SOURIRE – Côte d’Ivoire
SOURIRE is one of the three child protection projects the Cocoa Horizons Foundation started in 2024 with leading Child Rights Organizations.
SOURIRE means smile— and we hope to bring many smiles to Côte d'Ivoire. Through a partnership with Save the Children Switzerland, the Cocoa Horizons Foundation supports 30 communities to strengthen child protection and improve community well-being.
Sometimes small behavioral changes can help to tackle big problems. For SOURIRE, we work with the first applied behavioral science team in the world to focus on the rights and welfare of the most marginalized children. Within the program we pilot the impact of social contracts on child protection to see if a public commitment (social contract) shows increased positive change.
To do so, in half of the project villages, the communities will develop and sign Village Social Contracts to formalize the desired behaviors to improve child protection. In the other half (the control group), the villages will only implement community action plans.
A social contract is….
- A commitment device made public
- Villagers jointly identify challenges affecting children's wellbeing within their control and strategize collective and concrete solutions
- Adults and children commit to what they will do/don’t do related to children’s wellbeing
- They then sign a contract tailored to each community as a commitment
- Villagers are asked to think for themselves and take action
The outcome of the project can inform the Cocoa Horizons Foundation’s future approaches to drive behavioral based change in cocoa growing communities.
Child Protection Committees
The project builds on existing structures that have been set up such as child protection committees. We revitalize and improve existing committees and establish new ones where required.
The child protection committees…
- consist of community members who are trained to raise awareness of and identify child labor and drive forward the development plan
- foster child participation through child groups
- advocate for children’s rights and are one of the drivers of positive change for children in communities
- are the community focal points for child rights related topics
- are supported and trained by Save the Children experts
- are being linked with governmental child protection structures and processes
Child protection committees are one key element that in the future, children, families, and farmers will be able to identify and address child rights violations within their own communities.
Impact at a glance:
- 17,000 people reached, including 6,300 children
- 60 new or revitalized and improved Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs)
- 30 communities develop and implement community action plans for child protection
- 30 Child Protection Committees established or revitalized and trained
- 30 Schools receive training and improved infrastructure