Parents should consider their children’s emotional needs, according to Caroline Lakaraber Abdallah, War Child Holland Program Support Coordinator.
She says many times parents are only concerned about the basic needs of the children, neglecting the psychosocial support part of it, Radio Emmanuel reported.
Lakaraber was talking to Radio Emmanuel in an interview before the kickoff of a four-day training on child protection, mental health and psychosocial support activities in schools and communities to Caritas Torit Child Protection staff and volunteers.
She is urging parents to be closely with the children in order to help them develop in a good manner and give enough support both basic needs and the emotional needs.
“I feel parents have to be engaged in following up or looking out for children’s needs. You know most of the times; parents only concentrate on the basic needs. Parents most of the times forget the emotional needs of children, they don’t follow up. Most times when children have problems, most times parents may beat children, shout at them, they don’t know that they are causing more harm to children. Sometimes the harm may not be because of now, but in the future as they grow into adolescence. So they also have to consider the needs of children like emotional needs. When someone maybe isolates themselves, cries a lot more than usual, maybe sometimes some children don’t want to go school, parents most of the time don’t follow up what children are doing”, the lady explains.
The Coordinator is optimistic that the training will equip the participants with basic knowledge on child protection that can help them in future to support the community.
“They will gain a lot of knowledge and skills that will help them not only during this project but even in their future. I believe they will have more knowledge and skills to support children in leading basic MHPSS activities. It will also support them in their career of Child Protection and MHPSS and our overall objective of this CP-MPSS training is to empower Child Protection actors on how to understand and provide community based CP-MPSS to children, family and community which include school too”, she notes
Meanwhile Fr. Egidio Okany, Director of Caritas Torit, urges the trainees to take the opportunity seriously as it will help them in handling issues regarding child protection within the communities.
“You have to be empowered with skills and knowledge so that you can do the work nicely or in a helpful way that the organization needs to meet the targets that we need to meet. So this is an opportunity for you, let us take it and opened learning so that when we go out there we are able to deliver this knowledge and help us to work with the children we are going to work with and so I would encourage each one of you to take this opportunity seriously and after this you go and use this knowledge well when you are working with the children in the families”, he stresses.
The four-day course is to strengthen child protection partners to understand better issues and psychosocial needs of the children experiencing distress in schools and communities, is expected to end on Saturday.
The speakers made their remarks to Radio Emmanuel in Torit Diocese on Wednesday.