Secretary Anna Solomon

Titled “Missing K3.2m derails child protection effort”, the article said the child protection project, under the integrated community development scheme of the Department of Religion, Youth and Community Development, had ceased operations for lack of funds.

According to the news report, while K3.2 million was allocated in the 2017 Budget, efforts to find traces of tangible outcomes of this multimillion kina child protection project were in vain.

The Department for Community Development and Religion will take a preventative approach this year.

Secretary Anna Solomon says the idea is to minimise the number of people entering the court system.

The timing is also perfect, now that the department has been put at the forefront of the legal and justice sector committee, responsible in tackling law and order issues.

Minister for Religion, Youth and Community Development, Soroi Eoe, said the department will be leading discussions in these areas, and their intention is to cover all population.

Ms Solomon said the outcome of regional workshops has been positive with officers gaining confidence to perform their roles effectively.

‘They know what actions to take when children are in need of protection, they also know what steps to take, where to refer too, how they can also represent them in court if there is no lawyer, so they feel really empowered.

“And I’m very happy to announce that because all the guidelines and training manuals have been developed to guide them,” Secretary Solomon said.

Secretary responsible, Anna Solomon, said this today when opening the 2016 Development Partners Alignment Forum.

She said delivering government services to the district has been problematic because of the missing link bridging the district to the villages.

Solomon said the establishment of several new offices in the Department aims to overcome this disadvantage.

“How can we work together to reach that gap?” Solomon asked development partners representatives.