Assessment Of The Civil Society Strategies In Protecting The Children’s Rights: A Case Of Urban District, Zanzibar

ABSTRACT

The study aspired to assess the civil society organizations in protecting the children‟s rights, a case study of Urban District, Zanzibar. The study was conducted in Urban District of Zanzibar. A total number of 80 respondents formed the study sample taken from the Urban District which includes four categories namely: Civil Society Officials, Parents, Children, Children‟s Council Board and law professionals whereby children, parents, and CSOs Officials were randomly selected while Children‟s Council Member and law professionals were systematically selected. The methods of data collection included structured interview, questionnaire and documentary review. The instruments used in data collection were questionnaire, interview schedule and interview guide, while the data was analyzed through editing, coding, classification and tabulation using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS, version 16). In general, the study uncovered the causes and effects of children‟s rights violation .It also disclosed that there were several strategies used by CSOs in protecting children‟s rights in the study area; these are education, persuasion, advocacy, litigation, and collaboration where by confrontation though is among the strategies was not mentioned. The issues of strategic effectiveness, achievements and challenges facing CSOs were also revealed. The study recommended that there is a need to the establishment of CSOs networking, financial independence, books and leaflets to be written in plain and soft Kiswahili language, building of strong support for child-focused organizations, educate parents and other adults about the problem and impact of violence against children and promising prevention and response strategies for violence against children in communities.