First Lady Kaone Boko will, on November 11 in Gumare, launch the Babelegi Mmogo Programme, a year-long initiative between Lorato House Rescue Centre and the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education aimed at strengthening child protection.

The partnership between Lorato House Rescue Centre, a Maun-based Non-Governmental Organisation and the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education as the sponsor, is intended to prevent abuse and exploitation of children while promoting a safer community for children and young people in the Okavango District.

According to Lorato House Rescue Centre communications official, Ms Nompendulo Shabangu, through the Babelegi Mmogo initiative in Okavango, the NGO was expanding its footprints since, for over a decade, it had been doing a lot work in the assistance of orphans and vulnerable children in the North West District by offering shelter to children in need of care and protection.

“We realised that there is a gap in Okavango, a district which is vast and under-resourced and under-serviced, taking into consideration recent alarming statistics of teenage pregnancy and other forms of child-related abuse,” she said.

Ms Shabangu said child abuse cases reflected broader challenges in the community, among which, she cited contributing factors such as child negligence, gender-based violence and alcohol abuse.

She said it was hoped that through Babelegi Mmogo community-based child protection would be reinforced through awareness and prevention initiatives, psychosocial support, stakeholder collaboration and the empowerment of families and communities to protect children and young people from abuse, neglect and maltreatment.

The Babelegi Mmogo launch follows a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Lorato House Rescue Centre and Okavango District Council, a collaboration intended to enhance community mobilisation, parenting education, child protection awareness, professional social work support as well as referral of vulnerable children, she said.

Meanwhile, the Babelegi Mmogo launch will form part of the activities scheduled for Ms Boko’s first kgotla meeting in Gumare, a kgotla meeting that is primarily an activity under the Sireletsa Ngwana, Sireletsa Bokamoso campaign. ENDS