A key finding in the work and research that Raising Voices has conducted over the past years in Uganda is that children have a very few functioning mechanisms they can turn to when they are experiencing violence and need help. The aim of this program is to develop and consolidate the response infrastructure and build skills of practitioners to take action at the local level. Some of the activities in this program include:

• 8 Partnerships: Eight local organisations have been identified in diverse parts of the country and their capacity built to respond locally to violence against children. This involves training, providing tools and learning materials and assisting in identifying funding for the work.

• Days of Activism: Raising Voices in collaboration with local partners regularly visits towns and busy urban and rural centres with a mobile van and skilled activists to create a forum for discussing prevention of violence against children. This can involve skilled performing artists such as stilts artists, theatre for development professionals and puppeteers. It involves creating a day-long commotion involving a parade, showing films, dance, drama, testimony giving and discussions. To see pictures of Days of Activism click here.

• Collaborations: Raising Voices collaborates with broad range of stakeholders to create violence-free childhoods. We have collaborated with UN agencies such as UNICEF and UNHCR, international NGOs such as Save the Children and Plan International, local government agencies, schools, religious institutions, and activist individuals.

Are you an activist, working to prevent violence against children? We'd love to hear from you!