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Description
The aim of the project is to build safer communities for children and young people by listening to young people, parents and stakeholders who are directly involved in the community. Other beneficial outcomes of the project shall be creating networks within the community, identifying resources and mobilising the community to act collectively on an issue that they identify together. These will ensure that the project has a longer lasting impact on the community.
The project will be carried out in the grassroots and with the spirit of collaboration and openness. Information will be gathered through interviews and focus groups with parents about the protective and risk factors that exist within the two selected communities; in-depth interviews with local stakeholders and sessions with 11-12 year olds through drama sessions that will address how safe they feel in their respective communities. The results of each level of research will be presented to members of the community (young people, parents, stakeholders and general interested public) in a seminar. This will include recommendations and the drawing up of an action plan.
A youth platform will be set up to ensure that the process is being carried out with greatest consideration towards the children and young people involved and to assist in organising the seminars and presenting the findings and the recommendations to the stakeholders and parents. Towards the end of the project, a seminar will be held in each community to present the findings and recommendations of the project.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to build safer communities for children and young people by listening to their recommendations and by mobilising the community to act collectively on issues that they identify. The project focused on the areas of Hamrun and Marsa which are areas beset by a number of socio-economic and environmental risk factors.
The project used a bottom-up grassroots approach. Youth workers engaged with the ngo leading the project first held a series of interviews and focus groups with parents and stakeholders about the risk factors they perceive living in the areas of Hamrun and Marsa for their children and youths. A programme involving drama therapy was then held with children and youths to address safety issues they face in their communities and to come up with recommendations to mitigate the risks and improve the environment within their communities. The children / youths presented an action plan to members of the communities involved in a seminar to which parents, stakeholders and residents were invited.
The beneficiaries of this project were children and youth who live in the communities of Hamrun and Marsa (Malta). It provided them with a platform through which they could voice their concerns in a way that adults - their parents, stakeholders and community leaders - would listen and to engage in improving their environment. The project impact continues to be felt up to two years after the project ended.