Palestinian Territories: Justice for children
6 Jul 2012 Juvenile justicePalestinian Territories
Terre des hommes, together with Defence for Children International and the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Palestinian Authority, launches a three years project to improve juvenile justice.
The main issue faced is not the lack of knowledge or of legal framework (although these are important components) but the weakness of collaboration among the main stakeholders. This is why the first round table talks were held on June 12th. Probation officers, police officers, judges, authority representatives, civil society members and many more, gathered and exchanged views on what was needed and how to best improve justice for children.
Recommendations made by the participants were really interesting and open-minded, ranging from common training for all the stakeholders to better coordination with informal justice representatives, such as school teachers or religious leaders. The need for more social workers specially working for children was also pinpointed. Furthermore, improvements could be made in the individual case management of each child, in close partnership with the family, and in the development of educational measures.
The main recommendation applies to the need for better coordination among key players, putting resources together and egos aside.
This round table is clearly a first encouraging step in this direction.
