We are Taking Action – Prevention of Child Unintentional Injuries !
Ms Li is the Director of a civil social organization in Guiyang City of Guizhou Province that serves children living with physical and mental disabilities. She shared a touching story of child unintentional injury. She said, "The mother was very young. She carried her baby who was only several months old on her back. When she entered the iron door of her home, her child’s head hit the iron bar of the door. The child cried loudly but she did not realize the severity of the problem until the child had convulsion. As a result, the child suffered brain damage and his intellectual development was greatly affected. The mother felt very guilty and came to our organization for help. This case had impressed me deeply.”
Globally, a child dies from a preventable injury every 30 seconds. In China, preventable injury is the first killer of children.
Do you know most of the injuries can be prevented?
The “World Report on Child Injury Prevention” of the World Health Organization stated that by implementing effective interventions to prevent child injuries, more than 1,000 children's lives can be saved every day.
From April 9 to 16, 2024, HaiZi Project (Halt and Avoid unintentional Injuries among children Project) conducted the Safe Kids Worldwide (Chinese) Certified Trainer Basic Course in Guiyang City of Guizhou Province. The project is jointly funded by the European Union ("EU") and World Vision. Safe Kids Worldwide-China and World Vision China jointly convened the training.
The participants were divided into 4 groups, with each group going through the same 2-day basic training. The aim is to increase the awareness of staff of civil social organizations (CSO) and kindergartens the issues and prevention methods of child unintentional injuries. The participants also learned the communication skills in imparting knowledge and methods of prevention to children and their caregivers using participatory and interactive approach. The participants’ foundational capacity was thus established. A total of 137 staff from 52 organizations completed the training.
Full of useful information
Zhang is an expert in prevention of child unintentional injury. Yu is from Shanghai Municipal Center for Diseases Control and Prevention. They introduced the theoretical knowledge and the epidemiology of child unintentional injuries in China.
Gu, a psychological counselor introduced the common psychological problems of children at different life stages of childhood, and its application in the prevention education of child unintentional injuries. As a gender equality expert, Professor Ding introduced the basic concept of gender and how to look at child unintentional injuries with the lens of gender quality. Teacher Tan from World Vision China gave introduction on children with disabilities and integration of disability inclusion with prevention of child unintentional injuries. Lawyer Ma explained the “Chinese Law of Protection of Minors” and led the discussion on measures of child protection through case studies.
Fruitful Learning
►Li: Director of a CSO serving children living with mental and psychological disabilities
"While listening to the trainers, I also recalled the unintentional injuries of children around me in the past. I didn't realize that these incidents could be prevented before this training. Now, I have more idea about the case of the baby with head hitting the iron door. If the mother of the baby have some knowledge about child care and taking the baby to hospital timely, the result might not be like this.”
►Yu: staff of a social work development center
"What impressed me most was the explanation of teacher Zhang on the importance of child unintentional injuries. I will share it with my colleagues when I return to work. I will include this knowledge when I provide social work talent training in the districts of Bijie City of Guizhou. I will use the knowledge from this training to highlight the importance of prevention of child unintentional injuries. I will transmit to them related concepts.”
►Qi: Deputy Director of a social work development center
"Through this course, I found that the problem of children’s death from injuries is quite serious. I used to think that violence against children is most serious. In the future, I will pay more attention to this area. I also hope to introduce more experiential activities in training. I want to change my usual ways of didactic teaching in child safety education so that it is easier for children and their caregivers to learn the knowledge and skills.”
We have started these actions in the prevention of child unintentional injuries. We need your participation. Let us work together to weave a "Child Unintentional Injury Prevention Net"!
HaiZi Project: Halt and Avoid unintentional Injuries among children, through Strengthening of CSOs and ensuring gender equality and disability Inclusion
Overall Objective: To contribute to the reduction of mortalities and incidences of unintentional injuries among children aged 0-14 years in western China through strengthening civil social organizations and integrating gender equality and disability inclusion.