World Vision Rwanda in partnership with different stakeholders, has launched a Community Based Complaint and Feedback (CCF), a new reporting tool that will ease the reporting of any form of child abuse within communities.

The platform was launched on Tuesday, September 7, in Southern Province during a child protection reflection meeting that brought together key players in the protection of child rights in Southern Province.

The platform was launched as part of World Vision’s nationwide campaign dubbed ‘It Takes Every Rwandan to End Child Exploitation’ that aims at rallying communities to protect children against sexual abuse, child labour and other exploitations.

The campaign is being implemented in collaboration with partners including Rwanda Extractive Industry Workers’ Union (REWU) and the reflective aimed at discussing the successes and challenges in child protection efforts and challenges that still impede the campaign.

According to officials, the campaign by World Vision is premised on the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.2, which is to protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence.

Through panel discussions the meeting discussed the alarming numbers of cases of child sexual abuse where at least 4,265 cases of child rape were reported, of which 97.4% were girls, in the period between 2019 – 2020 according to research findings tabled before a senate session in November 2020.

It is against this background that World Vision Rwanda developed a community-based complaints and feedback (CCF) platform where children and adults can report cases of child abuse and share feedback on the organisation’s various intervention programmes directly to their offices.

"Among the challenges that children and child development workers face is a lack of an easy and confidential reporting system,” says Dr Abebe Nigatu, Director of People and Culture and Administration at World Vision Rwanda.

Through World Vision’s CCF reporting platform, anyone can now report incidents on child abuse through a toll-free number 7272 or through a website http://complaints.wvrwanda.org/.

"Through ITER (it takes every Rwandan) campaign, World Vision has put extra effort to ensure the referral mechanism is understood and simplified both for children, parents, service providers to encourage access and usage” said Nigatu.

He added: "We follow up on each (reported) case and escalate them through our community implementing partners and the local child protection structures such as ‘Inshuti z’Umuryango’ and relevant government authorities.”

Speaking at the event, Executive Permanent Secretary of the Southern Province, Parfait Busabizwa, thanked World Vision for their various initiatives geared towards the protection of child rights in the country.

"I call upon everyone to stand up for the rights of the child because these children are future leaders. I call upon all our stakeholders to work hand in hand to end child violence because nothing is impossible when we work together,” he said.