BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office Eswatini Principal Secretary Melusi Masuku (AMB) has officially opened the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey Data to Action Workshop.
The VACS survey serves as an important marker for the country towards reducing violence against children and youth.
In the 15 years since the first VAC survey, Eswatini has embarked on several key national actions and implementation of policies across sectors to address and respond to violence against children and gender-based violence.
This second survey completed in August 2022, provides an opportunity to assess progress since the first VACS in 2007. It gives direction where the country requires additional efforts and focus in addressing violence against children.
The second survey also provides valuable information that the first VAC survey did not include data about adolescent boys and youth men and persons with disabilities.
Masuku said, with data from both surveys, local and international stakeholders will now be able to make informed programmatic decisions around violence against children, and plan, implement, monitor and evaluate appropriate policies and programming on child protection.
“The aim is to ascertain the frequency of abusive and violent behaviour by people and relatives towards children, youth and anyone, and discover the perceived causes,” he said. He further mentioned that the survey asks children and young adults about their experiences of abuse and would provide crucial information which would be widely used by their office.
