WHAT IS HAPPENING?

230 million children worldwide grow up in the midst of armed conflict. This atmosphere of violence has many direct negative effects on their mental health – including feelings of fear, anxiety and depression.

Games and sports.

Ensuring the improved psychosocial wellbeing of children forced to live with the effects of armed conflict and other disasters.

An integrated approach

The ultimate goal of our programmes is to ensure the improved psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth forced to live with the effects of armed conflict. Our interventions incorporate all three of our programming lines in an integrated manner for maximum effect. We work directly with children and youth, the important adults in their lives and the communities around them to ensure our programmes are relevant and have a lasting effect.

All these efforts help to ensure that children in areas affected by armed conflict can build a better future – both for themselves and their communities.

“A child affected by conflict requires a lot more than basic necessities like drinking water, sufficient food and a roof over its head.” Abongowat Prudence Program Manager

What are the effects of armed conflict?

Touch Life works to support the healthy psychosocial development of children and youth living with the consequences of armed conflict. These consequences can take on many forms – including feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression, as well as exposure to physical and sexual exploitation. Yet – with the right support – most children will be able to cope with the adversities they experience.

The resilience of children and youth

Our psychosocial support interventions are designed to enable children and youth to develop their resilience and innate strengths. Participants in our life-skills interventions and structured recreational activities develop increased self-confidence and trust in others. We also work with parents and other key adults in children’s lives to enhance their own wellbeing and their capacity to provide care and psychosocial support to children.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Every child has the fundamental right to an education. Yet more than 32 million children across the world have never seen a teacher as a result of armed conflict.

Every child has the right to education.

Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to a formal education – yet more than 32 million children across the world have never seen a teacher as a result of armed conflict.

Our education programmes are designed with the long-term goal of building children’s academic, social and emotional knowledge and skills to be able to participate fully in their societies and realize their full potential.

The power of partnerships.

In all the Districts of operation we work together with the ministry of education to ensure quality is upheld. We work in both formal and non-formal education settings and our programmes encompass activities such as catch-up education, basic numeracy and literacy, e-learning initiatives for out-of-school children and enhanced support for education professionals.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

230 million children currently live with the effects of violence and armed conflict – and this number is steadily growing.

Our work to repair and uphold child protection structures

“These children have been affected by war. They are looking for people that make them feel safe. There is fear in their eyes – but also hope. In that hope we can see their resilience. And that resilience is the way forward.” Felix CP/MHPSS Specialist.

Rebuilding the necessary structures.

The structures necessary to maintain the safety of children and youth often break down in times of armed conflict – and disaster leaving children and youth exposed to risks including violence, abuse and sexual exploitation.

We work to put these structures back together – partnering with communities and official bodies to safeguard the fundamental rights of children and youth and strengthen child and youth protection systems.

Prevention and response

Touch Life’s child and youth protection programming focuses on prevention and response to abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation of children and youth whose lives are affected by conflict and Disaster. Our work with individual children utilizes a ‘case management’ approach to ensure children receive the appropriate and targeted support they need.

We also work with communities to help establish community-owned structures that serve to uphold the safety of children and youth.

Community Led and Driven Approach.

Innovative solutions to meet child protection challenges are urgently needed. Child protection responses driven and shaped by local communities can be an effective means to meet these challenges – as community-driven actions are typically sustainable, low cost and able to reach large numbers of children.

Yet, these ‘bottom up’ approaches can take time to develop, particularly in areas where community ties are weakened. This is why Touch Life is emphasizing of community driven, an adaptable child protection intervention that places communities at the very Centre.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Neither viewed as children in need of care, nor as adults who can take on responsibility, youth are falling through the cracks of humanitarian responses. They are regularly stigmatized as troublemakers and peace-spoilers, while, in reality…YOUTH TAKE GREAT RISKS TO DRIVE CHANGE AND BUILD PEACE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES

Key Project

MARTIAL ARTS OFFERS YOUTH IN NORTHERN UGANDA AN ALTERNATIVE TO VIOLENCE

Enhancing the innate power of the next generation of change makers

Why work with youth in conflict-affected settings?

Young people are affected by conflict and Disasters in specific ways. Violence and displacement disrupt their transition to adulthood and diminish their ability to secure education and employment. It also severely limits them from establishing stable relationships and engaging in social and political decision-making processes. This is particularly dangerous as the next generation are key to shaping these processes and bringing about change and peace in their communities. Despite being side-lined, youth still hold the power to get their voice heard.

“Young people often have the answer to the challenges they face. As humanitarian actors, we need to stop thinking we know the answer, and rather co-create solutions together with young people themselves.” Oceng Steve – Youth Empowerment Specialist.

Amplifying Youth’s Power and Agency.

Our programmes support youth in amplifying their innate power and agency. We increase their ability to constructively shape their lives and those of their communities. We see our role as supporting and enhancing young people’s ability to take charge, while helping them to remove the barriers that prevent them from exercising this ability fully.

We support youth to build a platform where they can engage directly with civil society. From poverty to the climate crisis, we also help them identify key challenges in their communities and work within the limits of their environment to tackle them. We do this through a variety of activities such as mentorship and professional development, sport and art, research and advocacy as well as through the set-up of youth-led spaces.

“In Bweyale, we co-create our programmes together with youth. We see this as extremely important as young people form a core part of the social fabric; they are fundamental to achieving sustainable peace.” Makmot –  Communication and Advocacy specialist.

Strengths-Based Mentorship.

Instead of being stigmatized and contained, young people should be supported to reach their full potential. Mentorship schemes provide individualized support to help youth work towards their personal and professional goals. Our strengths-based approach does exactly what it says on the tin – facilitating youth to identify and build on their inner strengths as well as capitalize on the opportunities around them

We monitor and evaluate each and every one of our programmes – with the goal of improving the quality of our work and delivering increasingly relevant interventions.

Identifying needs and priorities.

Monitoring and evaluating our efforts ensures that our programmes are accessible to all and bring about meaningful change in the lives of children and youths, and their families. Before we roll out any programme we also undertake an analysis of the needs and priorities of the communities in which we work. This process sees children, young people and their communities analyze their situation and identify priorities for action. The findings provide a strategic focus for developing and implementing projects.

Giving children a space to speak up.

Each one of our programmes is also subject to the highest standards of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) – incorporating a variety of online and offline tools for data collection and analysis. We also provide a space for children to tell us what they like about our programmes – and what they would like to change. This feedback allows us to adapt our programmes to children’s stated needs and priorities.

Global Monitoring Framework.

We use a Global Monitoring Framework to measure the outcomes and impact of our work with children. This framework allows us to compare the effectiveness of our programmes in different contexts through data that we can measure against a set of sector-specific indicators. Progress against these indicators is measured using both psychometric testing and proven approaches. We also monitor success through specially-developed tools that have been adapted for use with children in conflict-affected contexts.

Conflict sensitivity.

We conduct our work in societies affected by armed conflict – where violence, inequality and ethnic tensions are part of daily life. Our work can potentially exacerbate these tensions through unintended negative impacts – which is why we employ a ‘Conflict Sensitive’ approach in all our programmes.

A conflict sensitive approach involves an understanding of the relationship between our interventions and the context in which we implement them – and actions to minimise negative impacts. We strive to negate these impacts and promote positive social outcomes for all communities we work with.

Minimum standards.

Touch Life is committed to the sustained improvement of our programmes – and new ways in which we can be held accountable by affected populations. The internationally defined set of Minimum Standards represent an agreed consensus among global bodies on best practice in humanitarian responses.

We systematically apply and monitor the adoption of these standards in our programmes – in particular the Minimum Standards issued by the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies. We also adhere to the Minimum Standards on psychosocial support in emergency settings issued by the UN endorsed Inter-Agency Standing Committee.