Sint Maarten Trustfund Project

Objectives

Through this project, UNICEF the Netherlands aims to support the government of St. Maarten to strengthen the education and child protection systems to address and respond to the needs of children and adolescents resulting from natural disasters and external shocks. More specifically, we have the following three main objectives:

1.       Support the government to help schools, families and children to cope with shocks. The aim is to support teachers to deal with their own crisis-related needs while also improve their ability to detect needs and to provide psychosocial support to children. Another aim is to increase the ability of children and adolescents to cope better with shocks by providing life skills trainings and promoting the development of a safe environment at school and family level.

2.       Support the government to strengthen the child protection system in Sint Maarten and in particular to ensure it serves to protect children during emergencies. For instance, the aim is to strengthen the Child protection referral and case management system and to support the development of a child Protection Information System. Another aim is to strengthen the knowledge of professionals, such as teachers, social workers, health care personel, on child protection.

3.       Support the government to strengthen coordination for disaster risk management at the education system and school levels to better prepare and respond to natural hazards and protect children’s safety during emergencies