important for later years.
Considerations for positive discipline: To obtain trust and feel safe, a child must
continuously receive love, care, attention and interaction–such as holding, cuddling,
‘talking’, smiling and so on–from his or her parents and caregivers. Without this loving
interaction, he or she may become anxious, scared, doubting and distrustful.
23. Berger, Kathleen S., (2011). The Developing Person Through the Life Span.
24. Adopted from the ‘Positive Discipline Manual’, Plan Vietnam, 2009.
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1-3 years old
• Clear and focused orientation: The child can now recognize and experience anger from
being physically hurt or through emotional outrages.
• Many childhood behaviours are seen as problems by adults but are actually part of
important and normal development; a way for children to test their boundaries and to
explore the world through investigating everything within their reach.
• They do not yet have control of their emotions and may be prone to tantrums and
uncontrollable outbursts of anger.
• This is a stage where children are capable of doing many things by themselves–such as
talking, walking, going to the toilet, getting dressed and exploring the world around them.
Importantly, they want to do these things by themselves.
• Children consider their peers as either ‘competitors’ who may take their material
possessions or compete for attention and emotional support, or ‘providers’ who serve
their needs.
• Children begin to develop the ability to consider things from another’s perspective.
• Children now have the ability to recognize cause and effect and have relatively concrete
cognition.
Considerations for positive discipline:

Clear, simple rules and guidelines are very important in teaching children to control their
impulses and emotions. Telling them for example, “I will give it to you later” or “after the
meal” rather than immediately capitulating to their demands is an important way to instil
self-control.
3-6 years old
• During the first five years, children are predominantly egocentric; they still want to focus
on their own ideas and opinions. They may appear selfish and develop a tendency to
say ‘no’ in order to experience their own power. When in conflict with adult requests and
demands, children may appear ‘stubborn’ or ‘naughty’.
• At this stage, children continue to extensively explore the physical and social world,
developing preferences for and against particular people, activities and situations.
• An increasing sense of independence is expressed through an attitude of ‘I can do it’ and
an insistence on following their own way of doing things. A child is often punished at this
stage due to breaking or damaging things during their explorations.
• Step by step, children increase their ability to accept disappointing events and outcomes
as well as the postponement of eagerly anticipated events.
• Occasional deliberate quarrel picking is natural.
• Play is critical: virtual and imaginary friends, such as teddy bears, pets and so on are
natural and useful.
• The ability to adjust to different situations gradually increases over this phase.
• During this period, children learn behaviours that are considered appropriate by society,
according to their own cultural context.
• Language development continues rapidly through this phase.
• Children become aware of their sex as male or female.

Saying ‘no’ to children in an appropriate manner at this stage helps them develop emotional
and behavioural self-control. Creating firm and consistent behavioural boundaries at this
stage helps children learn to control their actions.
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At around 5 years of age, children may become very sensitive to making mistakes. They
are easily emotionally hurt if scolded or beaten by parents and teachers when they make a
mistake. Applying positive, non-violent discipline practices is vital.
6-12 years old
• In this stage, children are still adaptable. Good habits–such as studying or helping
with the housework–can be established and developed at this time through positive
reinforcement.
• The feeling of being good at something is very important for children. If children believe
they consistently fail to meet adult expectations, they may develop an inferiority complex.
• Children at this stage are in need of support and encouragement.
• Children are better able to control themselves and tend to become less aggressive.
• Children can organize, arrange and conduct activities, both educational and leisure, by
themselves.
• Children begin to establish social skills at this stage; peer relationships are critical.
• Children often give their peers nicknames. Sometimes these nicknames may be hurtful
or demeaning.
• At this stage, children can clearly distinguish between shared life and private life,
developing a need for their own privacy.
• Children in this age bracket are strongly aware that some people, such as teachers and
parents, have ‘power’.
• Personal characteristics are developed. In general, this is a relatively stable stage, which
varies from other stages.

Children are still sensitive about being punished when making mistakes. During this stage,
children are adapting to the school environment. If punished when making a mistake, many
children may tend to shrink into themselves and feel insecure. They may show reduced
interest in and motivation to study and may even start to dislike going to school.
Adults, including parents and teachers, must recognize that making mistakes is normal
and natural and should consider them a learning opportunity for children. It is important to
differentiate between negative behaviours and a child’s personality, that is, to ensure that the
child understands that a particular behaviour is bad, but that does not mean that he or she is
a bad person for showing that behaviour.
Parents and teachers can impact whether or not children develop biased attitudes towards
others based on sex, ethnicity, personality and so on.
12-18 years old
• Hormonal changes result in changes of temperament. Children in this cohort may

become more emotionally charged, more tearful, more sensitive, more easily giving way
to expressions of anger. They tend to be enthusiastic but easily discouraged.
• Social and moral development. Peers are very important: they may even influence
development and behaviour more than parents or teachers at this stage.During this
stage, children may experience confusion over what their adult roles should be.
• Children may become rebellious, defining themselves in opposition to the adult role
models around them. In seeking avenues for self-expression, they may find themselves in
conflict with adults. Strong emphasis may be placed on independence and self-reliance.
Defiance of adults: arguing or talking back is normal.
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It is important to realize that negative behaviours exhibited during this and other stages are
rarely directed maliciously at parents, teachers or other caregivers. At this stage, children seek
independence and responsibility although they may not yet be fully able to wield it effectively
and may still rely on the guidance of adults. Adults should recall their own childhood, when
they faced the same situations, in order to empathize with their children.
At this stage, many children find themselves at a crossroad; they want to be trusted to make
good decisions. Parents and adults should help them to define their goals and objectives,
and assist them in determining their directions and position in life.
• Tell participants that positive parenting practices need to include core areas as indicated
in the chart below and be applied with consideration of the development features and
characteristics of each individual child.
Relationship building
and role modeling: Communication:
Establishing positive, Spending quality time,
engaging and loving respecting, being
relationships empathetic and managing
conflicts
Core
Building cognitive and Positive Parenting
social skills: Practicies
Language and life skills
Establishing boundaries
(such as problem-solving,
and expectations:
confidence, resilence and
Set age-appropriate limits,
memory skills)
guidance and routines with
consistency and follow up
Positive discipline:
Understanding the child's
developmental needs and
behaviours; using non-
violent strategies
• Considering all the discussions regarding the core skills for positive parenting and
common reasons for children’s behaviours, invite participants to think of the common
parenting styles that exist in Afghanistan. Remind them that, as we mentioned earlier,
parenting styles represent broader patterns of parenting practices.
• Capture participants’ responses on a flipchart.
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Observe how participants describe common parenting styles. Consider mentioning (if not already
mentioned by participants) that in Afghanistan, many parents inhibit exploration and use punitive
discipline. Emphasis is generally placed on obedience, respect for elders and religious observance.
• Summarize the discussion by sharing four most commonly defined parenting styles (as per the
table below) and the child development characteristics influenced by various types of parenting
styles. Emphasize that an authoritative parenting style is recommended to support the wellbeing
and holistic development of children.
Parenting styles Children’s characteristics
1. Authoritative (highly demanding and high Energetic, friendly child

responsiveness) • Self-controlled/self-reliant
• Sets rules with explanations and • Happy
consequences, uses clear communication • Purposive and achievement
• Uses positive discipline methods to reinforce oriented
good behaviour • Copes well with stress
• Affectionate (warm) and responsive • Maintains friendly and cooperative
• Shows pleasure and support for child’s relationships with peers and adults
constructive behaviour • Feels comfortable expressing
• Open communication and seeks and opinions and is good at making
considers the child’s opinion decisions
• Develops good self-esteem
• Exhibits fewer violent tendencies
2. Authoritarian (highly demanding and low Irritable child

responsiveness) • Low self-esteem
• Believes children should follow rules without • Unhappy
explanation and exception, “Because I said • Fearful and easily annoyed or
so” aggressive
• Uses harsh and punitive punishment for • Vulnerable to stress
misbehaviour of a child instead of discipline • Aimless
• Shows little affection (warmth)
• Does not seek or consider child’s desires or
opinions when making decisions
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3. Permissive/indulgent (low demand and Impulsive aggressive child
high responsiveness) • Aggressive and resistant
• Does not clearly communicate expected • Less self-control and self-discipline
rules • Less orientation to achievement
• Sets few rules, inconsistent discipline • Self-centred
methods • Few goal-directed activities
• Responsive (carries out all the child’s • Higher self-esteem
demands) but is not demanding • Exhibits more behavioural problems
• Takes on more of a friend role than a parent as does not appreciate authority or
role rules
• Children make most decisions for
themselves
• Lenient, tries to avoid confrontation, does
not put much effort into discouraging poor
choices or bad behaviour
• Ignores or accepts bad behaviour
• Moderately affectionate (warmth)
4. Uninvolved (low demand and low Neglected child

responsiveness) • Destroys the foundation of trust to
• Does not set firm boundaries or explore the world
standards • Harder time forming relationships
• Unresponsive to child’s needs, neglectful with other children
• Pursues self-gratification at the expense • Low self-esteem
of the child’s welfare • Lacks skills for social and academic
• Fails to monitor child’s activity, pursuits
whereabouts, companions • Associates with troubled peers
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ACTIVITY 2:
Existing child-rearing practices in Afghanistan
• Explore child-rearing practices in Afghanistan.
• Considering common parenting styles, we are going to explore common child-

rearing practices of Afghan parents.
• Ask the participants to divide into smaller groups and prepare two separate cases or
short stories about boys and girls on how an Afghan family raised them.
• The stories should include the following key skills:
o Disciplining method
o Communication approach
o Level of understanding of children’s development
o Teaching life skills (that may include decision making, resolving conflict, rela-
tionships, problem solving, critical thinking)
o Attachment and nurturing
o House rules
• Allow the groups to prepare and then present their role plays to the larger group.
The participants will then reflect on how realistic the scenarios are and discuss the
positive and negative impacts that various rearing practices have on both boys and
girls in Afghanistan.
There is no comprehensive study reflecting the parenting practices or styles of Afghan society. But
from the perception of different people, the following characteristics are the common parenting
practices applied in Afghanistan:
• In the traditional Afghan family, the father is the head and guardian of the family and grandparents
are often consulted. The extended family is important and it is common for several generations
to live together supporting each other. Families in Afghanistan usually have many children.
• Elders are highly respected and have the final word on most family and community matters.
• Children are highly valued in Afghan society. They are taught to honour both their parents in
accordance with Islamic law and to be respectful to all adults. Polite behaviour is particularly
important, especially to elders and parents. The kissing of hands is a common form of address.
Children will always use the terms aunty and uncle when addressing elders, even when not
related.
• Girls are often expected to stay at home and help the mother; boys have more freedom to play
and meet with their peers.
• The mother is responsible for the care of young children; she will also discipline them, but as
they become older, the father may have a greater role here, particularly with sons.
• Domestic responsibilities are always held by women¬–grandmother, mother and daughters.
• Fathers and sons never do domestic work; it is seen as embarrassing, usually in rural contexts.
• Children, particularly girls, are expected to assist with chores at home. Children may also be
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expected to work outside the home and contribute to the family income, particularly if the family
is very poor.
• Traditionally, boys are preferred to girls in Afghan society because a man is considered able to
continue the family legacy, to financially support their family, and to protect the family in case
of any disputes.
• Discipline for girls is not the same as for boys. Discipline for girls can be very harsh and very
restrictive. Girls are expected to listen to their parents and then their husbands.
• Boys have much more freedom to interact with their peers and other people in the community,
however the freedom to decide on different issues will still rely on consultation with the father
or other male adults.
• Physical punishment is a common form of discipline and is used both in the home and at school
by teachers.
• Children live with their parents until they marry and the girl will go to live with the husband’s
family. However, the boy will live with his parents and is responsible for care of the family. He
is responsible for the financial support of the family and is the most respected person in the
family. Girls are often sent to be married quite young, any time after puberty.
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ACTIVITY 3:
Islamic teachings about child-rearing practices
• Reflect on the Islamic teachings on parenting.
• Ask the participants to read the printed papers on the Islamic teachings on parenting.
Have them write key points from the listed verses and methods of making parents
aware of these teachings.
• Ask the participants to summarize their understanding of the teachings of Islam

according to the verses below.
• Allow participants to add more verses related to parenting from the Quran or Hadith.
1. Warmth or willingness: And it is He who has created from water a human being and made
him [a relative by] lineage and marriage. And ever is your Lord competent [concerning creation].
(Al-Furqan)
2. Attitude towards boys and girls (discrimination):

And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and exalt [Allah] with His praise. And sufficient
is He to be, with the sins of His servants, Acquainted.
He who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then
established Himself above the Throne - the Most Merciful, so ask about Him one well informed.
(Al-Furqan)
3. Responsibility of parents for children on nutrition, clothing and medical:

Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however
you wish and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves. And fear Allah and know that you will
meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers. (Al-Baqara)
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4. Discipline with firmness and instruction: The Prophet (peace be upon him) was also never
known to hit a child. Instead a Muslim parent is encouraged to teach by good example and
discouraged from disciplining until the child is 7 years old. At 7 years, the child begins the age
of Tarbiyyah, or good upbringing. These are the years requiring firmness and instruction in
educating the child and teaching them good manners – again the focus is on firmness and not
violence. Once the child reaches puberty, the parents’ role becomes one of friend and mentor
as the child is considered to be old enough to be responsible for their own actions. I like this
idea of a gentler, more peaceful parenting – less friction and more kindness. If Muhammad
advised the children, He chose His words very carefully, starting with the phrase, “O my dear
son”, sharing their interests and talking to children in a way they could understand.
• Hadith says “Do not be angry”. Muhammad described the strongest person as the
one who controls himself when he is in a fit of rage, not as the one who wrestles
others. Another Hadith suggests changing position. “If one of you gets angry while he
is standing, let him sit down, and if he is still angry, let him lie down”.
5. Patience: “And you do not resent us except because we believed in the signs of our Lord when
they came to us. Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims [in submission to
You].” (Al-A’raf)
KEY MESSAGES:
• The way a child is raised can affect how successful the child will be later in adult life.
• Attitudes and cultural beliefs influence the behaviours of parents and their parenting
practices.
• Positive discipline emphasizes mutual respect and utilizes positive instructions. It focuses
on learning (for the future) instead of punishing. Studies consistently show that using
positive discipline results in better outcomes in terms of the child’s behaviour, emotional
growth, academic
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Module 4:
Child protection systems strengthening
approach
Session 1: Conceptual understanding of

a systems approach to child protection
• Help participants explore the concepts associated with a systems approach to child
protection.
• Discuss and analyse the elements of the child protection system and key guiding
principles for protecting children.
o Prepare the key guidance principles on four
• Marker, pen, flipchart separate flipcharts and install them on the training
tape and post-it notes room wall
o Plastic balloon
• 8 hours and 50 min.
• The traditional single-issue focused child protection approach has often resulted in a
fragmented response marked by numerous inefficiencies and pockets of unmet need.
The systems approach was developed to address the protection needs of children in a
more holistic manner, with coordinated and coherent resource management.
Introduction Web of support using thread game: Children need to be protected,

140 min. as they are in the process of developing physically, socially, mentally
and emotionally and are unable to adequately protect themselves.
Who do you think could protect children?
• Ask all the participants to stand in a circle. Ask half of the team to
stand outside the circle and give each of them a balloon to inflate
to medium size.
• Instruct the participants in the middle of the circle to hold a strand
of yarn with one hand and pass the ball of thread with the other
hand to other participants in the circle randomly. Before each
participant passes the ball of the thread, they should say who
they represent as a community member to support and protect
children.
• After the ball has been passed five times, ask the participants
holding the balloons to throw them into the web of the thread.
• Tell the participants that each balloon represents a child in the
community. Ask the participants why most of the balloon children
fall on the floor?
• Repeat the process of passing the thread while calling the name
of the person representing someone who protects children in the
community and throwing the balloon into the thread web until
there are fewer balloons on the floor than the previous time.
• Ask the participants to return to their seats and allow them to
share feedback on what they understand of the game.
• Explain how the thread game represents a ‘web of support’ that
demonstrates a systems approach to child protection.
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Activity Activity 1: What is a systems approach to child protection?
180 min. Activity 2: Child protection systems and the essential elements of
the systems
120 min. Activity 3: Key guiding principles for child protection
ACTIVITY 1:
What is a systems approach to child protection?
• Understand the concept of a systems approach to child protection.
• Based on the previous module on the ecology of the child, the thread game shows
how the ecology of the child will create a healthy and safe environment for a child
to grow and develop. But the different individuals, groups and organizations that
support and protect children in the community need to coordinate their efforts to
achieve effective and sustainable impacts. This requires an understanding of a
systems approach to protect children holistically and in a coordinated manner.
• What is a child protection system? What kind of systems does Afghanistan have
to promote child protection? Ask the participants how all the identified individuals,
groups or organizations work together.
• Write the discussion points in the flipchart, listing the components of systems as per
their responses. List the approaches to coordinate the components into one goal of
preventing and responding to child protection issues in the community.
A systems approach is an approach or operation within a connected collection of components or

parts of structures, functions and capacities that are organized around a common purpose or goal
.25
The system involves a collection of components or parts that are organized around a common
purpose or goal that holds it together. As with the ‘web of support’, all systems reflect a nested
structure with a set of functions and capacities that will be determined by the context and nature of
the coordination required to effectively operate for the mutually agreed desired outcomes and goal.
A system will achieve the desired outcomes through the governance of the structures that are
flexible and diverse, and maintain accountability for individual stakeholders’ performances, as well
as the performance of the overall system.
25. ‘Adapting a Systems Approach to Child Protection: Key concepts and considerations’, UNICEF (2010 New York).
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ACTIVITY 2:
Child protection system and the essential
elements of the system
• Understand the systems approach to child protection.
• Analyse the essential components and elements of a child protection system.
• The fragmented approach to protecting children has caused problems, as many

children contend with multiple issues simultaneously. A comprehensive solution is
necessary, and the protection of children involves different stakeholders who are
responsible at different levels, as well as in different sectors. Systems thinking
will enable an effective holistic approach to ensure the protection of children from
violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect.
• Read the scenario below.
Case scenario: Ahmad is a 15-year-old boy who has just been recruited by the
armed forces. He lives with his mother and grandparents, and his eight siblings. His
father died from a chronic illness. Ahmad is happy to help his family, including all
his siblings who have never been to school. His two younger brothers (aged 12 and
13) are working in a brick factory and his other brother works on the streets. His
grandfather works as a day labourer. The four girls stay at home helping their mother
and grandmother with the household chores. His one-year-old sister is severely
malnourished.
• Based on the previous activity, what kind of systems would be effective to resolve
Ahmad’s child protection issues?
• After writing the lists of the system, ask the participants to define a child protection
system, and the essential elements of a child protection system.
• To obtain active participation, probe with more specific questions according to the
group’s responses. Write all the responses in the flipcharts and summarize the
activity as per the key points mentioned in the facilitator’s notes.
Child protection system: A set of coordinated formal and informal elements working together to
prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence against children
(World Vision International: Systems Approach to Child Protection Discussion Paper, 2011). A child
protection systems approach looks at the circumstances that challenge children’s wellbeing as a
web of threats rather than addressing them one by one through formal and informal systems.
A child protection systems approach aims to:
• Address all the issues that children in multiple circumstances might face
• Unite all actors behind a common set of goals
• Promote family and community support
• Increase relevant access to social services when needed
• Create long-term robust, coordinated and adaptable structures for prevention and response to
various concerns around the protection of children.
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Elements Formal Informal
Law, policies, International laws related to child rights and child protection (e.g. CRC) Customary laws related to
standards and National laws and policies on family law, social protection, promoting child protection
regulations that care
determine the system’s
structures, mandates Policies and regulations for specific child protection issues
and functions National plans of action/strategies and birth registration
Services: Preventive Ministries and departments focused on implementing child protection Informal community-based
and responsive service services in prevention, response and reintegration (continuum of care referral and reporting
delivery and protection) mechanisms
Social protection programmes Alternative community
dispute resolution
processes
Faith and community
leaders, child and family
support services
Capacities to provide Adequate number of skilled child protection workers, such as Capacity, attitude and
and perform child social workers, case managers, teachers, health care workers, knowledge of families and
protection services, law enforcement workers, judiciary, local authorities and faith and community members to
including capacity community leaders engage in child protection
building, human and Adequate budget allocation and facilities
financial resources and
adequate infrastructure
Coordination, Clear mandate and reporting lines of vertical interaction within and Multi-stakeholder
cooperation and between ministries coordination mechanisms
collaboration Cooperation and collaboration structures and agreement and agreement
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Accountability Standards of care and code of conduct for government service Rules of conduct for civil
mechanism providers society associations,
Child protection accreditation for continual professional education community members and
other agencies working
Data base and surveys on child protection with children
Public awareness on
monitoring protection
service standards
Circle of care – Friendly and safe schools Parental or caregiver

includes positive and knowledge on the
protective attitudes, developmental and
values, behaviours and protective needs of
traditional practices children and positive
parenting
Community and religious
leaders promote child
protection
Protective and supportive
communities for child
development
Children’s resilience, Access to free, inclusive and compulsory education, including life skills Community perceptions
life skills and development and value of children
participation Safe inclusion of children in local governance procedures, child Opportunity to develop
protection planning, monitoring and reporting processes positive values,
competencies and positive
identity on children and
youth
Opportunities for
meaningful participation of
children
ACTIVITY 3:
Key guiding principles for child protection
• Explore the definition and practice of key guiding principles for ensuring child
protection.
• It is important to set key principles to guide decisions and actions in protecting

children. As the child is affected by multiple factors, a guide that helps consider
paramount principles will effectively enable the child protection workforce to make
effective decisions and take action towards the protection of children.
• Ask the participants to divide into eight groups. Give each group one of the eight
guiding principles (from the table below).
• Read the child protection case for the participants. Ask them to define the guiding
principle and describe how they could demonstrate the application of the guiding
principle based on the child protection case they heard.
Five children–boys aged 7, 9, 10 and 13 years and a girl of 14 years–live with an addicted father.
The father has had two wives. His first wife divorced him and left, and his second wife died
from a drug overdose. The father hits the 10- and 13-year-old boys harshly and demands they
bring him money. The father only loves the two sons aged 7 and 9 years. They are well fed and
go to school. The other two boys work in the streets during the day and return home at night.
They have never been to school. The father usually takes the 13-year-old boy to parties at night
to dance and make money. The boy is very aggressive towards his siblings and abuses the
neighbourhood children. The father has arranged to marry off his daughter to a wealthy 59-year-
old man as a fourth wife. The father’s older sister is a medical doctor in a private clinic and has
three children. She has repeatedly asked him to take care of the children, but he has refused,
saying that he will marry soon after he receives his daughter’s dowry and the children will be all
right.
• Ask the participants to discuss using the following questions according to each
guiding principle:
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Guiding principles Questions
Best interest of • Was the action of the father in the best interest of the children? If yes,
the child why?
• If no, why not, and what would you do differently?
• What factors are you considering to show your action is in the best
interest of the child?
• If the family is unable to respond, can I involve the community to
address this issue?
• What are the community resources available that may help the child
in addressing this issue?
• By tapping into community resources will I create further harm to the
child?
• Will the child be stigmatized or discriminated against?
• By making a decision to A(any example) will the child’s rights be
affected?
• Have I considered the welfare of the child if the child stays in this
living situation?
• What type of impact and/or risks will this child face if I report the
incident to the police?
• Am I prepared for the consequences of my decision?
• Have I spoken to the child about how he/she feels about the decision
that is going to be made?
• Have I spoken to the child about what he/she wishes to do?
• Does the child have the capacity to participate in the decision-making
process?
• Will including the child in the decision-making process pose risks to
the child?
• Will my decision have any effects on the culture?
Non • Who is discriminated against? Why are they discriminated?

discrimination • What is the result of the discrimination? How can you prevent
discrimination?
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Do no harm • Will the proposed action be lasting? If not, what will the impact be on
the children when it stops?
• Will the action create further risk of the children being abused,
exploited and neglected?
• How would you involve the community and extended family in the
decisions affecting the children?
• How would you give the children proper guidance, age-appropriate
information, and allow them to participate in the decisions that will
affect their future?
• How do you ensure the support the children will get will bring long-
term impacts?
Family • How do you evaluate the family or the father’s preference against the
preference children’s safety and protection?
Confidentiality • How do you make sure the identity of the children is protected?
• How would you balance confidentiality against actions you propose
that require disclosure?
• Who will be most appropriate to receive this information about the
children?
Informed • How do you gain consent from the children and their guardian to
consent proceed with the response for the protection of the children?
Child • How do you make sure the children can access adequate, age- and
views and development-appropriate, child-friendly information about the process
participation
of each action?
Safety and • What precautions would you take to minimize the risk to the children
security of further abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation or any other
negative consequence of their participation in your proposed action?
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Plenary:
• Bring all the participants back together. Ask each group to present their definition and how they
would apply the principle in the child protection case.
• After each presentation, allow for reflections and feedback from other members to enrich the
discussion from different perspectives.
Hand out for each small group (give one guiding principle per group)
Best interests of the child
“In all actions concerning children, the state shall make the best interests of the child primary
consideration.”
– Article 3, CRC.
The Best Interest principle recognizes each child as unique and deserving of protective
measures based on their specific, individualized circumstances.
The key to understanding this core principle is that each and every individual child has his or her
own needs for protection depending on the context and situation. Decisions affecting one child may
be vastly different to a child in another context. Sometimes difficult decisions must be made and
each individual right of a child must be assessed to determine the best interests of the child.
For example, it may be customary for a child to live with his/her mother if the parents are divorced.
However, if the mother is engaging in illegal activities this situation may not be in the best interests
of the child, despite cultural norms.
Considering the best interests of a child relates to our DECISION MAKING process with regard to
children’s rights, wellbeing, positive development, protection and wishes. How individuals respond
(identify, report, refer, follow up) to a child protection case must be carefully thought through on the
basis of the Best Interest of the Child, with careful evaluation to ensure that decisions are not solely
made in the interests of the parent, the agency responding, traditional practices, or sometimes
even the child’s own wishes. Considering the child’s opinion does not necessarily decide the
course of action, but it will enable evaluation of whether or not the child’s wishes/participation are
harmful to their protection, rights and wellbeing. In order to reach decisions, explore the specific and
individualized conditions of the child and recognize each child as unique and deserving of protective
measures by considering:
• The rights of the child (Are the child’s rights being promoted or violated?)
• The welfare of the child (Are the basic needs being met?)
• The positive development of the child (Is the child’s physical, emotional, cognitive and social
development affected?)
• The Protection of the child (Is the child safe or will more harm be done to the child by the
decision?)
• The child’s wishes (How does the child feel?)
Non discrimination
“States shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present convention to each child within
their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parents
or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or
social origin, property, disability, birth and status.” – Article 2, CRC
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Discrimination means treating an individual and/or group of people in unfair ways because of who
or what they are.
The Human Rights committee defines discrimination as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or
preference which is based on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and which has the purpose or
effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal
footing of all rights and freedoms.
Every child within a State’s jurisdiction holds all the rights of the CRC without regard to citizenship,
immigration status or any other status. Refugee children, asylum seekers and rejected asylum
seekers are all entitled to all rights of the CRC.
All appropriate measures need to be taken by all actors, institutions, organizations and authorities
within a State to ensure that a child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment
on the basis of status, activities, expressed opinions or beliefs of a child’s guardians or family
members.
Do no harm
Do no harm is based on the Hippocratic maxim to first do no harm; in other words, that efforts must
be made to minimize possible negative effects and maximize possible benefits. It is the responsibility
of those engaged in any kind of programme such as aid, development, research, child protection
response, etc., to protect individuals from harm, as well as ensure that they experience the greatest
possible benefits of involvement.
Often associated with the medical field and applied as an oath for doctors, the do no harm principle
has expanded to include aspects of both aid and development work, with a strong emphasis
on conflict situations. Much work has been done on the do no harm approach in the context of
international and national assistance in a given conflict, recovery and stable situation.
It is important to recognize and understand how aid and support can both help and hinder, both stop
and drive, and both empower and disempower conflicts and the people within them.
Family preference
Consideration of action based on the specific family relations, needs, priorities and preferences.
Family preference also recognizes that the best place for a child is in a family environment.
Confidentiality
The state of action of keeping information related to the child and family secret or private.
Confidentiality ensures that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access.
Confidentiality refers to both oral and written information, data, records and circumstances that are
kept private unless there is an understood agreement or informed consent that the information can
be shared.
Confidentiality is often seen among family and friends as information exchanged that is kept secret
between two or more parties. Confidentiality is an essential part of a trust-building process. To be
successful as a friend, social worker, Child Protection Committee (CPC) member, police officer,
nurse, doctor, teacher, etc., you will need to gain the trust of those you interact with. Trust is the
most important building block in confidentiality.
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Confidential information is not bound by timeframes or limits unless a timeframe for disclosure of
information has been agreed upon.
Informed consent
Before information about a child is shared, parties must understand why the information is
needed, and what the implications of sharing will be for the child and guardians. Sharing must
be accompanied by explicit or implicit consent, unless a person is at significant risk of harm. True
consent is an agreement between people on an equal power level.
When the power level is unequal, it is the responsibility of the person with more power to ensure
others are safe and informed.
Giving consent means saying “yes” or agreeing to something freely and voluntarily, and it entails
knowing and understanding the consequences and risks of possible options. It means not being
pressured to say “yes” out of fear, abuse, torture, or any other form of physical and/or emotional
harm.
Child participation
Child participation involves encouraging and enabling children to make their views known on the
issues that affect them. Put into practice, participation is adults listening to children–to all their
multiple and varied ways of communicating. It ensures their freedom to express themselves and
takes their views into account when coming to decisions that affect them. Engaging children in
dialogue and exchange allows them to learn constructive ways of influencing the world around
them.
Child participation must be authentic and meaningful. It must start with children and young people
themselves, on their own terms, within their own realities and in pursuit of their own visions, dreams,
hopes and concerns. Most of all, authentic and meaningful child participation requires a radical shift
in adult thinking and behaviour–from an exclusionary to an inclusionary approach to children and
their capabilities.
The drive to participate is innate in every human being. Promoting meaningful and quality
participation of children and adolescents is essential to ensuring their growth and development.
Children have proved that when they are involved, they can make a difference in the world
around them. They have ideas, experience and insights that enrich adult understanding and
make a positive contribution to adult actions.
Safety and security
This refers to the physical and emotional wellbeing of the child, in addition to any other person
involved in the case.
When considering child protection cases, the individuals involved need to reflect on the various
forms of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual or neglect) that could harm a child or other person if
specific decisions are made during the reporting, referral and follow up of child protection cases.
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Session 2: Partnering and multi-sector
responses for child protection
• Understand the importance of partnering for child protection.
• Explore existing multi-sectoral coordination mechanisms to respond to child protection
and ways to strengthen those.
• Marker, pen, flipchart tape and balloon to play game.
• 7 hours 30 min.
Child protection requires close collaboration and working relationships with partners and
service providers from various sectors to be able to mobilize resources and use them
based on a specific plan in certain conditions to prevent violence and protect all children,
especially those most vulnerable and excluded.
Introduction Balloon Bop game: ask participants to volunteer for this game.
90 min.
• Tell volunteer participants to stand in a circle and hold hands. You
will drop one balloon into the circle and the participants need to
hold their hands together and tap the balloon to keeping it
up in the air with hands, arms, heads, shoulders, chests or
knees, but NO FEET.
• Ask the other participants to observe the game and how well the
participants managed to keep the balloons in the air.
• To make it more challenging you can add more balloons.
• Ask the participants how well the game went, what the challenges
were with keeping the balloons in the air, and what they learned
from the game
• Conclude by emphasizing the importance of working together to
achieve goals and solve complex/multi-layered problems.
Activity Activity 1: Importance of partnering to holistically address child

180 min. protection
180 min. Activity 2: The role of inter-agency and multi-professional

collaboration
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ACTIVITY 1:
Importance of partnering to holistically address
child protection
• Understand the importance of partnership to address the protection of children
holistically.
• Start the session by asking, “What word or phrase comes to your mind when you
hear the word ‘partnership’?”
• The words the participants mention could include:
o Coordination
o Collaboration
o Pooling resources
o Inter-organization relationships.
• Please refer to the definition in the facilitator’s note to summarize the discussion.
• Ask the participants: “Why do we need partnering to address child protection and
how could partnering be established and promoted in the Afghanistan context?”
• Remind the participants about the balloon tapping game. Ask them, “What kind of
skills did the players use to reach agreement on how they should keep the balloons
in the air?”
• Write the responses on the flipchart and ask probing questions to build views on
different aspects.
Partnership is an active relationship between organizations that has reached a defined stage of
co-operation. It is outlined and governed by an informal or formal agreement to combine their
resources and expertise to carry out a specific set of activities.
Partnership fosters the potential coordination and pooling of expertise, information and resources,
as well as opportunities for innovation, learning and cultural change that promote preventive and
problem-solving approaches.
Core partnering principles are based on three critical aspects:
1. Equity among all partners that leads to mutual respect regardless of the size or power
of any one partner.
2. Transparency leads to trust with an emphasis on consultation and sharing of information
from the earliest stages of the partnership.
3. Mutual benefit that leads to sustainability where the diversity of organizations builds on
their comparative strengths and advantages and complements each other’s contribution.
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The Partnering Cycle step-by-step26
CYCLE STEPS TYPICAL TASKS
Understanding the challenge; gathering information;

1. SCOPING consulting with stakeholders and building a vision of /
for the partnership
Scoping and building
Identifying potential partners and, if suitable, securing

2. IDENTIFYING their involvement; motivating them and encouraging
them to work together
Partners build their working relationship through

3. BUILDING agreeing the goals, objectives and core principles that
will underpin their partnership
Undertaking surveys and exploratory workshops;

identifying initial design parameters and required
4. PLANNING
competencies; stakeholder engagement and resource
mapping; drawing up a partnering agreement
Managing and maintaining
Partners explore structure and management of their

partnership medium to long term; defining governance
5. STRUCTURING
and decision-making processes; agreeing on
communication systems and protocols
Partners (and other supporters) identify and mobilize

6. MOBILIZING
cash and non-cash resources
Once resources are in place and project details

agreed, the implementation process starts – working
7. DELIVERING
to a pre-agreed timetable and (ideally) to specific
deliverables
Measuring and reporting on impact and effectiveness

Reviewing and revising
8. MEASURING – outputs and outcomes. Is the partnership achieving

its goals?
9. REVIEWING Reviewing the partnership: what is the impact of the

partnership on partner organizations? Is it time for
some partners to leave and / or new partners to join?
Revising the partnership, programme(s) or project(s)

10. REVISING
in light of experience
Building appropriate structures and mechanisms for

Sustaining
11. SCALING the partnership to ensure longer-term commitment

outcomes
and continuity
Transitioning with sustainable outcomes, or agreeing

12. MOVING ON
on appropriate conclusions
26. World Vision International Child Protection and Advocacy Model Partnering Cycle.
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ACTIVITY 2:
The role of inter-agency and multi-professional
collaboration
• Understand the advantages of partnering.
• Start the activity by explaining the unique features of partnerships that encompass
divergent contributions of different organizations.
• Ask the participants to divide into three groups. Ask each group to focus on one type
of violence: 1) abuse, 2) neglect, or 3) exploitation.
• Ask each group to:
o List key stakeholders responsible for responding to specific issues.

o Explain the role of the different identified agencies and professionals that
could collaborate to respond to specific child protection issues.
o Discuss whether there is a gap that cannot be addressed by existing
stakeholders?
• Allow each group to present their discussion results to the larger group and to
provide feedback on these points.
KEY MESSAGES:
A systems approach to child protection requires a considerable conceptual shift from the traditional
stand-alone programming focus on particular groups of children in need of protection, to the
achievement of more sustainable, comprehensive and long-term responses to child protection
issues.
A systems approach focuses on prevention in a holistic manner and strengthens the critical roles
and assets of key actors responsible for child protection.
A systems approach does not eliminate the need for some specific issues-based programming
targeting the most vulnerable children, but provides a flexible and wide range of interventions to
strengthen the protective nature of the environment around all children in various situations, as
well as children themselves.
Partnering fosters potential coordination and pooling of expertise, information and resources, as
well as opportunities for innovation, learning and cultural change that promote preventive and
problem-solving approaches. This is critical for addressing child protection issues holistically.
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Module 5:
Understanding child participation
Session 1: Importance of child participation

• Understand the importance of children’s participation in their protection and
development.
• Identify the basic elements of meaningful, safe, inclusive and effective child participation.
• Explore the ethics and guidelines of child participation.
• Understand the situations and participation challenges of children with disabilities.
• Markers, pens, flipcharts, o Success story to highlight the importance of

tape and post-it notes children participating in their development
• 8 hours.
• Child participation is important because it enables children to acquire skills and

characteristics that are essential for healthy development and resilience. Every child
is a member of society and it is important that they are consulted and involved in the
provision of services related to their wellbeing and development, and decisions related
to their lives. Participation of children is beneficial for children themselves, as well as
for the sustained impact of the initiatives.
Introduction Child as an active or passive agent: Ask participants if they view

90 min. children as active or passive agents? Based on this discussion, two
situations could be considered.
1. If a child is considered to be an active agent, then her/his
participation is part of the process of valuing and respecting
children and including them in making decisions that affect
them.
2. If a child is considered to be a passive being, s/he would
be regarded as small, powerless, needing to be taught,
being ignored, willing to be imposed upon with ideas,
be considered a means to fulfil parents’ ambitions, be a
passive recipient.
• Ask the participants, “What is an ideal and desirable
situation? What is the current situation? Are our children
active agents or passive recipients? To move from the real
situation to the ideal desirable one, what steps need to be
taken?”
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Note to the facilitator: Some of the suggested measures could be:
• Raise awareness and develop understanding about children’s

views, their development, rights and participation in society
• Build the capacity of children and adults in child participation
• Empower families to care for and listen to their children
• Establish standards for ethical and meaningful participation in
different levels of the community
• Build structures and mechanisms, create platforms for child
participation
• Allocate resources–financial, material, tools and human to
support child participation
Activity Activity 1: What does child participation mean?

120 min. Activity 2: Importance of child participation

90 min. Activity 3: Child participation principles or guidelines

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ACTIVITY 1:
What does child participation mean?
• Understand the meaning of children’s active participation.
• Child protection can be effective if children play a role in the processes that affect
their lives. Thus, building children’s skills to participate, as well as strengthening the
capacities of adults to support children’s meaningful and safe participation is critical.
• In groups of three, ask participants to define what child participation is and is not.
Ask them to give examples explaining what it means:
o Child participation in family life

o Child participation in school life
o Child participation in community activities or other non-formal set ups
• Allow the participants to share their small group discussions.

• Facilitate questions and comments from participants considering the facilitator’s
notes below.
According to UN CRC: “State Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or
her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of
the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.” Article 12.
Child participation is the informed and willing involvement of all children, including the most
marginalized and those of different ages and abilities in opportunities to express their views,
influencing decision making and achieving change. This includes informed and willing involvement
of all children no matter the age, sex, ability, race or ethnic group, in any matter concerning them
either directly or indirectly. A cornerstone to child participation is the transparent commitment by
adults to listen, respect and honour the voices of children.
What child participation is and is not (refer to pre-prepared flipcharts, as below, indicating what
child participation is and is not).
Engaging children in meaningful ways is not an easy task. Often, adults can mistakenly equate
child participation with handing all decision-making power over to children and diminishing the role
and contribution of adults. Or the opposite may happen, where adults appear to consult children but
in the end do not give children’s input true consideration or value in the decision-making process.
The following chart distinguishes what child participation actually is in practice from what it is not .27
27. Horna Castro, Patricia, (2007) Easier to Say Than to Do: Children’s participation in events with adults. Save the Children Sweden.
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CHILD PARTICIPATION IS: CHILD PARTICIPATION IS NOT:
• Recognizing the value of children’s • Suggesting to children what they should

knowledge and contributions think or say
• Sharing experience, expertise and • Thinking adults have nothing to learn
accurate information with children from children
• Learning from children and seeking out • Devaluing an adult’s experience and
their input and feedback expertise
• Intentionally providing opportunities for • Using children to do an adult’s work
children to make decisions and imple-
ment them • Giving children the responsibilities of an
adult
• Helping children and adults to under-
stand their rights and responsibilities • Handing over all power or decision mak-
ing to children
• Sharing decision-making power be-
tween adults and children • Automatically endorsing every opinion a
child expresses
• Working towards respect for the rights
of children in communities and at the • Children disrespecting the authority and
national and international level responsibility of adults
• Ensuring the best interests of the child • Tokenistic.

by including their input.
Some examples of participation (ask participants to add more from their experience)
Child participation in the family
• Family / relative / children persuading the parents to send their daughter to school
• Children discussing with their parents about delaying the marriage age of their sister
• Children discussing the benefits of attending school while continuing to support their family
income
Child participation in school
• Students, teachers and the principal jointly deciding on a change of schedule and school timings
• Students, parents and teachers jointly deciding on action for installing toilets on the school
premises
• Students deciding and organizing awareness-raising and advocacy events in their communities
• Child participation in community activities or other non-formal set ups
• Children participate in decision making, planning, implementation and evaluation of programmes
• Children develop a plan of action on issues and concerns faced by the community
• The government and other organizations have considered children and their best interest and
taken them into account in their annual plans and project designs.
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ACTIVITY 2:
Importance of child participation
• Analyse the importance of child participation.

• The importance of child participation relates to both legal and logical reasons.
• Ask participants, “Why is it necessary to involve children in taking decisions which

affect them?”
• Based on the answers, further explore the importance of child participation in family,
school and community life.
The importance of child participation relates to both legal and logical reasons.
• Under the CRC, children have the right to be consulted in all decisions concerning their lives.
• Adults often make assumptions about what information children are able or not able to
understand and provide. But children know a lot about their own lives, about what they feel,
see and think.
• Child participation increases children’s understanding of their ability to affect positive change in
their own lives and the lives of others.
• If adults do not listen to children, the decisions that they make for children may have a negative,
rather than a positive, impact.
• Self-made decisions motivate children to strive to achieve their goals and build their
self-confidence.
Participation is a way for children to learn and develop. Therefore, it improves children’s knowledge
and skills about their own lives, their communities and the issues that affect them and other children.
It increases children’s communication and negotiation skills, leadership and conflict resolution
capacities, and strengthens children’s ability to engage in team work.

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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 3:
Child participation principles or guidelines
• Create mutual understanding about child participation principles.
• True participation is a collaborative process where all stakeholders are involved in

decision making. Children of all ages have the ability to participate by expressing
their views, giving their opinions and taking decisions according to their age and
context. Participation of children begins at home but it should also be encouraged in
schools, non-formal settings and the wider community.
• Ask participants to think about what principles adults need to consider when
preparing for children’s participation in different activities?
• Ask the participants to put their responses on sticky notes (one principle on each
note).
• Show a flipchart with five guiding principles of child participation:
1. Importance of child participation as a right

2. Be ethical and transparent
3. Child participation in meaningful and age-appropriate approaches
4. Child participation needs to be connected and foster positive relationships
with family and community
5. Child participation is an on-going process in different activities
• Map the participants’ responses written on the sticky notes against the five guiding
principles.
• Add principles as necessary.
Five guiding principles for child participation 28
1. Importance of child participation as a right: Child participation is a foundational right and

works to fulfil other child rights. Involving children in consultations and listening to them will help
to explain the gaps in other rights of survival, development and protection.
2. Be ethical and transparent: In all processes of engagement with children, ensure the best
interests, safety and security of every child.
3. Child participation in meaningful and age-appropriate approaches: Provide continuous
opportunities for child participation, taking into consideration the child’s age, maturity, gender,
religion, different abilities and context of vulnerability.
4. Child participation needs to be connected and foster positive relationships with family
and community: Ensure recognition of the importance of child participation by the family and
community that promotes mutual respect and responsibility between children and adults.
5. Child participation is an on-going process in different activities: It is critical to engage
children in family matters, community development programmes and children’s empowerment
opportunities that affect their lives.
28. Taken from World Vision’s Guidelines for Child participation:

https://www.wvi.org/sites/default/files/WV_Guidelines_on_Child_Participation.pdf
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Session 2: Ethical considerations of child
participation
• Understand the ethical principles of child participation.
• Explore different forms of safe and inclusive participation of boys and girls in different
types of decision making.
• Marker, pen, o Prepare checklist on major characteristics of

flipchart papers and tape effective child participation

• 6 hours.
• When children have the opportunity to participate, the power imbalance between them
and adults and/or between different groups of children might put them at risk, due to
the information they disclose or the way the participation is facilitated. It is critical to
consider the general ethics that are universally, as well as contextually, relevant and
applicable to avoid putting children at risk.
Introduction Ask the participants to consider the common perceptions of adults in

120 min. Afghanistan of the way they should engage with children.
Some of the responses may include:
• Children do not have the capability or position to involve

themselves in a discussion that adults are having, so they
should just obey and not speak when adults are talking
• Adults dictate what children and youth should do
• Listening to children is a waste of time
• Children do not know what is best for them so they do not need
to be involved in decisions affecting their lives
• Children should do what their parents and family members tell
them to do, and it is disrespectful to challenge or respond to
what they have been told to do.
Activity Activity 1: Supporting safe, meaningful and ethical child

120 min. participation
120 min. Activity 2: Applying child participation guidelines

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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Supporting safe, meaningful and ethical child
participation
• To analyse the realistic situation of children and explore ways to involve children in
a safe, appropriate and ethical manner.
• It is vital to understand and reflect on realistic ways for children to participate in

different situations.
• Divide the participants into four groups. Ask them, “What should adults be ready
for and what should be done to prepare for the effective participation of children in
different activities?”
• Provide each group with different aspects of child participation:
o What needs to be done to prepare children?

o What needs to be done to prepare the wider community?
o What needs to be done to prepare various organizations (government,
NGOs, businesses, etc.)?
• Invite the groups to share their results
Facilitate questions and comments from the participants, considering the facilitator’s notes below.
Aspects of child participation according to CRC Article 12:
Institutionalizing their
voice Audience
Children need to build Children need someone
their skills to express their to listen to them
views through forming
associations/groups.
Space
Influence
Children need safe,
Children's views need to
friendly and inclusive
be acted upon or taken
opportunities to express
into account by adults
their views
Child
Participation
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Practical guidelines for child participation in different conditions
Prepare adults:
• Recognize and address any negative attitudes towards children’s participation

• Provide consent for the child to participate, relevant to the child’s daily life
• Recognize each child as an individual, starting from birth
• Recognize children’s strengths as well as weaknesses.
Prepare the children:
• Involve children in issues and decisions that are relevant to their daily lives and concerns.
• Develop positive relationships with children, starting from birth
• Promote children’s understanding by informing them of social issues in their community
• Provide children with opportunities to develop their life skills, such as decision making, relating
with others, expressing their views, planning and reaching consensus
• Inform children of the scope and agree with them on their roles and expectations for involvement.
Prepare the wider community:
• Raise awareness about the benefits of child participation

• Support the participation of children who are vulnerable or affected by multiple discriminations
• Ensure the participation of children in an accessible, inclusive and non-discriminatory manner
• Enable children to present their ideas and activities at different community gatherings.
Prepare organizations:
• Establish a child protection policy and train staff on the expected standards and code of conduct
• Train staff in how to facilitate child participation in a safe and friendly approach with children
• Think about how child participation will affect the way the organization works.
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ACTIVITY 2:
Applying child participation guidelines
• To operationalize the guiding principles in the local context.
• Understanding the principles of effective child participation will highlight the

importance of different actions. To foster child participation, it is important to apply
these principles in the context of local realities.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups. Each group should develop a case
that shows the effective participation of children, with examples of games, exercises
and activities that help children express their views.
• For each group, give different aspects of child participation (in the family, in school,
in the community, in organizations).
• Distribute the checklist to all participants to analyse the

Checklist on effective child
scenarios of each group. (Note: the checklist helps us take
participation:
• Participant centred
into account the major characteristics, but additional points
• Non discriminatory and could also be considered, based on the context).
inclusive • Allow each group to present their scenarios to facilitate child
• Relevant participation
• Safe and sensitive to risk • If participants did not mention the exercises below, consider
• Respectful sharing these examples as a hand out. Mention similar games
• Transparent or activities then explain the examples.
• Empowered
• Accountability through
feedback
*Handout for participants:
Examples of activities that enable children to explore their feelings when making different
decisions:
Circle activity with two hands or one hand up
Ask everyone to stand in a circle with the facilitator in the middle. Explain that this is a game you
would play with children. You would tell the children what you are planning to do. You would read
the children the different statements (discussed earlier). Read each issue and the children who
agree with the idea will raise both hands. The children who disagree will raise only one hand. The
children should not be able to see each other. Ask them how they feel most comfortable–either
standing in a circle facing out, or closing their eyes. After completing the task, ask the children to
share their final decisions. Ask them to clap if they agree, to ensure acceptance. Allow time for
questions and reflection to further adjust the decisions.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Feeling ranking
Draw three faces with emotional expressions (sad, happy and neutral) and tell the children that you
are going to read the things you discussed earlier. Ask them to decide which is the most important
issue or activity. For highly important, they will tick the happy face. For least important, they will
tick the sad face. If they are not sure, they will tick the neutral face. Write down the total number
of ticks for each issue or activity. Rank them and explain which is the highest ranked priority or
activity. Ask the children if they are happy with the final decision. Ask them if they have additional
opinions or feedback regarding the final decision and ensure that all participants’ opinions have
been considered and reflected on.
Spider diagram
Ask the children to sit on the floor and give everyone a piece of paper and coloured markers. Tell
them we are going to draw a big spider. Ask the children to write their name or draw a picture of
themselves in the corner of the paper. Next, ask the children to draw a circle in the middle of the
paper. This is the body of the spider. Explain that each leg of the spider is a problem that they face
day-to-day, and the feet are the people they go to for help. People who help a lot can be shown by
drawing bigger feet. The spider can have as many legs as each child wants to draw. Encourage the
children by drawing an example, but do not write down anything on the legs or feet. If the children
are finding this exercise difficult, it may help to go around to them individually and ask about a
problem they are currently facing, and who they might go to for help. Remind them that there are
no right or wrong answers. When everyone has finished drawing and you have had time to talk to
each child individually, call everyone back together for a group discussion. Explain to the children
that they do not have to share any of the problems they wrote down if they do not want to. Then
ask for volunteers to share their drawings, the problems they wrote down, and who they could go
to for help.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Session 3: Ensuring participation of
children with disabilities
• Explore different perspectives of disability.
• Analyse factors that hinder the participation of children with disabilities.
• Marker, pen,
o Printout of the case study for participants
flipchart papers and tape
• In Afghanistan, children are not allowed to participate in meetings attended by elders.

Even if children are allowed to be present, they cannot raise their voices to say anything.
Children with disabilities are almost fully excluded from society. Child protection workers
need to develop relevant capacities and skills to support the inclusion and participation
of children with disabilities.
Introduction Perspective of disability: Disability has evolved from ‘impairment’

120 min. of mind or body to a more complex relationship between an individual
and the environment.
Case of social model perspective: Read Najiba’s case to the
participants. Ask the participants what factors make Najiba ‘disabled’?
Najiba’s case: “Najiba’s leg was injured in an explosion near

her home. She was taken to hospital where one of her legs was
amputated. She cannot move her legs; she can sit, but she cannot
walk. Even though she needed medical care and physiotherapy her
family took her home as they could not afford further hospital care.
There is no social welfare system or other benefits to support her
medical expenses. Najiba was given a wheelchair by an NGO, but
her home is on a hill and she cannot move independently. Her school
does not have ramps, so she cannot access either the classroom or
the compound. While she is physically able to sit up and can do many
things, she often stays at home, as the perception in her community
is that she can no longer take part in any community activities.”
Ask participants to share their responses, and conclude by considering

the following points:
• Leg amputation (health condition or physical impairment)

• Cannot walk (difficulty in functioning)
• Unable to continue hospital-based care (economic barrier)
• No social welfare system (policy barrier)
• Cannot independently move around (physical environment
barrier)
• Community perception that she is unable to take part in community
activities (attitude barrier to her participation).
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CHILD PROTECTION
Share with participants three types of barriers that hinder inclusion:
• Attitudinal: Invisible barrier that could lead to discrimination

(e.g. no social support or birth registration), social exclusion (e.g.
family, friends, school, community), violence (mother or family
killing their own child / infanticide)
• Institutional/systematic: Less likely to have access to basic
services, employment, social protection and the justice system.
• Environmental: Includes infrastructure (public transport,
housing, WASH points, bank, mosque, roads, school, clinic,
office, market, recreational places, library) as well as information
and communication (type of phone, conversation style, news and
radio).
Activity Activity 1: Understanding disability. Disability in Afghanistan

90 min. through a social model and factors hindering the participation and
inclusion of children with disabilities
120 min. Activity 2: Analysing disability in different communities
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Understanding disability. Disability in Afghanistan
through a social model and factors hindering
the participation and inclusion of children with
disabilities
• To understand the complex needs and impairments faced by children with disabilities.
• To understand disability through the view of a social model.
• Opportunities for children to participate in decisions and issues affecting them

are minimal. This is worse for children with disabilities, due to various barriers
and complex needs. To support participation of children with disabilities, factors
contributing to disability need to be understood.
• Ask participants to explain how they define disability: “What words or images come
to your mind when you say or think the word ‘disabled’?”
• Write the responses on the flipchart. The responses might include words such as:
o Unproductive/not worthy
o Not normal
o In need of care
o Unintelligent and weak
o Pity
o Sad
• Tell the participants that disability is a “result of the limitations imposed on people
with impairments by attitudinal, institutional and environmental barriers to their
participation in society. What is not normal is being discriminated against and socially
excluded because of having an impairment. That is what is disabling” .29
• Explain that different societies and individuals understand disability differently. This
includes:
• Charity model: assumes a person with a disability has a ‘problem’ with his/her
body and others should feel pity for his/her ‘tragedy’, or should feel inspired by the
achievements of a person with a disability.
• Medical model: focuses on the impairments that cannot be ‘fixed’; assumes the
person cannot participate equally in society.
• Economic model: views a person with a disability as less productive; financially
strains families, communities and government.
• Social model: views disability by limitations imposed by the particular context.
Removing the ‘disabling’ barriers in the environment reduces the impact of an
impairment. So people with disability become more included by removal of
barriers.
• Human rights model: focuses on the right to access, to awareness, and to
participation. Identifies and addresses physical, communication, policy and
attitudinal barriers.
29. DFID KaR Lessons from the Disability Knowledge and Research Programme. www.disabilitykar.net
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CHILD PROTECTION
Explain that participants will be discussing disability mostly from the social model
perspective.
• Ask participants to divide into three groups and prepare a role play about the barriers
(attitudinal, intuitional/systemic, environmental) that exclude children with disabilities in
Afghanistan.
• After each role play ask the participants to reflect. Ask them to suggest approaches
based on the social model of inclusion to overcome the barriers faced by children with
disabilities. For example, ask what changes they might make to produce a different
outcome..ide a concluding summary after reflecting on all the group presentations
informed by the general guidance listed below.
Most of the information has been taken from the 2005 National Disability Survey in Afghanistan.
Situation of children Factors hindering the Approaches to promote

with disabilities in participation of children with participation and
Afghanistan disabilities inclusion of children with
disabilities
• Children with a disability or • Inadequate access to health • Awareness of the risks

those who become disabled services. related to health care,
at an early stage are more • Limited knowledge on some nutrition and prenatal and
vulnerable and have lower preventive measures and post-natal care.
survival rates than non- causes–especially disability • Increase understanding of
disabled infants. associated with illness or the causes of disabilities.
vaccination.
• Children with disabilities • Community sees children with • Increase understanding of

cannot participate in any a disability as an incomplete the abilities of children with a
activities. They are isolated person or a ‘punishment from disability.
and not taken to public God’. • Change negative attitudes
places or social gatherings. through a series of
community dialogues,
incorporating religious
interpretation regarding
children with a disability.
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CHILD PROTECTION
• Access to public school • Being disabled before school • Strongly support inclusive
is twice as high for non- age strongly influences access education by increasing
disabled children as for to any form of education. school accessibility for
children with disabilities • Inadequate educational efforts to children with a disability.
before the age of 7 years, reach children with disabilities. • Change legislation to include
regardless of where they • Access to secondary and higher children with all types of
live, their sex or generation. education has been very limited. disability, including the most
• High drop out of children • Accessibility problems for severe, to attend school for
with a disability. children with a physical disability. the compulsory education
• Children with a disability • Learning environment and period.
aged 6–14 years do work materials are not adapted to • Raise awareness of the
and contribute to household include children with disabilities. relevance of inclusive
tasks, in the fields or in other • Teaching methods are not education for teachers and
work, depriving them of the inclusive. families.
opportunity to go to school. • Stigma and discrimination, • Effective coordination of all
• More boys with physical especially for children with stakeholders to integrate
disability access education intellectual and associated children with disabilities
than girls. disabilities. into the education system,
• Economic difficulties of families. from conception of the law
• The social norms of acceptability to training of teachers,
for girls’ education are awareness of communities
exacerbated for girls with a and the design of buildings.
disability.
• Community does not expect • Negative attitudes of family, • Understanding root causes
children with intellectual and teachers and the community of destructive attitudes
associated disabilities to be towards different forms of and actions towards
able to learn. disability leads to discrimination. children with a disability.
• Lack of specialized educational Conduct awareness on the
structures for children with capabilities of children with
sensorial and intellectual different disabilities.
difficulties. • Policy decisions will need
to take into consideration
institutional measures
regarding children with
sensorial and intellectual
difficulties, specialist
teachers, methods and
materials in mainstream
education.
• Set up structures for children
with severe disabilities.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Analysing disability in different communities
• Examine disability in the current context with specific stakeholders.
• In this activity participants use their understanding of a systems approach to disability

to analyse disability in their community.
• Ask a question about the real situation in the community.
o Do participants know of actual situations in the community where children

with disabilities are being abused, neglected or exploited? Ask them to share
these if appropriate. Remind them not to use names of families.
o What special protection issues impact children with a disability? Girls? Boys?
• Present the following table on a flipchart and work through it as a group. Pay
special attention to the individuals and groups that interact with girls and boys with
disabilities. How might they be reinforcing barriers? You may want to review the
flipcharts again or post them on a wall for reference. Remind the participants of
different barriers faced by people with a disability.
Children with disabilities

Environmental
(facilities /
Attitudes, myths, communication
Systems / laws
assumptions methods,
transportation,
etc.)
Parents
Peers and other
children
Neighbours
School (e.g.
teachers)
Social services
(e.g. health or social
workers)
Faith-based leaders
Local government
Other organizations
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CHILD PROTECTION
1. How are children with disabilities currently supported?
• What about those children with disabilities who are protected from abuse,
neglect and exploitation? Who protects them? What is working well?
Ask participants to share stories of how children have been protected.
• What systems and structures support the protection of children in their

community?
• How can participants’ work help access support for children with disabilities?
KEY MESSAGES:
• Child participation can be defined as children influencing the issues that affect their lives
through voice or action. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989
led to increased attention to child participation. Participation is one of the key principles of
the Convention. Article 12, in particular, describes a child’s right to participate. Article 12.1 of
the CRC states that:
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the
right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child
being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
In 2009, the general comment on Article 12 described child participation as an on-going process
where adults and children share information, talk and listen to one another and make decisions
jointly (Committee on the Rights of the Child. United Nations. General Comment No. 12: The
Right of the Child to be Heard. Geneva, Switzerland, 2009. Print.)
• Child participation is when children under 18 years of age contribute to decisions and take
action on issues that affect their lives. This is best done through empowering children and
nurturing positive relationships between children, adults and communities based on mutual
respect and partnership at familial, local, national and international levels.
• Afghanistan has committed to the right of all citizens, including children, to actively express
their opinion and take part in decisions regarding all aspects of their lives. It is recognized that
child participation is not only a right, but an essential aspect of wellbeing. While child rights
are foundational, commitment to child protection and special priority for the most vulnerable
children goes beyond rights, placing child participation as an essential element for children
to thrive.
• Approaching disability through a social model of inclusion allows society to reverse stigma and
support all children with disabilities to reach their full potential, and to be active participants
in their family and community life.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Module 6:
Child protection is everyone’s
responsibility
Session 1: Responding to a child’s disclosure of

abuse
• Understand how to communicate with children who have been abused.
• Analyse ways to report and refer.
• Explore strengthening collaborative responses to violence against children.
• Marker, pen, o Print out of case studies for participants to

flipchart tape and post-it notes practice.
• Disclosure is not a straightforward concept, as children do not always purposefully

reveal abuse. Child disclosure of abuse is usually found out by someone else through
observation or through medical examination. Thus, it is critical for a person working with
children to understand and know how to respond appropriately to a child’s intentional
or unintentional disclosure of abuse. This encompasses very complex processes.
Introduction • Issues related to disclosures of abuse: Ask participants what

60 min. kind of common challenges an Afghan boy or girl might face
when disclosing an incident of abuse.
• Capture the responses in the flipchart, adding the points below
if not mentioned.
• Family honour: Fear of further harm and social pressure could
lead to lethal actions, from beating to murder, such as honour
killings of females.
• Fear that disclosing will create conflict in the family, especially if
the perpetrator is a family member or friend.
• Fear of further hurt by the abuser, who often threatens to harm
the victims or their families if they tell.
• ‘Forget’ as a coping mechanism to avoid feelings of hurt when
remembering the abuse again.
• Limited language or developmental abilities may mean the
child does not understand the act of abuse and that it is wrong.
• Fear of being blamed and responsible for what happened.
Activity Activity 1: Ways to communicate with a child disclosing abuse

200 min. Activity 2: Positive and negative consequences of reporting

180 min. Activity 3: Ways of reporting and referral

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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 1:
Ways to communicate with a child disclosing
abuse
• Understand and take responsibility to effectively respond to disclosure of abuse.
• Disclosure can be a scary and difficult process for children, but understanding
their fears will help to respond appropriately. The means of communication and the
reaction to a child’s disclosure of abuse will have a big effect on how the child deals
with the physical, social and emotional difficulties and trauma of the abuse.
• Ask the participants to divide into four groups.

• Provide the four scenarios (below) to identify ways of communication and their
effects on the child disclosing the abuse.
Case A: A 14-year-old girl who lives in a remote district has been sexually abused by one of her
relatives coming to visit her family. She has been sick and her mother took her to the nearest health
centre. The doctor informed the social worker at the centre. The social worker was too busy with
different tasks and asked the girl to sit. She asked the girl to tell her what happened and while the
girl was talking the social worker started to call the police department, asking them to come. The
social worker looked shocked and could not believe the child, as she knows her family.
Case B: A 12-year-old girl was married off by her father. The community and religious leaders took
her father and the man she married to the police and took the girl to a social worker. The social
worker used simple language and words to ask questions and listen carefully and actively. She
looked at the girl and responded by nodding and making supportive sounds. Even though the social
worker was shocked that the girl had been abused, she controlled her expression. She assured
the girl that she, together with community members, would make every effort to support her and
ensure her protection.
Case C: A teacher brought a 16-year-old boy to a child protection unit at the Department of Labour,
Social Affairs, Matyrs and Disabled. He had been physically and sexually abused by a powerful
man during a wedding party. The social worker thanked the teacher and asked the boy different
direct and leading questions. The social worker was visibly angry about what happened to the boy
and kept writing, without looking at the boy’s face. Even though the boy did not want to share more
details, the social worker kept pressuring the boy by promising not to tell to anyone.
Case D: A father beat his 15-year-old boy so badly that the boy’s leg and hand were broken. The
boy’s uncle took him to a doctor at the health centre and the doctor referred him to the district social
worker. The boy was very worried that his father, who was drug addicted, would kill him if he found
out that he had come to the health centre. The social worker asked the boy if he felt comfortable
being in the office. He showed respect. The social worker did not rush into questioning and gave
the boy time to calm down. He told the child that what had happened to him had also happened to
other children, and that he did the right thing coming to the health centre.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Plenary:
• Call all the group members back and ask each group to present their discussion. Allow the
larger group to present their feedback and comments.
• Ensure the discussion is context-relevant and realistic, so that participants can learn how to
handle disclosures of abuse.
• Conclude the discussions by summarizing the key principles as per the facilitator’s notes below.

Guides for responding to a child’s disclosure of abuse
1. Ensure safety of the child: When the life of a child is in danger, priority needs to be placed on
removing the child from danger.
2. Provide a safe and friendly environment: Ensure that the setting is confidential and
comfortable. Be supportive and confident by saying that you will do what you can to help him/
her. Speak slowly and maintain a calm demeanour. If medical attention is needed, it needs to
be provided. If a child is upset or in distress, focus on calming her/him down first.
3. Respect: Survivors of abuse need to feel accepted and heard by the practitioner and know that
they will not be judged.
4. Take time and do not force a child to speak: Make sure the child has time to speak and
does not feel rushed or pressured. Children need time to develop their trust, especially after
experiencing such incidents. Practitioners need to listen and provide their full attention. This
can contribute to the healing process. If the child seems uncomfortable when talking about
specific things, do not press her/him for details.
5. Do not promise confidentiality: Never agree to keep secrets. The practitioner has a duty to
report to those whose job it is to protect children.
6. Communication: Keep calm and do not panic. Ask open questions like, “Is there anything else
that you want to tell me?” Use simple and age-appropriate language. Listen to what is being
said without displaying shock or disbelief, and do not interrupt. Accept what the child is saying
without judgement. Listen quietly, carefully and patiently. Do not assume anything and do not
jump to conclusions.
7. Record essential facts: Record brief notes of date, time, place, words used by the child
(including swear words or slang). Observe how the child appears to you (keep this factual, not
interpretation). Avoid using ‘why’ questions as they can suggest indirectly that the child may
have done something wrong. In-depth questions could be asked by a case manager or other
child protection personnel.
8. Be honest: Explain what you have to do next, whom you have to talk to and why.
9. Foster a positive state of mind and emotion: Let the child know that it is okay to feel scared,
hurt, confused or angry. Help the child feel that there are some good things in her/his life that
he/she could pursue. Do not promise things that cannot be done.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 2:
Positive and negative consequences of reporting
• To understand the positive and negative consequences of reporting abuse.
• Child protection is everyone’s responsibility, although the ability to act might

sometimes be hindered by a fear of negative consequences of reporting and
responding to a case. Mitigating the risks can support strengthened protection of
children from violence.
• Introduce to the participants the concept of consequences by explaining that no

matter where the report comes from, each report will have consequences. The
consequences can either be positive or negative, depending on whether the guiding
principles were respected and followed.
• Show the following diagram (previously drawn on a flipchart) and explain that after
a decision is made to report a case to someone, the report will either bring about
help (a positive response) or rejection (a negative response). The goal is for the
guiding principles to be followed so that the response will be positive and help will
be provided to the child.
Achild is abused or
neglecled
guiding
Case is
principles
reported
help rejection
(+) (-)
• Emphasize the importance of thinking through each guiding principle before making
any decision to report a child protection case.
• Do a brief review with everyone’s participation of each guiding principle: Best

interests of the child; Non discrimination; Do no harm; Confidentiality; Informed
consent; Family preference; Participation; Safety and security.
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CHILD PROTECTION
• Ask participants to share different situations they are aware of in which reporting a child
protection violation ended with a negative consequence. Ask them why they think it
ended this way and what could have been done differently.
• Now ask participants to share different situations they are aware of in which reporting
a child protection violation ended with a positive consequence. Ask them which guiding
principles might have influenced the positive consequences and the child receiving the
help that was needed.
Conclude the activity by emphasizing the importance of reporting incidents of child

abuse to ensure that children suffering from abuse receive the appropriate help.
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CHILD PROTECTION
ACTIVITY 3:
Ways of reporting and referral
• Understand the key procedures for reporting and referring a disclosure of abuse.
• Proper reporting and referral are important steps to ensuring the protection of children
in the community. Reporting by professionals who work with children is important, as
children are more susceptible to injury or abuse, and are unable to make complaints.
The service provider who suspects child abuse, or who has received a disclosure, is
responsible for reporting the abuse. Remind participants of the ‘circle of care’ activity
and the responsibility that individuals have to a child.
• Ask the participants to return to Cases A to D (from Activity 1) and explore existing
traditional and formal reporting and referral systems in Afghanistan. Ask the
participants to explore what would happen if a child appeared in the situations
described for each case. Ask participants to use the key discussion questions
(below) as a guide to understanding the steps in responding to a child in each of
these situations (give each participant the key discussion questions as a hand out).
• When each group has finished discussing the issues, ask them to write a summary
for each case on a sheet of flipchart paper by filling in the following chart (note:
participants may choose to use drawings, maps and symbols to represent their
group discussions).
Child Who can the

Who decides What would the
protection child or family
what happens? outcome be?
issue go to for help?
1.
2.
3.
4.
• Ask groups to present and explain their answers on the flipchart papers.
• When all the groups have presented, highlight similar responses and
contrast the differences in opinions.
• Ask participants to discuss the positive and negative actions of families and
communities in the process of responding.
Allow the participants to reflect on the challenges within the reporting and referral system
as well as to suggest realistic approaches within the existing community and formal
structures.
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CHILD PROTECTION
Key discussions questions:
Q: What does the child affected by this issue need?

Please consider: physical safety, medical care, psychosocial support, legal services,
material support, educational and accessibility considerations (e.g. disability).
Q: To whom can a child affected by this issue go for help? Who is told about the
issue? Make a list of all the people and places that may be told about the issue or that may
respond. Mark the one that is the MOST TYPICAL.
Q: What are the key steps? Describe what would happen step by step by answering these
questions:
• Who could the child go to for help?
• What would the family do?
• What would the community do?
Q: Who would be the key decision makers about what would happen?
• Who takes the decision?
• How is the child involved or how does he or she participate in the decisions that affect
them?
Q: What would be the likely outcomes of the responses to the problem?

• What would likely happen to the child?
• What would likely happen to the family?
• What would likely happen to the perpetrator?
Q: How satisfied with this outcome would various stakeholders (child, family,
community, people outside the community) be with this outcome? Why?
Q: Is there a legal responsibility related to this problem?

• Who would it be reported to and what would be the response of the agency/person?
(For example, Police / Child protection unit / Social workers)?
• Who would report this problem?
• If not reported, why not?
Q: What gaps exist in the community’s response?

• How will these gaps be addressed?
• Who will address them?
Q: What recommendations would you make to better ensure that a child is protected
from harm and that the risks of the harm re-occurring are minimized?
• What might have made it easier for the child to seek or access help?
• How could the help/services that the child received have been better?
• Who else should have been involved in the process? What could be changed so that
those people become involved in the future?
• Who follows up and tracks the progress of abused, neglected and exploited children?
• How can we monitor the wellbeing of children?
• Is the risk that the harm will re-occur still present? If so, what could be done to minimize
it?
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CHILD PROTECTION
Conclude this session by pointing out some places where a child with potential signs of abuse
can be referred. Tell the participants to keep in mind that not all children will need to be referred
to specialized services. However, if an issue is causing a child distress of a serious nature, then
referral is necessary. The diagram below provides examples of when and where children can be
referred for further support. (Diagram pre-prepared on separate flipcharts. Consider adopting this
based on existing local services and supports).
Emotional distress: Examples of where to refer a child:

If a child is showing • Community psychosocial resource
signs of on-going severe counsellor
emotional distress • Primary healthcare clinic (preferably with
or locally relevant basic knowledge on care for those with
manifestations of mental mental illness)
illness… • Faith-based leader
• CPAN
Harm: Examples of where to refer the child:

If there is evidence of • CPAN
the threat of on-going • Primary healthcare clinic (particularly if
or future harm to the physical harm is evident)
child… • Community social worker, case manager
• Community psychosocial resource
counsellor
It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that children experiencing abuse access the required care.
Always ask the child which caregiver they would like to accompany them and be aware of possible
social barriers, such as gender, ethnicity or stigma that prevents the child from seeking support.
KEY MESSAGES:
• We all have a role to play in protecting our children from harm. Once we understand an
issue or risks that children face, we can motivate ourselves to do something about it, we can
mobilize others and we can make good decisions to protect our children.
•
• Every community needs to have the capacity to help, support and restore children who have
been abused, exploited or neglected. Each one of us needs to know what to do, and where
to report or refer a case of a child abuse.
•
• The effectiveness of a reporting system depends on the application of the child protection
guiding principles and interventions linked to the circle of care. Without intervention, the child
and the family needing help will be more discouraged and further harm could be caused.
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CHILD PROTECTION

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CHILD

UNICEF Afghanistan Country Office:

World Vision International:

CPAN Child Protection Action Network

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child

D-CPAN District Child Protection Action Network

MoLSA Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

NGO Non-Government Organization

NSFCAR National Strategy for Children At Risk

Concerns related to the protection of children include:

1.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To understand the concept and main principles of child protection

1.3 EXPECTED RESULTS

By the end of the training, participants will:

1.6 TRAINING METHODS

Brain Generation of participants’ creative thinking and development of new

Individual Maintaining personal reflections, capturing observations, accomplishing

Q & A Participation in plenary discussions around sets of questions to jointly find

To contribute to strengthening child protection in Afghanistan, a comprehensive child protection

Module 1: Childhood and the protective environment

Module 2: Children and vulnerability

Module 3: Understanding child protection

Module 4: Child protection systems strengthening approach

Module 5: Understanding child participationon of outcomes

Module 6: Child protection is everyone’s responsibility

• Marker, pen, flipchart papers and tape.

Introduction Give participants a warm welcome to the Child Protection training.

1. Each participant is important and deserves to be introduced.

Session 1: Ecology of the child

Introduction Understanding a caring and protective environment

Note: The facilitator should support reflections pointing to common

Activity Activity 1: Circle of care

• Participants will learn to analyse situations surrounding children.

Note to the facilitator: Example STATE

Summarize the groups’ work on one Cultural value

Conclude by saying: Children’s wellbeing s

depends on their relationships with gs Au

others and the social, political, spiritual,

physical and environmental contexts in

which they live. This is called the ecology

The approach helps us to consider

• Flipchart paper, tape, marker and coloured paper

Introduction Think like a child

Activity Activity 1: Perspectives on what is a child or childhood

Activity 2: Needs of children and child developmental domains

Activity 3: Stages of child development and developmental

Activity 4: Perspectives on maturity and childhood

Activity 5: Effects of adversity and nurturing on child development

• Analysing the different perspectives is important while defining terms related to

o Our parents’/elders’ perspective

• Ask each group to discuss, according to individuals’ perspectives, using the

*Note to the facilitator:

*Note to the facilitator:

If the participants could not understand how to

Love, affectionate care, attention Physical: Includes height and weight,

Social: Includes interpersonal

Emotional: Development of emotional

• Understanding expectations of age-appropriate characteristics.

• Birth to 2 years (infants)

• Understands caring • More curious/ • Believes rules can be • Friendships often

• Explore contextual perspectives of defining maturity.

• In psychology, maturity is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate

• Ask the participants to divide into small groups.