The learning conference was an opportunity for individuals actively engaged in the implementation of, and serviced-based research regarding, child protection in emergencies. Participants discussed, shared, and grew the field around the themes of building child protection systems, positive practices in child protection programming, evaluation and assessment methodologies, and measuring the magnitude of protection concerns. Together, these sessions met the objectives of:

- enabling and facilitating mutual North-South, NGO-academic learning and dialogue;

- identifying, disseminating and discussing current learning about effective practice and how to address different child protection issues;

- building inter-agency capacity to do systematic and outcome evaluations and other forms of documentation and learning that contribute to quality practice, policy development and advocacy; and

- helping define a learning agenda for the child protection sub-cluster.

Click here to access presentations from the conference.

These discussions and examination of evidence-based examples led to the re-launching of a Ugandan-based network of actors working across crises aiming to continue to explore what we “know” and what we still need to learn in the field of child protection. This learning group will undertake a number of new learning initiatives throughout the country starting with an inter-agency learning initiative to explore household violence and child security and well-being.

To hear from workshop participants’ perspectives on the problem of violence against children click here.

Dr Alastair Ager served on the planning group for the recent (June 29-30, 2010) Wellcome Trust Frontiers Meeting addressing the specific topic of Research to Strengthen the Public Health Response in Disasters and Humanitarian Emergencies. Frontiers Meetings are a means for the Wellcome Trust to engage with key researchers and institutions in a field of study in advance of potential research funding investments. The meeting brought together researchers, humanitarian agency staff and funders from across Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. The leadership of the PFMH in this field was recognized in the attendance of four professors with appointments with the Program: Drs Alastair Ager, Les Roberts, Ron Waldman and Mike Wessells.

Dr Ager addressed the meeting in the closing session on models of collaboration with a presentation entitled: Collaboration, partnership and effective working: lessons from five years of the CPC initiative. This detailed the evolution of the research , practice and policy engagement between PFMH and partners through the initial CPC Initiative and, latterly, through the CPC Learning Network. The close working between agencies secured through the CPC was recognized as a potential model across the sector.

Background

Indonesia has undergone significant political and economic transformations recently that affect many aspects of society, bringing to bear both concerns and opportunities in regard to child protection.   A recent UNICEF report on the state of the world’s children indicates that nearly half (44%) of Indonesian children between 13 and 18 years of age are out of school, while about three million are engaged in potentially hazardous child labor. About 12% of women are married at or before the age of 15, and 30% of female sex workers are under the age of 18. Only 10% of children who come in contact with the law receive legal, medical, or psychosocial services. Finally, about 2.5 million Indonesian children are victims of violence in urban and rural communities each year.

Recent work undertaken by various regional actors, including the Indonesian government and UNICEF, highlights the importance of strengthening the link between child protection and the development of a fair and sustainable national economy. Moreover, a consistent and informed commitment to extending social protection to the most vulnerable is necessary if Indonesia is to continue making progress towards Millennium Development Goals, especially those related to universal education and poverty alleviation.

The PLG partners have seized the opportunity to map out and pursue short- and long-term strategies to improve children’s futures in Indonesia.  The ‘roadmap’ that has emerged embodies the goals of the CPC network to incorporate good practice into good policy.  This process may indeed prove to be a model in the field whereby collaboration through key partners can catalyze findings from local research and the global evidence base into a practical and effective national system of child protection.

Indonesian Government Action on Child Protection

In the last decade, the government of Indonesia has made some significant improvements to

the child protection system. In addition to signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child

(“CRC”) and its optional protocols, it has also enacted a number of laws addressing child protection issues. Despite progress with respect to the legal and policy framework, however, gaps remain in terms of institutional structures and service implementation. Child protection initiatives in Indonesia continue to be response-driven, targeting specific categories of children in need of protection, rather than employing preventative approaches that identify vulnerable children and intervene before a problem has manifested.

Child Protection Information Management Mapping Project:

While interest of the Indonesian government to prioritize child protection has emerged, the way to practically improve its ability to do so required a comprehensive assessment of the capacities and limitations of existing key actors and agencies. UNICEF, Columbia University and Universitas Indonesia undertook this evaluation.  The mapping exercise was intended to yield the information necessary to construct a system capable of providing accurate and timely information of key child welfare and protection concerns—including the magnitude of these problems, causality analysis and pattern, and impact of programs and interventions.

Research focused on key national level government ministries, commissions, and civil society actors involved in child protection. It also focused on child protection actors at the provincial, district, sub-district, and community levels in Central Java and Nusa Tenggara Barat.

The research found that both the information about and response to violations of children were siloed within their particular category, and correspondingly within the Ministry or agency in the government charged with responding to these various issues.  The fractured nature of data collection and the lack of unified strategy in child protection was inhibiting the government’s ability to move from acute response towards a holistic system focused on prevention and awareness of risks.

The research provided impetus to turn the existing ‘information management system’ into an effective surveillance system measured against the criteria currently set out by the CDC.  The research group recognized that a functional system requires organizational and staff capacity for data collection and analysis. It also requires timely dissemination of information to those who can undertake effective prevention and response activities. The higher-level function of a system is to protect children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. The recommendations proposed were the gap between these guidelines and the existing structure in Indonesia.

The recommendations included identifying and charging a lead agency with creating compatible data systems, information and strategy sharing between various ministries, developing  “National Index Scorecard” for monitoring child protection efforts and including performance indicators in ministry activities, introducing an SMS-based reporting system, and engaging the University in scaling their skill and personnel capacity to meet the needs of a true surveillance system.

(link to UNICEF Indonesia Mapping CPIMS Report 2009)

Establishment of the Center on Child Protection at the University of Indonesia

Through a grant from USAID, as well as support from organizations such as Columbia University’s School of Public Health and Law School, and the University of Indonesia, the working group has succeeded in creating a “Center of Excellence” on child protection that will systematically build the capacity of multidisciplinary faculty, new professionals, and key government and civil society actors to conduct effective child protection programs.   A recent USAID report from Indonesia highlights that “higher education institutions in Indonesia tend to provide education that is highly theoretical and divorced from the practicalities of real-life programming.” The center is designed to provide methodological skills to current and future child protection practitioners, while actively supporting and improving local, regional and national systems of child protection.

In order to build practical skills, the Center will train faculty and government personnel, reform student curriculum to reflect a methods approach, and require all students to conduct practical research projects that are aligned with UNICEF’s five-year plan for promoting a child protection system in Indonesia and which are supported by the Government of Indonesia.  In the longer-term, the developers of the proposed project envision that the Center will serve as a catalyst for many more university-based similar programs throughout Indonesia and beyond. There is solid evidence from women’s studies programs in this country that academic centers can foster meaningful change in government programs and practices. Accordingly, the Center will conduct all of its educational and research opportunities in a highly collaborative fashion that reaches out to other universities and the Center will share its work and program model in key local, regional, and global arenas focusing on child protection.

Click here to download the Executive Summary.
Click here to download the Full Report.

From the Introduction of the Executive Summary:

“Community-based child protection mechanisms are at the forefront of efforts to address child protection in emergency, transitional, and development contexts worldwide. The mobilization of such grassroots groups has become a common programming response in many settings, particularly in areas affected by armed conflict or displacement.
For international agencies, they are a favoured approach in places where local and national government is unable or unwilling to fulfill children’s rights to care and protection.

These groups are a vital means of mobilizing communities around children’s protection and wellbeing. Organised with care and in a contextually appropriate manner, they make it possible to: identify, prevent and respond to significant child protection risks; mobilise communities around child protection issues; and provide a base of local support and action that can be taken to scale through links with other community groups and with national child protection systems. These national systems include more formal, governmental mechanisms and also less formal, civil society mechanisms, such as traditional justice systems.

Although this approach is widely used and supported by international agencies, there is at present a lack of robust evidence about the effectiveness, cost, scalability and sustainability of community-based child protection mechanisms. This lack of systematic evidence impedes accountability and makes it very difficult to define effective practices, develop appropriate inter-agency guidance for practitioners, and harmonise and strengthen the quality of practice. The lack of systematic evidence also impedes efforts to obtain the funding needed to support children’s protection and wellbeing, advocate effectively for increased investment by governments in child protection systems, and encourage policy leaders to promote the most effective practices and policies.

To address this evidence gap, a number of child protection agencies came together to conduct a review of the available global evidence on community-based child protection mechanisms and their impact on children’s protection and wellbeing. The review is the first part of a two-phase process and raises key questions that will be pursued in the field research that will form part of phase two.

This report is an executive summary of the first phase findings. The full report presents the findings and methodology in greater detail, analyses more fully key issues and challenges, discusses a greater variety of case studies and models of promising practice, and explores the implications for national child protection systems. Annexed to the full report, is also a full set of descriptions and analysis of each of the documents reviewed according to a standardised matrix. The full report is also available at www.savethechildren.org.uk/onlinelibrary.”

by: Nanditha Hettitantri

September 2, 2009 — In Sri Lankan Context, the ‘Early Childhood’ is defined as the period of the child’s life from the conception to age five. All children are born with capabilities and competencies, which need support and care of the adults to develop to its full potential specifically during the Early Childhood. In Sri Lanka, this support and care are currently provided by the government, civil society and the private sector at different levels and in different capacities.

The National Committee on Children provides policy guidelines on the ECCD, while the Children’s Secretariat- under the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment- implements the programmes under the approved policies. The National Policy on ECCD provides guidelines on ECCD interventions and defines coordination mechanisms for ECCD activities at national, provincial, district, divisional and village levels in order to improve systems, approaches and service delivery.  Still, the preliminary review of the ECCD related organizations, academia and experts in Sri Lanka revealed the necessity in implementing ECCD programmes in much coordination.  Need for improving coordination in ECCD has been highlighted and discussed in the media and in public forums. The programme specific evaluations in ECCD also provide evidence for lack of coordination among stakeholders in ECCD.

The Children’s Secretariat, as an extension of the previous important steps they have taken in improving the coordination, proposes to establish an ECCD Network that can be functioned under the guidance of the National Committee on ECCD.  The  establishment of the Network and identified activities will be implemented by the Children’s Secretariat in collaboration with the Programme Learning Group/Care and Protection of Children Network and the Institute for Participatory Interaction in  Development.

The establishment of the Network and identified activities will be implemented by the Children’s Secretariat in collaboration with the Programme Learning Group/Care and Protection of Children Network of the Institute for Participatory Interaction in Development.

The Children’s Secretariat and the CPC Learning Network/PLG of the IPID look to:

· Improve coordination, collaboration and accountability within the ECCD related organizations and stakeholders;

· Gather data, information and resources on ECCD and communicate with the public;

· Facilitate sharing of experiences, research findings, evaluations and lessons learned of the government, bi-lateral agencies, international/ local non government organizations, private sector and academia in the ECCD;

· Encourage the use of widely accepted and practiced ECCD definitions, operational frameworks and methodologies in both emergency and normal situations;

· Build capacities, skills and competencies of the personnel working in ECCD.

A result-based activity plan and monitoring and evaluation framework for the ECCD Network will be developed with the participation of relevant ECCD Network stakeholders at the inception of the project.

A number of ECCD thematic forums and an international conference are planned for the first three years. Furthermore, a database of ECCD programmes and experts and a Network website will be developed, and a resource center will be established at the Children’s Secretariat.

By: Alastair Ager

August saw the rollout of the first CPC Learning Network methods training workshop. Held in Gulu, Northern Uganda it was delivered in collaboration with the Program Learning Group established with support from PFMH and Save the Children last year. Participants for the workshop, ‘Assessing Needs, Mapping Progress’, were predominantly drawn from national and international NGOs working in Gulu the field of child protection. However, as a pilot of the regional events that the CPC Learning Network is considering for 2010 the meeting was opened to participants from Rwanda and Ethiopia. The workshop addressed the importance of reliable information on child protection needs and systems response as a basis for planning and advocacy, sharing insights from an analysis by PFMH student Shweta Dewan of current information held in Gulu (work which is part of CPC’s piloting- with Save the Children Sweden – of National Child Protection Index Reports). The workshop then focused on sharing emerging field methods for relevant, efficient and sensitive data collection in community settings. The fourth day of the workshop saw participants visiting projects in the Gulu area and putting these methods into practice, with the final day given over to presentations based on the assessment and evaluations completed. Feedback on the training provided was very positive, with local members of the Child Protection Working Group planning to use the skills learned in an inter-agency child protection assessment in the District in the coming months. The workshop was extensively filmed by a videographer for use in future open learning programs (including the planned ‘Global Classroom’ initiative) of the PFMH.