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Description
The project will address the great inequality experienced by children living in institutions due to the violation of their rights, as provided for in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Inequality is due to the living conditions of children, lack of supervision of institutions, non-implementation of policies of deinstitutionalization, informing and raising public awareness of the real conditions prevailing, training and education of workers and volunteers in the field of Child Protection and teachers but also due to their status such as Roma or refugees. There is the lack of a social message in the media as well as how advocacy is achieved in cases of violation of their rights. These needs are covered by offering 3 three-day workshops (Athens, Thessaloniki, Kalamata) & a 2 day seminar in Ioannina for training with the method of informal education of 90 civil servants, volunteers, NGO members, teachers for the supervision and evaluation of institutions with the participation of children who living there, the adoption of children''s institutions, the identification of violations of rights and advocacy. There will be 3 information and awareness days for the general public Athens, Thessaloniki, Kalamata on the rights of minors living in institutions. By creating a social message for the media & an interactive website (web site) the organization will be strengthened on an organizational level by its partner. At the end, there will be deeper knowledge attained concerning the problem which has not preoccupied society so far, approximately 1000 people from the general public, 120-150 civil servants, 50 NGO executives will have been informed. The publicity will put pressure on the state to legislate measures for improving living conditions and supervision of institutions. The sustainability of the results is ensured by the social message, the dissemination of knowledge to employees and the web site that will continue to be managed by the institution.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the great inequality experienced by children living in institutions due to the violation of their rights, as mentioned in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Inequality is due to the living conditions of children, lack of supervision of institutions, non-implementation of policies of deinstitutionalization, informing and raising public awareness of the real conditions prevailing, training and education of workers and volunteers in the field of Child Protection and teachers.
The project involved the following activities:
a) Four -4- seminars (workshops) for the education and training of professionals and of social work scientists in four cities of Greece: Kalamata, Ioannina, Thessaloniki, Athens with the object of addressing inequalities due to violations of the rights of children and adolescents living in institutions through social work inside and outside institutions, the policy pursued by their administration and the decisions taken by the central administration and the local government (government) for institutional and administrative interventions.
b) 4 days of information, training and raising awareness activities of employees and the general public
c) the informative and educational manual material that includes all the educational and informative material used in the seminars
d) One television and one 35'''' long radio spot with content showing the inequalities experienced by children living in institutions in relation to with children living at home with their family, through the presentation of snapshots of a child''s daily life, which aired on social networks, digital platforms and television
The Project brought about the expected result, which was to familiarize the wider society with all the issues concerning the "invisible children" ofof institutions, i.e. children who are placed in an institution in infancy or school age and leave it in conditions of absolute institutionalization and social alienation and marginalization after they reach adulthood, to make known the inequalities brought about by the institutional way of life and through the training and education of workers in the "field" to make the necessary interventions to to deal with the violation of the rights of these children and to eliminate inequalities as far as possible. The goal of the Project was to make absolutely clear, known and undeniable negative consequences of the institutionalization of thousands of children, in structures that operate uncontrolled, without quality standards and without transparency, but also to immediately implement policies that will eliminate inequalities through social work provided. He was interested in making the community aware that placement in an institution does not constitute one''s "social rehabilitation" of a child as the general public considered and defended but that it constitutes a version of a serious violation of children''s rights as provided by the International Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Trough the project 6.885 people were reached through awareness raising and information activities and 331 people participated in training activities.