YOVENCO commits to working with people to improve their socioeconomic status, protect their rights, and promote gender equality and well-being. To ensure that, tangible progress has been made in these areas so far provided that YOVENCO partners and collaborates with local authorities and communities. Furthermore, YOVENCO is an active and influential member within Civil Society Networks, Forums, and Consortiums to strategically find local solutions for local challenges, exchange experiences, and collaborate on proposing and pushing imperative policies.
YOVENCO has a particularly good working relationship with a number of Child Welfare Communities. It works with these committees on several issues chief among which are child protection, parenting without violence, and children’s education. Every girl and boy child has the right to education.
But more often than not, many families cannot send their children to school because of financial challenges. As a result, these children are exposed to many risks such as child labor, drug addiction, gang violence, etc. On top of that, they are missing a basic human right, the right to education, as well as the opportunity of creating a better life than that of their parents in the future. To help tackle this serious issue, YOVENCO in collaboration with community communities works to put out-of-school children to school.
After the children are identified by the committees, they are taken to the schools in their respective neighborhoods. The schools agree to admit the children free of tuition but only in small numbers; therefore they are taken to different public schools, private schools, and Madrassas.
On the 5th of October, 40 children, from a poor background, were successfully enrolled with the help of the Ibrahim Koodbuur Child Welfare Committee. After all 40 children were admitted into 5 different schools in the neighborhood, YOVENCO provided them with the school supplies they needed such as notebooks, pencils, crayons, erasers, etc. Moreover, school uniforms were also given to them.
Different people including YOVENCO officials, Child Welfare Committee Members, Parents, and Teachers have spoken at the ceremony whereby the children were given the supplies.
“It is an absolute pleasure to see 40 young children finally go to school. We are very happy to work with schools and community committees and help put children in school. I hope we will continue cooperating and remain committed to making the opportunity of education accessible to more children.” Said Mohamed Abdilahi, CPS Officer at YOVENCO.
Also spoken at the event was Khadra Guudcadde, the chairman of the Ibrahim Koodbuur, Child Welfare Committee and she said ”This quite an achievement today and this is what community collaboration is all about. I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for YOVENCO for all they have done in our community.” “We are a very poor family and we could not afford to send our children to school. Thank God my daughter is going to be in school now with the help of the Community Committee and YOVENCO. I am really happy today and I thank them for making this possible.” Said Rahma Muuse whose daughter was one of the children enrolled in Axmed Dhagax Primary School. At the end of the ceremony, each child was given an education supplies kit and full school uniforms. Their genuine and beautiful smiles are indeed the best reward.
