Support to the Street Children and Youth People in Colombia Programme

Detailed description of project Back

The “Support Programme to the Street Children and Youth People in Colombia” has as overall objective to improve the conditions of street children and their families, and youth involved in the armed conflicts and to integrate them as citizens with full rights.

The programme consists of the following components:

• Design of innovative models of action and prevention.
• Institutional strengthening of participating towns.
• Awareness raising of civil society and support with the development of local platforms to affect policies.
• Quantitative and qualitative research assisting the planning and implementation of interventions targeted to the improvement of the conditions of life of this population group.

The programme is implemented by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar – ICBF). The ICBF, as governing organization of the childhood policy, aims to encourage the integral protection of children rights. The Law 418 of 1997 contemplates the obligation of ICBF of developing preventive programs to protect, and help to the children who have been victims of violence within the framework of the armed conflict.

The specific objectives of this assignment are to strengthen ICBF in the following four fields: social pedagogy, family therapy, social policy and social development, by means of a methodological transfer process, in order to guide the development of projects targeting the street children population.

Type of services provided

PROMAN is providing the services of a Team of 4 experts:

• Expert in Social Management (Team leader);
• Social Policy and Conflict prevention Expert;
• Family Therapy Expert;
• Expert in Social Pedagogy.

Core services focus on the design and implementation, with participation of the PMU, a TA strategy aimed to:

• Further enrich the innovative models being prepared under the Programme;
• Strengthen the temporary project units in the towns so that they can have a more efficient impact on social policies and in their prevention programs for children and the young in the street and/or not linked to the armed conflict, their families and their communities;
• Promote, together with the projects in the participating towns, the use and assimilation of concepts, tools and practices in the four fields of TA in organisations participating in the Programme;
• Produce materials that help to spread in Colombia the use and application of the four thematic fields of TA, focusing on improving opportunities for children and the young in the street and/or not linked to the armed conflict.