The Oyo State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has commenced training for Auxiliary Social Workers on Child Protection Information Management System to strengthen child protection and social welfare services across the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Faosat Sanni, disclosed this during a two-day training programme for Auxiliary Social Workers held at the Conference Room of the Ministry in Ibadan.
She described the training as timely and significant, noting that effective child protection required not only adequate social welfare personnel but also accurate, timely and reliable information to support decision-making, case management, referrals, monitoring and planning.
“The state government is prioritising capacity building, community-based child protection mechanisms, alternative care, prevention of and response to violence against children, gender-based violence interventions, and the strengthening of social service delivery.”
She noted that the knowledge and skills acquired through the training would contribute significantly to improving the quality of child protection services at the community and local government levels.
The Commissioner urged participants to take the training seriously and ensure that the knowledge acquired was translated into improved service delivery in their respective areas of assignment.
The UNICEF Child Protection Officer for Data, Planning and Monitoring, Aminu Awal-Sani, said the training formed part of efforts to support the state’s transition from paper-based to digital case management.
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He explained that Oyo State was transitioning to Primero, an electronic protection-related information management platform that would enable Auxiliary Social Workers to identify cases, provide services and make referrals directly from the field.
Awal-Sani noted that the digital system would facilitate real-time monitoring of child protection cases and improve the availability of reliable data for decision-making and planning.
“The Child Protection Information Management Centre at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Abuja, through the National Case Management Dashboard, would be able to monitor child protection cases across all 36 states of the federation.”
The Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Dennis Onoise, stressed the need to strengthen community-based child protection structures, noting that communities had traditionally played an important role in protecting and supporting children.
Onoise noted that the shortage of professional social workers in the country made it necessary to build the capacity of Auxiliary Social Workers who could serve as a link between vulnerable children, their families, communities, and formal social service institutions.
He said Auxiliary Social Workers properly trained in the use of the digital information management system would be better positioned to identify cases of child/sexual abuse, physical abuse, and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation, using mobile devices to document them and facilitate appropriate referrals for support and intervention.
The training had in attendance 50 Auxiliary Social Workers from Ibadan South-West Local Government Area, and is expected to be extended to other local government areas across the state to equip more community-based social workers with the skills needed to protect children, particularly in the digital space.
Also present at the training were the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Oluyinka Shotonwa-Roagess; the Director of Child Welfare, Gbémileke Ojerinde; and the UNICEF Desk Officer in the Ministry, Oluwawemimo Adediran, among others.
