Oyo govt, UNICEF strengthen Auxiliary Social Workers’ Capacity for Digital Child Protection
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
As part of efforts to strengthen child protection and social welfare services across the state, the Oyo State government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has commenced training for Auxiliary Social Workers on Child Protection Information Management System.
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Joke Sanni, disclosed this during a two-day training programme for Auxiliary Social Workers held from September 10 to 11, at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion in Ibadan.
She described the training as timely and significant, noting that effective child protection required not only adequate social welfare personnel, but also accurate, timely and reliable information to support decision-making, case management, referrals, monitoring and planning.
“The state government was prioritising capacity building, community-based child protection mechanisms, alternative care, prevention of and response to violence against children, gender-based violence interventions, and the strengthening of social service delivery,” she said.
She said the knowledge and skills acquired through the training would contribute significantly to improving the quality of child protection services at the community and local government levels.
The commissioner urged participants to take the training seriously and ensure that the knowledge acquired was translated into improved service delivery in their respective areas of assignment.
The training had in attendance 50 Auxiliary Social Workers from Ibadan South-West Local Government Area, and it is expected to be extended to other local government areas across the state to equip more community-based social workers with the skills needed to protect children, particularly in the digital space.
Also speaking, the UNICEF Child Protection Officer for Data, Planning and Monitoring, Mr. Aminu Awal-Sani, said the training formed part of efforts to support the state’s transition from paper-based to digital case management.
Mr. Awal-Sani explained that Oyo State was transitioning to PRIMERO, an electronic protection-related information management platform that would enable Auxiliary Social Workers to identify cases, provide services and make referrals directly from the field.
He said the digital system would facilitate real-time monitoring of child protection cases and improve the availability of reliable data for decision-making and planning.
According to him, “the Child Protection Information Management Centre at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Abuja, through the National Case Management Dashboard, would be able to monitor child protection cases across all 36 states of the federation.”
In his presentation, the Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Mr. Dennis Onoise, stressed the need to strengthen community-based child protection structures, noting that communities had traditionally played an important role in protecting and supporting children.
Mr. Onoise said the shortage of professional social workers in the country made it necessary to build the capacity of Auxiliary Social Workers, who could serve as a link between vulnerable children, their families, communities and formal social service institutions.
He noted that properly-trained Auxiliary Social Workers would be better positioned to identify cases of child abuse, document them and facilitate appropriate referrals for support and intervention.
He explained that the digital information management system would enable workers to document incidents such as sexual abuse, physical abuse and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation, using mobile devices.
He emphasised the importance of reliable data in addressing child protection challenges, noting that documented statistics would help governments and development partners understand the scale and nature of child protection issues and develop appropriate interventions.
Present at the training were the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs. Oluyinka Shotonwa-Roagess; the Director of Child Welfare, Mr. Gbémileke Ojerinde; and the UNICEF Desk Officer in the ministry, Mrs. Oluwawemimo Adediran, among others.
