The Child Protection Fund I and II

Under the Child Protection Fund I project (2012-2016), Bantwana supported the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) to develop, roll out, and scale up a National Case Management System across all 65 districts of Zimbabwe.

The system relies on a cadre of trained community child care workers — trusted volunteers who identify vulnerable children through risk assessment tools and coordinate and provide essential protection services through local referral protocols, while receiving ongoing supportive supervision and refresher trainings to hone their skills. To ensure successful implementation and sustainability, Bantwana built the Ministry’s capacity through policy framework development, workforce strengthening, and improved coordination with community service providers. Formally adopted and nationally scaled up in 2014, the National Case Management System provides integrated child protection and HIV care and treatment services, referrals, and support for vulnerable children throughout the country.

Through the Child Protection Fund II, we continued to support and enhance the National Case Management System through:

• Innovative uses of digital technology, including a virtual referral desk to improve data collection of child protection cases by community cadres; an electronic management information system for improved data management, reporting, and decision-making by district Departments of Social Development; and an e-learning platform for ongoing capacity building of the Social Welfare workforce.
• A Results-Based Financing model to incentivize high-quality and timely response and resolution of child protection cases.
• A school and community-based Early Warning System to identify at-risk children and link them with appropriate support.
• A targeted Violence Against Children screening tool to strengthen identification of at-risk children in hotspots in “Leave No One Behind” districts.

In Year 2 of Child Protection Fund II, with our support, 2,104 community child care workers enrolled and managed 36,000 new child protection cases through the National Case Management System. And, following Cyclone Idai in March 2019, we rapidly adapted programming strategies for child protection in emergency settings.