Eddy Walakira
Abstract
Evaluating the Effects of Community-Based Violence Prevention Intervention by War Child Holland in Post Conflict Northern Uganda
The poster presents an internationally awarded competitive two year study grant sponsored by Evaluation Challenge Fund and undertaken by Makerere University in collaboration with War Child Holland (WCH). The study aims at evaluating WCH’s Community-Based Child Protection approach on elimination of violence against children in Northern Uganda, an area that is recovering from a two decade civil war. This intervention can best be described as an interactive approach, engaging the community structures in the analysis of problems and gaps, promoting dialogue and development and implementation of action plans towards a long-term focus on the prevention of violence against children. The theory of change underpinning this approach is that community ownership is essential and knowledge of the complex causes and contributing factors to violence against children should be sought in communities, rather than in macro-social developments. The methodology has been applied by War Child Holland for three years in over 60 communities in Uganda and should now be evaluated. Doing pre- and post-intervention surveys and qualitative studies allows researchers to attribute change and understand the impact of the intervention, understand acceptability of the intervention and which parts have triggered change. With the baseline surveys so far completed, the poster presents the preliminary findings on the situation of violence against children and diagrammatically illustrates the model including the way findings feed into the work of NGOs and government. The findings provide learning lessons that should guide actors in the field of child protection and are useful for enriching the university curriculum on child protection.