20 December 2016

Engaging communities and families; a community-led response to emerging national and international crisis for children

With the uncertainty of ‘Brexit’ (the result of the public EU referendum vote on 23 June 2016, which brought immigration to the forefront of political debate) adding a new dimension to the host of issues facing migrant communities, VCF – The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK sees further challenges ahead for central and local government to deliver appropriate statutory support for children.

As the leading independent organisation providing effective coordination and links between statutory agencies and the primarily BME community, VCF is ideally placed to move beyond the current rhetoric for children, with a clear intent to act on the rights of the child by pursuing a practical, common-sense approach to child safeguarding; to tackle inequalities in the delivery of services, and to effectively support children and families according to their needs.

The VCF Community Leadership Initiative offers a transformational framework, incorporating VCF’s national Community Engagement and international Parallel Communities models, to enhance the life chances for every child within a world-class child protection system.

VCF is proactively advancing political engagement and community partnerships to position the organisation to meets its vision and objectives for 2016-2020; to establish a global presence to monitor and respond to government policies by providing an independent environment to learn, research, share and develop best practice for the rights, care and protection of children, while still providing legal advice, advocacy and training.

We continue to uphold the rights of BME and migrant children, when addressing such themes as faith-based abuse/harmful cultural practices, disabilities, language and linguistic heritage, parental mental health, and impact of domestic abuse. We also seek to address issues for children from indigenous communities experiencing injustice and/or discrimination, when presenting with significant support or safeguarding needs.

See current key partners and stakeholders for this work, including the National Working Group on Child Abuse linked to Faith or Belief

Looking ahead

January 2017
Parliamentary Roundtable and launch of Advisory Group for the Safeguarding of BME and Migrant Children

Feb/Mar 2017
Full Research Report; Exploration of Child Abuse linked to Faith or Belief

Spring-Summer 2017
Regional Roadshows