Protected houses for vulnerable children

by Ranil Wijayapala

The Department of Probation and Childcare Service under the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs has launched a program to construct houses with the help of philanthropists and donors, for children vulnerable to harassment and abuse due to lack of protected places to live, a spokesman for the Ministry said.

He said the Department of Probation and Childcare in a survey conducted islandwide in 2011 had identified four categories of children vulnerable to abuse in the country and they have identified this specific category of children without a proper place to live as a special group to be provided with a protected place to live. The Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs launched this program in the Anuradhapura district by laying the foundation stone for the first such house for a family identified in the district under the first stage of the project.

“The ministry has taken steps to construct 25 houses for the children identified in each district expending Rs.900,000 on each house.

The Ministry will present the houses to these children on World Children's Day this year”, he said.

The Ministry has also launched a scholarship program for children vulnerable to abuse as a result of dropping out from school.

The Ministry hopes to launch this project with the assistance of donors and philanthropists along with community participation.

The project will be launched with the participation of Probation and Child Care Services officers, Child Rights promotion officers at District and Divisional Secretariat level under the supervision of the District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries.

“The Ministry hopes to extend this program throughout the country at the next stage depending on the assistance of philanthropists and donor agencies to provide protected houses for all such children countrywide”, the spokesman said.