UNICEF Donates Recreational Kits for Child Friendly Spaces Initiative
2020 proved to be a year of disasters, from multiple storms to the ongoing pandemic. And the trauma of all of it will remain etched in our minds. UNICEF wants to remind us that the most vulnerable group in any disaster is our children. Child-friendly spaces are widely used in emergencies as a first response to children’s needs. Today, following a series of training, UNICEF handed over recreational tools to its partners. News Five’s Duane Moody reports from the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City.
Alison Parker, Country Representative, UNICEF Belize
“There are lot of issues within a disaster that impacts children and this ranges from whether it is natural disasters it’s a conflict, maybe even violence in the home, it’s a disruptive home, it’s maybe families going through a breakup – it is a disaster for a child, it is very traumatic.”
Duane Moody, Reporting
Child-Friendly Spaces are used as a supporting tool for the care and protection of children in emergencies and help with recovery from traumatic experiences that can have long-term effects on the psychosocial well-being of a child. UNICEF believes that mitigating the risks associated with emergencies, including disasters, is necessary and is doing just that. Alison Parker says it is not to take on the role of government departments in response to emergencies but to support the efforts.
Alison Parker
Alison Parker
“Working in collaboration with the government and working in partnership with an N.G.O. like Belize Red Cross that has networks at a community level is important and strategic. We do develop policies, we support capacity building within systems, but one of the most important areas that we are looking also as UNICEF is how do we reach the child at a community and household level which is crucial and that’s where the child friendly spaces come in.”
Today, at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City, recreational kits, including puzzles, volleyball, netball, and other games, were handed over to the City Emergency Management Organization and the Belize Red Cross, which have partnered with UNICEF Belize to establish Child-Friendly Spaces. It is to stimulate the minds of children. The recreational kit is coupled with training of thirty volunteers from across the country.
Lily Bowman
Lily Bowman, Executive Director, Belize Red Cross
“Right now what we had done was train thirty volunteers. They come from the community disaster response teams; probably some shelter managers so that they will be able to know what to do in these child friendly spaces in times of emergencies. That was the focus. But it is now to establish those places for ongoing protection.”
Alison Parker
“Sometimes we don’t notice the trauma in children because they are quite, they cannot articulate it. Sometimes it is their behaviour. They may either become very aggressive or they become very recluse, they are quite and don’t say anything, but this is why the child friendly spaces are important because they create a space where you have trained individuals, trained counsellors, trained social workers who can identify some of these needs for the children.”
Deputy Mayor Michael Noralez says that he was first introduced to the Child-Friendly Spaces concept back in 2018, and they are in the process of identifying these spaces.
Michael Noralez
Michael Noralez, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“What we’ll do now as the city council will ensure that this project will be done at a higher level though our programmes department.”
Duane Moody
“These child friendly spaces, was it the city council that’s responsible to find these spaces?”
Michael Noralez
“Well, to be honest, yes. We were tasked with that but we were also supposed to work in conjunction with the ministry of human development and youth. But now, we will make sure that everything is streamline.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
The donation, as well as the training, was valued at sixty thousand dollars.
