CHILD RIGHTS CLUB SCHOOL PROJECT(CRC ) Orphans and vulnerable children in Eastern Africa face huge challenges to their safety, wellbeing and development. Our project partner has more than 30 years of experience in child rights issues and a vision to see Africa free from the maltreatment of children, including both child abuse and neglect. We work together to reduce the number of child abuse and neglect cases in the communities where we operate in Tanzania; to strengthen child protection structures and systems in schools and the wider community; to increase awareness of child rights issues and promote the protection of children; and to maximise opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaborating by encouraging networking and partnerships. We know that children who have experienced or encountered abuse themselves can be a huge driving force for change at a community level, so we empower children and young people to help others through pioneering Child Rights Clubs across Tanzania. HOW WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER WITH OUR PROJECT PARTNER: Together, we increase awareness of child rights and child protection issues among parents, guardians, community leaders, teachers, and all other community members, through training sessions, debate forums and exchange visits. We establish Child Rights Clubs and Child Help Desks to support vulnerable children and young people and ensure child abuse and neglect cases are identified and reported to the authorities. We give teachers, Child Rights Club patrons and Child Help Desk representatives training in psycho-social support to equip them to support children reporting abuse or neglect. We train and empower vulnerable young people to be advocates of child rights themselves, helping them to educate their peers and raise awareness of child rights issues and the value of child participation. We make sure the voices of children themselves are heard at influential forums, highlighting the value of child rights issues being tackled with the participation of children. We increase the capacity of community leaders to effectively provide support and protection to orphans and vulnerable children, and also to promote child rights and child participation to the whole community. We ensure there are sustainability and exit strategies in place for the schools we work with, so they are able to continue their child rights programmes indefinitely after our project funding comes to an end. We establish community ownership so the Child Rights Clubs, Child Help Desks and community support groups can be managed to operate in the long-term. We establish village savings and loans associations as part of our Village Investors Programme (VIP), which enables those looking after vulnerable children to pool their small resources and make business loans to each other, in order to earn a sustainable living and support children in their care better, and for longer.