VICTORIA, Seychelles — As part of its aim to develop a robust sectoral child protection standard operating procedure (SOP) to guide practice and ensure that child safety is at the core of investigation processes, the Social Affairs Department within the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs held a workshop last Thursday at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) conference room. Conducted under the theme ‘Make good decisions that concern child protection’, the one-day workshop brought together parties in child protection, and was facilitated by international consultants Phillip Knox and George Hamilton.
Principal secretary for social affairs Linda William-Melanie said yesterday’s session was the third in a series, adding that since each agency has their own SOP, through the workshop they learned how to link them all together. She explained that each SOP has been verified by the two experts, and following the workshop, they will be put in a manual. ‘What is important is that every sector understands what needs to be done where there are child abuse cases,’ she noted.
Inspector Marie-Antoinette Gedeon from the child protection unit within the police force said the workshop was a continuation of work from last year where they were testing their policies already in place. She added that the aim of the session is for different agencies to know their role, functions and how they can work with each other. ‘We saw that there were some gaps and areas we need to improve and each agency was asked to go back to the drawing board to review their SOPs, with some recommendation made,’ she explained. Director for Social Services Beryl Laboudallon emphasised putting the child first: ‘We need to take every measure to keep the child safe.’
