HELP A NEEDY CHILD INTERNATIONAL - SIERRA LEONE (HANCI-SL)

At the moment, HANCI-SL has a Gender Policy and a Child Protection Policy (Draft) in place.

The constitution of the organisation has also undergone extensive revision to reflect the recent innovations.

A five-year strategic plan (2007-2011) has also been compiled and agreed upon with all the partners.

The planned or projected activities have been put into three broad grouping:

1. Integrated Child and Family Reintegration (ICFRP) project. Locations: Bo, Makeni, Kamakwie, Tambakha, Mattru.

2. Teen-age/Girl mothers Project. Location: Makeni, Bo, Freetown.

3. Street Children’s Project. Location: Freetown, Bo, Makeni (later)

All other activities (medicare, vocational training, Farm Resources, Small Family Home) come as components of the three project groups.

1. Advocacy – raising community awareness on the rights of women.

2. Sensitization of communities on the plight of vulnerable children, especially girl mothers and Street Children.

3. Empowerment of single-mothers and extremely poor families.

4. Child and family reconciliation.

5. Accessing the Rights of vulnerable children and their communities to education and other social amenities.

6. Empowerment of girl-mothers and street children through skills training and employment support.

1. Construction of an emergency children’s centre in Makeni 1996.

2. A safe and successful operation to move 115 orphans and over 20 caregivers from behind rebel \lines to Freetown (1998 – 2000).

3. An individual non-residential child sponsorship project to benefit destitute orphans and under privilege children in (1997 – 2006).

4. The implementation of a broad-based foster care programme (2000 – 2006).

5. The establishment of a child-based medical clinic services (1999 – 2006).

6. The establishment of three large children’s centres in Bo, Makeni and Kamakwie (1996 – 2003).

7. Direct support for over 1,300 children in families throughout the country (1997 – 2006)

8. The training in practical job skills for over 300 single women as breadwinner of their various families and provision of the same with starter facilities (2003).

9. The opening of a vocational training unit for teenage mothers in Bo. (2003) Freetown (2005) and Makeni (2006).

10. The opening of a teenage mother and baby unit in Makeni (2002).

11. Changing government education policy on admitting girl mothers into formal schools (2005).

12. Reuniting 200 teenage girl mothers with the families and communities. (2004- 2006).

13. Initiating a girl-mothers and street children’s project in Freetown – 2007

14. Initiating an integrated child and family reintegration project as a replacement for the foster care project in Bo, Makeni, Mattru, Kamakwie and Tambakha.

1. Working with communities to identify very vulnerable children and families in remote rural communities for relevant support and protection.

2. Provision of facilities for skills training for vulnerable children, their families and communities.

3. Provision for educational facilities for all child beneficiaries mainly below the age of 18 years.

4. Provision for children’s community development services towards strengthening vulnerable families and their communities.

5. Provision for social and economic reintegration activities for teenage mothers and their babies.

6. Training of street workers also training of trainers for same.

HANCI-SL ‘s target beneficiaries are orphans and the poorest of the poor in rural communities, teen-aged mothers, their babies, (up to age 18 yrs as defined in the UNCRC) and their families.

Hope and Homes for Children (HHC) UK, ChildHope UK, World Hope International (USA) and Street Child Africa, UK.