Project profile — Increasing the Capacity of Police, Judges and Social Workers in Child Protection

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) more than 4,000 police officers, judges and social workers across the DRC and future recruits in these professions are better equipped and qualified to protect children, taking into consideration gender specific issues; and (2) girls and boys in the DRC have access to an environment where the security, judicial and social sectors are more respectful of child protection and participation.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (January 2021) include: (1) 4 operating procedures mapping out the path of children who come in contact with the justice system were developed and validated, as were the roles and responsibilities of protection workers (police, social work, justice and cross cutting), which were made mandatory at the national level after directives, ministerial orders and institutional measures were adopted for the 3 sectors covered by the project; (2) the 3 structures covered by the project (police, social work, justice) incorporated mandatory courses on children’s rights and on adapted practices into their curricula, and they set up a pool of 124 certified trainers (26 of them women); (3) 105 social workers (44 of them women) were permanently assigned to child protection and sexual violence prevention (PEPVS) squadrons as a result of the project’s advocacy; (4) police officers became more responsive and more efficient in handling cases involving children; in areas covered by the project, 96% of cases of children in conflict with the law were referred to a children’s judge within 24 hours of their being questioned; and (5) the quality of interventions with children who access police, legal and social work services was improved because intake, listening, referral and case processing procedures were put in place. These results had a direct impact on 15,093 professionals (of which 1,822, or 12%, were women) from 3 occupational groups—police, social work and justice—and an indirect impact on more than 75,000 professionals. The project also encouraged police to embrace referral best practices and spurred squadron members to handle cases efficiently, and it has ensured that children receive better protection and support that respect their rights, which could potentially benefit over a million children (out of a goal of 290,000 girls and boys).