Columbia University, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children, the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, UNICEF, ChildFund International, and several local organizations have established an Agency Learning Network on the Care and Protection of Children in Crisis-Affected Countries (the CPC Learning Network). The Learning Network is a direct product of the success of the CPC Research Initiative, which has strengthened consensus on child care and protection interventions over the last three years by piloting new assessment methodologies, consulting with experts on how to build a stronger evidence-base, and performing a structured Delphi review of perceived best practices. The goal of the CPC Learning Network is to further strengthen and to systematize child care and protection through the collaborative action of humanitarian organizations, local institutions, and academic partners.

The CPC Learning Network is already developing an active cadre of member organizations who will, in the future, be capable of collaboratively employing assessment methodologies and able to identify, quantify, and understand the causes and consequences of key child care and protection concerns. Further, key members of Learning Network will build consensus among their peers on definitions, child protection framework, assessment methods, and standards in protection programming as an evidence base emerges. Local, national, and global members are already developing relevant learning agendas for their particular country or technical contexts, which will inform future global-level learning.