The research project aims to provide the government and the different institutions in the country a set of recommendations to help ensure that children in Palau are protected from violence, abuse and exploitation.
MOH and UNICEF plan to randomly survey some 2,000 respondents, both adults and children, including community leaders all over the country. The survey will last until December 20.
“These are randomly selected homes,” Berry Moon Watson, Manager for the Office of Health Policy, Research and Program Evaluation of the MOH, said in an interview on Tuesday. “It is important for them to be aware that this is a project supported by the government and the UNICEF.”
“We want to alert the public that there’s going to be a lot of people coming to their homes to ask questions starting next week,” she added.
According to Carl DeFaria, Regional Research Coordinator UNICEF Pacific Office, “We need their responses as part of the whole community; we want to find out the values in society with regards to prevention of violence against children in Palau.”
He added that the most important part of this research is providing the country information that the government can use to guide specific programs for children and families.
UNICEF assures that whatever information the people will provide will be treated confidentially and anonymously.
During their pilot study done on Monday, the usual issue that came up was about privacy. “But people are participating,” DeFaria said. “It’s important that we encourage the public so they understand its importance and be willing to participate.”
Palau is the first to launch the project in the Northern Pacific, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Marshall Islands will start the project next week.
Other participants of the project are the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders.
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