A/HRC/16/56 and interviews are videotaped and conducted by a multidisciplinary team. Cases may be referred to criminal or civil authorities and/or to public health services. The establishment of the Office has drastically reduced delays in the consideration of these cases. 5. Civil society and community-based mechanisms 70. Civil society and community-based organizations, including NGOs, professional associations, religious groups, foundations and the private sector, often play a pivotal role in helping children access counselling and complaints systems, and in developing effective mechanisms for reporting violence against children. 71. For example, the Philippine Mental Health Association is a professional association with a significant role in assisting child victims of violence, and in prevention and awareness-raising. Through the Youth Life Enrichment Program it organizes workshops to teach life skills to young people, leading to the establishment of over 90 mental-health clubs in secondary schools throughout the country, whose members are trained in peer counselling.46 72. In Ethiopia, the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect provides counselling and support to children in police stations.47 In Chad, student committees and parent-teacher associations participate in the identification and response to child protection concerns. In case of repeated child absence from school or signs of abuse or neglect, home visits are promoted to monitor the child’s situation. Such committees facilitate the identification of children at risk, who can then be referred to appropriate actors. 73. The Dar el Aman (“house of security”) child protection centre in Jordan provides therapy and protection to children who have experienced physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse. Some are referred by courts and others seek help through a hotline. Similar centres have been established in other countries in the region.48 74. In Pakistan, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid established a centre (Madadgaar) that provides shelter, medical and psychological counselling and legal services to child victims of violence. The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child established Child Rights Committees at the district level, staffed by professional social workers who provide counselling and assist victims to make complaints to the competent authorities. The Pakistan Pediatric Association, together with Pakistani NGOs, participates in the implementation of the National Plan of Action against Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. 75. An inter-agency study was undertaken regarding global evidence on communitybased child-protection groups and their impact. It found that community-based childprotection groups played a role in raising awareness about risks to children’s protection and well-being; in mobilizing communities to respond to and prevent those risks, helping to develop local solutions to problems and referring difficult cases; and in organizing psychosocial support for children. Illustrating the importance of partnership with public services, most groups networked with elements in the formal child protection system, such 46 47 48 16 K.M. Hong et al., “Systems of care in Asia”, in Facilitating Pathways: Care, Treatment and Prevention in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Remschmidt, Belfer and Goodyear, eds. (Heidelberg and New York, Springer, 2004), p. 64. Handbook for Professionals and Policymakers on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.IV.1), p. 52. D. Gavlak, “Child maltreatment comes out of the shadows”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 87, No.5 (May 2009), pp. 325-404.