Let us try, just for a moment, to imagine what life is like for children growing up in the midst of a war.

Everyday life becomes a maze of uncertainty, fear and privation. Children must deal not only with physical threats, but with the psychological burden of a hostile environment. Traumatic episodes insinuate their way into the children’s imaginations and compromise their emotional and cognitive development.

This is the context in which, in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Child Friendly Spaces have been created as safe places in areas affected by emergencies. They may look very different, depending on their context: a tent, a fenced-in area under a tree, or a room set aside for the purpose. But whatever form they take, they all share the common denominator of being safe places accessible to children of different ages, genders and needs.

Child Friendly Spaces are more than just physical places: they are true communities in which children can return to normality, where learning becomes a form of resilience. Through games, psychological support and educational initiatives, children in these areas regain a sense of control over their lives, while dedicated operators work

to alleviate the weight of their traumatic experiences. We talked about the project with Giulia Moro, in charge of Helpcode’s protection services in Mozambique.

“We start out on the basis of an important assumption: children are more fragile than adults, which means the impact their surroundings have on them affects their growth and the way they view the world. And yet they are much more resilient, emotionally prepared for change, able to pick up the pieces and simply start their lives again.

To work with them on the process of reappropriating their rights and accompany them psychologically, we have put together a manual for what is known in the world of cooperation as MHPSS (Mental Health and Psychosocial Support), in which we support them in a variety of activities: from “breaking the ice”, which is the initial step toward building a group and a community, to “knowing the emotions”, which helps them recognise and interpret emotions, to building resilience and the concept of a network.

The activities that take place in our Child Protection Spaces convey the message that all kinds of reactions and emotions are “normal” and that here, children are free to be angry, sad, or simply confused about what is happening to their families; this is a place for learning to address these emotions together.

If appropriate, children can then be directed toward ‘case management’, a form of individual support managed by psychologists and, where necessary, also by doctors or lawyers to provide assistance in the presence of abuse.

War steals children’s childhood from them, but Child Friendly Spaces represent a concrete commitment to giving back what has been stolen from them.”

The project is part of the Education in Emergency (EiE) initiative implemented with Plan International and funded by ECHO, the European Union