Program Objectives

The program works through six core objectives:

• Strengthen OVCY knowledge of their rights and build their capacity to advocate and seek justice.
• Improve access to mental health and psychosocial support while nurturing leadership skills.
• Promote hygiene and disease prevention at the household level.
• Enhance food security and nutrition through better agronomic practices.
• Improve the safety and adequacy of housing for OVCY.
• Promote Christian spiritual growth among OVCY and their siblings.

Approaches

The program applies several complementary approaches:

1. Human Rights–Based Approach (HRBA): Promotes and protects the rights of children through human rights education, linkages to protection systems (church elders, local councils, probation and social welfare offices), and capacity-building for advocacy.
2. Child-Centred Approach: Places children at the center of their development journey, encouraging them to dream, make choices, and work toward their aspirations with guidance from facilitators.
3. Mentorship & Peer Groups: OVCY are organized into groups of 20–25, each supported by a mentor who models positive behavior, guides activities, and co-signs group bank accounts. Peer groups foster learning, bonding, accountability, and long-term collaboration.
4. Pods: Smaller sub-groups that encourage stronger peer accountability and mutual support— “being one another’s keeper.”
5. Government Linkages: Collaboration with government staff (probation officers, health workers, agricultural extension officers, and economic/finance officers) to deliver training and connect beneficiaries to public services.
6. Holistic Interventions: Activities span six thematic areas: health and hygiene, child rights, food security and nutrition, psychosocial support, shelter, economic strengthening, and spiritual growth.