Protection and Education of Vulnerable Children and Youth

This project provides security education and after-school activities for at-risk children and youth in Colombia in the conflict-affected departments of Choco and Putumayo. It protects children and youth at risk of violence and recruitment by illegal armed groups through access to a safe school environment and quality education. Project activities include: (1) developing a management model for rural education; (2) reinforcing the capacity of 88 rural schools to develop protection plans and offer psychosocial services and after-school activities for children and youth; (3) training 1 200 teachers to protect and respect the rights of children and youth and to use teaching methods that improve student learning; (4) reinforcing the capacities of departmental secretariats of education to integrate child protection and education quality improvement in their plans; and (5) training 10 000 parents and caregivers on preventing domestic violence and protecting children.

The expected outcomes for this project include: 1) improved quality of protection from violence with a gender-sensitive approach in Choco and Putumayo; and 2) improved quality of education with a gender-sensitive approach in Choco and Putumayo.