CHILDHOOD SEXUALABUSE: THE BOTSWANA PERSPECTIVES

The African Child, particularly the female child is in constant threat of sexual abuse for many reasons. Some of the reasons are neglect by parents, exploitation by older males, family poverty and a variety of situations which include crime rate, war or oppression. In some African countries, underage female children have been forced into marriage, resulting in physical and emotional damage, and sometimes res ul ting in HIY and other sexually transmitted diseases. Botswana, like any other African country has its own incidence of childhood sexual abuse, which has now become a global phenomenon. This paper explores the magnitude of childhood sexual abuse in Botswana through cases reported to the Botswana Police, and those handled by Resource Centres, namely Child line and the SOS Children Village. While it is true that it is sometimes difficult to determine the extent of childhood sexual abuse for a number of reasons, such as the consequences of blame, shame or guilt to mention a few, nevertheless, its monitoring in any community is helpful to ascertain its prevalence so that appropriate measures and interventions could be taken. The forms of childhood sexual abuse investigated in this paper were, incest, defilement and rape. It is observed that the incidence of sexual abuse were in this order: rape, followed by defilement and incest. More cases of defilement and incest were reported to Resource Centres compared to the Law of Enforcement Agency. The factors reported as being responsible for child sexual abuse in Botswana were socio-economic factors exposing the victims to abuse such as drinking depots in the villages where young girls easily fall victims

Guidelines for school playgrounds: playground safety management

Opportunities for play must be nurtured if children are to develop physically, emotionally and socially. While playground designs have recently become more complex, they do so against a background of increased community expectations of safer environments. Fortunately, research has shown that a substantial number of accidents can be prevented and the severity of injuries reduced if greater care is taken in the design, repair and maintenance of playgrounds. This can be achieved with little conflict between the goals of maximising constructive play and minimising injury. These Guidelines are primarily written for principals, teachers and school council members. It is generally the responsibility of the building and grounds subcommittee of the school council, in consultation with the principal, to develop a school policy on school playgrounds. It is generally the task of the delegated school playground coordinator to be responsible for ongoing implementation. While this information is written for all schools, the majority of students who actually play on play equipment are primary students. The aim of these Guidelines is to improve students’ safety, while reinforcing that the primary objective of play equipment lies in its value for play and adventure. Schools are encouraged to assess the safety, quality and diversity of the recreation environment available to students. These Guidelines are intended to help schools set up a comprehensive system for the installation, maintenance, management and audit of play equipment and associated areas. Processes are provided for identifying risks and minimising playground injuries.&nbsp

Toolkit for Parental Engagement in Early Learning and Care Services

CDI's Toolkit for Parental Engagement in Early Learning and Care Services provides a practical resourcefor early learning and care practitioners, managers and organisations seeking to improve parentalengagement with a view to improving outcomes for children and families

A Quality Framework For Achieving Outcomes

Quality Services, Better Outcomes provides a practical resource for front-line staff, service managers and organisationsthat are currently implementing or intend to implement evidence-informed programmes and services for children,families and communities. It offers a practical and user-friendly support to those committed to drawing on research,best practice and Irish experience to maximise their potential for supporting better outcomes.This second edition of Quality Services, Better Outcomes includes additional chapters that have been developed basedon our experiences in Tallaght West, Limerick, Dublin's inner city and many other communities. Everything in thisWorkbook has been informed by our work with schools, communities and a range of organisations that have a singlecommon denominator: all wanting to help children and families do better. Contexts change and new issues emerge,and so we need to be responsive, agile and flexible. We hope that you will use, adapt, learn from and add to thisdocument. It remains a work in progress

Early years workforce strategy

This report sets out a vision agreed by all governments in Australia to build and support the early childhood education and care profession both in the short term and into the future. The Australian Government has worked with states and territories to develop the national Early Years Workforce Strategy. Focusing on the skills and attributes of high quality early childhood educators, the Strategy complements, and builds upon, existing Commonwealth, state and territory government measures aimed at improving the supply and quality of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce. The Strategy builds on Investing in the Early Years—A National Early Childhood Development Strategy, which was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in July 2009. The vision of the ECD Strategy captured the aspirations of governments that by 2020 all children will have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for the nation. This Early Years Workforce Strategy reflects a commitment by governments to address the immediate priorities for the ECEC workforce, and at the same time work towards a long-term broader strategy for the workforce with  a focus on supporting more integrated ways of working across the ECD sector. The ECEC workforce comprises educators working in education and care services including long day care services, family day care services and outside school hours care as well as in preschools and kindergartens

Leading Community Change: Delivery better outcomes in an Irish Community Process Evaluation Report

This policy brief draws on the final process evaluation, Leading Community Change: Delivering Better Outcomes in an Irish Community (Canavan et al, 2014), of the work of the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI). It identifies several reccomendations, based on the service evaluations

Buffett Early Childhood Institute: Five year report 2013-18

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute began operations in June 2013. We were charged with creating a new model for how public higher education can engage in early education by helping to transform the lives of young children and their families. This report presents a by-thenumbers profile of who we are and what we’ve accomplished in our first five years. Following the numbers you’ll find brief descriptions of programs, initiatives, financials, and the Institute itself