Many children who are victims of abuse often go unnoticed, with their cases unreported. As mistreatment mainly occurs within the family, this impacts children’s physical and mental health throughout crucial stages of their development.
Therefore, the IARS International Institute is pleased to announce the launch of a new website for the European Commission funded project, PROCHILD. This platform will deliver the aims of the 2-year transnational initiative: to create an integrated services model that thrives on multi-stakeholder collaboration in order to protect and support abused children.
This project will be delivered in partnership with 5 European organisations: Alma Mater Studiorum - Universita Di Bologna (Italy), Terveyden Ja Hyvinvoinnin Laitos (Finland), La Voix De L'enfant (France), Katholische Fachhochschule Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) and Institouton Ygeias Tou Paidiou (Greece).
Putting the child’s best interests first, PROCHILD will bring together key stakeholders, including: health and education professionals, social workers, police force members and judicial officers.
Dr. Theo Gavrielides, IARS’ Founder and Director, said: “Collaboration is key to creating change. Through a unified approach to tackling violence against children, our leaders of tomorrow can be safe from both physical and mental harm. With the support of our partners, this online platform will provide professionals with the fundamental tools to help child victims and safeguard their rights”.
The partnership will produce training materials for child protection and education professionals as well as an e-learning platform and lectures for university students. This bottom-up, community-led approach intends to aid the EU’s investment in children’s rights by increasing professionals’ skills in detecting, reporting and supporting victims, actively involving children in the improvement of protection and care systems as well as raising awareness about child violence.
The new interactive web space will feature news, blogs, project findings and updates, such as reports and policy briefs, as well as opportunities for collaboration, e.g. event announcements, workshops and face-to-face training sessions.
PROCHILD is currently in its first phase. The Kick Off Meeting took place in Bologna, Italy during 14-15 November 2018.
To get involved, please contact contact@iars.org.uk.
PROCHILD is co-funded by the European Commission under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020.
More details about the project and its European partners can be found here.