Faith leader and school-based actor perspectives on embedding child protection in Zimbabwe Catholic Primary Schools

Child protection risks often arise in schools. Interventions to help prevent and respond to child protection issues need to involve multiple stakeholders – both inside and outside the school. In Zimbabwe, primary-school age children face child protection risks in school. Faith actors, teachers, community leaders and child protection actors are vital to embedding child protection at the school level. This study explores faith leaders’ and school-based actors’ perspectives on child protection within Catholic primary schools in Zimbabwe, seeking to identify the facilitators and challenges to embedding child protection approaches. Through qualitative research with school actors, faith leaders, external actors, as well as incident reports and observations, we identify several key strategies and challenges for child protection interventions in schools. We suggest faith leaders and school actors play a critical role in shaping child protection approaches, but their approaches are informed by the broader school structures and legal/policy context.