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| Dear CPC friends and colleagues:
What is next for the child rights and child protection movements? In this edition of our newsletter, we are proud to launch a series of reports. Taken together, these documents take stock of the global landscapes of child rights and child protection and prompt us to challenge our traditional ways of operating.
If these documents inspire and challenge you, and we hope that they will, please reach out to let us know how you might be keen to get engaged.
Peace and warm wishes,
Mark Canavera and Lindsay Stark, co-directors
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| Launch of CPC Learning Network Reports
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| With the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child coming next year, we decided last year to reflect upon where children’s rights are heading in a world that seems increasingly beset with challenges for children, for families, and for communities. We also wanted to revisit the issue of children affected by armed conflict, mobilization around which has served as a motor for the broader child protection agenda for years. We worked with Joachim Theis, who developed The State of International Children's Rights, and Riva Kantowitz, who wrote Children and Armed Conflict: A Field Scan. These documents both synthesis and analysis, recognizing gains that have been made while asking, “Is there a new way of doing things? What new paths forward might we forge, collectively?”
The documents served as a springboard for a two-day in-person meeting in August of last year. Bringing together thought leaders who have made contributions to children’s rights and child protection through a variety of lenses and approaches—human rights activism, legal reform, women’s rights, community-driven work, measurement and evidence generation, child welfare, and others—we challenged ourselves to think about what we are doing right—and wrong—to promote child protection and children’s rights in a world that seems ever more challenging. From that workshop, we produced a short thought piece— Recommitting to Child Rights and Child Protection in a Turbulent World—that serves not only as a brief summary of our discussions but also a call to action. We hope that you will enjoy reading it—as well as the two longer reports that informed it—and be in touch with you as we seek ways to move forward, together.
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| CPC Learning Network and LINEA 2018 Joint Webinar Series
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| Webinar: Challenging Evaluation Norms: Photovoice, Sensemaker® & Assessing Social Norms Change Interventions
July 18, 2018 | 9:00 AM EDT
In collaboration with the Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation, and Abuse (LINEA) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the CPC Learning Network is looking forward to the third webinar in our joint webinar series! The webinar will share how the evaluation of CARE’s Tipping Point project applied Sensemaker® and Photovoice to identify changes in social norms about adolescent girls in Nepal and Bangladesh. The links between CARE’s approach to social norms and the Sensemaker® tool development process will be discussed, as well as the benefits and challenges of data interpretation comparing Sensemaker® with qualitative FGD data. The webinar will also shed light on how CARE is using the results of the analyses to inform iterative program design and future evaluation research. Register for the webinar here, and check the CPC website for upcoming webinar announcements.
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| Articles and Resources from CPC Learning Network Faculty and Institutional Affiliates
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| Article: Parent Involvement in the Getting Ready for School Intervention is Associated With Changes in School Readiness Skills Maria Martes and colleagues from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, including CPC Learning Network Faculty affiliate Cassie Landers, recently published an article in the Frontiers in Psychology journal titled "Parent involvement in the getting ready for school intervention is associated with changes in school readiness skills". The Getting Ready for School (GRS) intervention is a novel program that has both home and school components and aims to improve early literacy, math, and self-regulatory skills in preschool children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The study first examined associations between family characteristics and different indices of parent involvement in the GRS intervention, and then looked at the associations between parent involvement and change in children's school readiness skills over time. Findings from the study suggest that parent involvement in comprehensive early interventions could be beneficial in terms of improving school readiness for preschoolers from disadvantaged families.
Read the full article here, or contact the corresponding author here.
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| Article: Effects of Indirect Exposure to Homicide Events on Children’s Mental
Health: Evidence from Urban Settings in Colombia
Andres Molano and Juan Camilo Cristancho from University De Los Andes, Columbia and CPC Learning Network faculty affiliate Arturo Harker Roa recently published an article on the effects of indirect exposure to homicide events on children's mental health in the Journal of Child and Adolescence. Previous work recognizes that violence may affect children indirectly via secondhand exposure; yet, few studies have aimed to identify and quantify these effects, especially in settings like Colombia where youth is chronically exposed to violence. To address this gap in the literature, this article implements an empirical strategy where geographically specific and time-stamped data are leveraged to identify the effect of indirect exposure to homicides on fifth grade children’s social and emotional outcomes. The findings indicate a consistent negative effect of indirect exposure to homicides on children’s emotional functioning, and on the prevalence of avoidance behaviors. The findings are discussed in light of predictions from social cognitive models and their implications for developmentally and trauma-informed interventions for youth.
Read the article here, or contact the corresponding author here.
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| Blog: Reasons to be resolute but optimistic on World Refugee Day 2018
On June 20, World Refugee Day, CPC Learning Network Faculty affiliate Les Roberts published a blog on BMC Journal of Conflict and Health. Here, Dr. Les Roberts reminds us why we should be motivated to do better for the world’s displaced. He writes "Between Brexit, the wave of recently elected nationalist governments, and heart-wrenching pictures of refugees in Bangladesh and migrants on rafts, it is hard to feel good about the state of international compassion. UNHCR reports that over 60 million people, perhaps 0.8% of our species, are presently displaced. As a fraction of the global population, this is four times the rate ever seen in the 1950s and 60s, and more than twice the rate ever seen in the 1990s according to a Pew Research Center report".
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| Updates: The AfriChild Center The AfriChild Center, in collaboration with Uganda Christian University organized the first conference on the Family which took place on May 21-22, 2018. The conference’s objective was to provide a platform for discussion among religious, cultural and political leaders on how to mainstream family issues at policy levels. The conference was inaugurated by Hon. Janet Kataaha Museveni, the First Lady of Uganda and Minister of Education and Sports and had over 500 attendees. Research on ICTS, violence against children, and capitalism and its effect on families was disseminated widely among key stakeholders at the conference. The AfriChild Center organized a press conference in honor of International Day for Street Children on April 12th where it disseminated its research on findings from the qualitative study on risks and protective factors for violence against street-connected children. The last important update is the finalization of data collection and analysis for AfriChild Center's research study "Mentoring and Educational Outcomes for Pupils in Primary Schools in Uganda".The study aims at examining the contribution of existing mentorship models to school retention, academic achievement and behavior of pupils in primary schools in Uganda. The data collection included focus group discussions, key informant interviews and questionnaires in 15 selected schools across 5 districts of Uganda. The data has been analyzed and will be compiled into a report that will be disseminated to various stakeholders. Read the full newsletter here.
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| Transitions on the CPC Learning Network Team
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| Welcome, Jing! We would like to welcome Jing Li as a new Program Officer. Jing comes with over nine years of experience in providing administrative and financial support to grant-based programs surrounding children's health. Most recently Jing was the Associate Program Manager at Project Sunshine, where she managed the organization’s community based pediatric service programs in the US and China, providing services to 100,000 pediatric patients and their family members. Jing holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a BBA from Renmin University of China. Read Jing's full bio here.
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| Articles and Reports from Partner Organizations
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| Advocacy Brief on Separation of Children at U.S. Borders Over a five-week period, at least 2,300 children were separated from their families at the southern US border. The recent executive order seeks to end family separation through family detention. Children are now being detained with their families at the same processing centers. Separation is still possible as these children cannot be legally detained beyond 20 days. Both family separation and detention — unaccompanied or as a family — have proven toxic for children’s overall development and long-term well-being. The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action is pleased to announce that their advocacy brief on Separation of children at US borders has been released. The advocacy brief calls for urgent action to rapidly reunify separated children with their families and end detention. The Alliance has planned several steps to widely disseminate the Statement, through social media, U.S. based organisations and the Alliance newsletter. Keep an eye out for their press release coming soon.
Endorse the recommenadtions here. #familiesbelongtogether #protectchildren. Read the full Adocacy Brief here.
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| Report: Family Care for Children with Disabilities: Practical Guidance for Frontline Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries World Learning, on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is excited to announce that the Family Care for Children with Disabilities: Practical Guidance for Frontline Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries report is now publicly available here. The document has been developed with the support and guidance of USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphan Fund (DCOF) and the participation of a number of technical experts from Partnerships for Every Child in Moldova and The Special Programs to Address the Needs of Survivors (SPANS) Grants Solicitation and Management (GSM). The guidance was developed to help social services case management personnel work effectively with children with disabilities and their families. It provides easy to read information and advice to frontline workers in low- and middle-income countries who may have little or no experience working with children with disabilities. The development of this document drew on the experience of the authors, desk review of relevant documents, and key informant interviews with 17 international experts with experience in Albania, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Haiti, India, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Uganda. It was also based on field-testing in Ukraine with frontline social service workforce personnel and children with disabilities and their families or caregivers, and consultation with the social workers of the National Commission for Children in Rwanda.
Read the full report here.
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| Special Update for the July 2018 Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict is pleased to announce the publication of its Special Update for the July 2018 Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict. On July 9, 2018, the UN Security Council will hold its Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict (CAC), under the presidency of Sweden, which is also the current chair of the Security Council Working Group on CAC. At the debate, the Secretary-General (SG) will present his annual report on CAC, covering the period from January 1 to December 31, 2017. This Special Update is based on UN reporting and is reflective of trends Watchlist and its members have identified through their work in conflict-affected countries. Read the full report here.
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| Publication & Activities: NASEM's Health and Medicine Division
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine 's Health and Medicine Division aims to help those in the government and practitioners in the private sector make informed health decisions by providing and promoting reliable evidence-based research. Read three recent publications below:
1. Exploring Early Childhood Care and Education Levers to Improve Population Health: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief here.
2. Opportunities for Improving Programs and Services for Children with Disabilities: Report—in Brief here.
3. Applying Neurobiological and Socio-behavioral Sciences from Prenatal through Early Childhood Development: A Health Equity Approach: Consensus study—in Brief here.
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| Optimus Study Switzerland: Publication of the results on child endangerment in Switzerland
The study was a large-scale, ten-year scientific project with the goal of collecting representative data on the extent and forms of violence against children and youth, in order to identify gaps in the child protection systems, and to develop more effective prevention and intervention strategies. The current Optimus Study Switzerland is the first national study on the incidence of all forms of child endangerment. Of particular significance is the extraordinarily high participation of 81% of the organizations invited to participate in the study, from the child protection agencies, social service and health sectors, as well as the criminal justice system.
The main findings of the study as well as a report from the research team on “lessons learned” are now available. A recent article by the Dr. Andreas Jud and the research team on this study can be found here.
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| Report: Tug-of-war: Children in Armed Groups in DRC War Child UK recently published a report on their study which examines the push and pull factors influencing children to join armed groups as combatants ‘voluntarily’ in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the report, "respondents clearly outlined that it is not acceptable for individuals in these age groups to be joining the militias and that families and communities need to alternatively seek out alternatives." Read the entire report here.
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| Report: Rights of Migrants in Action: Child Protection Projects Synthesis Report of Lessons Learned in Benin, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Indonesia The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies recently published a report on the Rights of Migrants in Action (RoMiA). The “Rights of Migrants in Action” (RoMiA) was a global project that aimed to protect and promote the rights of migrants while harnessing the knowledge and building the capacity of civil society organizations. The project focused on enforcing and promoting the rights of, and improving access to services, for migrant domestic workers and victims of human trafficking , as these are particularly vulnerable groups. Working in 15 countries along migration corridors, the project reflected, from a national and regional perspective, the challenges faced by migrants, their families, governments and service-providing organizations. Read the full report here.
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| Report: The Many Faces of Exclusion: End of Childhood Report 2018 In commemoration of International Children’s Day, on June 10, Save The Children released its second annual End of Childhood Index, taking a hard look at the events that rob children of their childhoods and prevent them from reaching their full potential. The report indicates that the situation for children has improved in 95 out of 175 countries compared to last year, however conditions have worsened in 40 countries, slowing the progress that has been made. Lost childhoods are increasingly concentrated among the poorest children and children affected by conflict. These conditions tend to exacerbate gender bias and increase negative experiences that end childhood for girls. Read the full report here.
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| Opportunities to Learn and Share
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GPC's Protection Information Management (PIM) Exchange Space GPC members interested in joining the discussion on PIM, including over 216 "PIM Champions" who have completed the 5-day PIM training are invited to join the GPC online Community of Practice and the PIM Exchange Space, in order to engage in exchanges on PIM application in practice. The PIM Exchange Space is a forum for sharing PIM-related expertise, lessons learnt, as well as field stories and practices. Exchanges will be user-led and based on a wide range of protection themes. You are encouraged to share PIM resources that you find helpful and interesting to your work, to start discussions, ask questions of your colleagues, and engage fully with this vast community of fellow humanitarian practitioners. The wider GPC Community of Practice will also host quarterly webinars with experts, some of which may feature PIM specific topics.
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Webinar: Protection of Children During infectious Disease Outbreak The Alliance for the Protection of Children in Humanitarian Action will host a webinar in French presenting the newly released information document on the protection of children during epidemics of infectious diseases. The briefing note presents the main guidelines developed in more detail in the guidance note. To access the briefing note in French read here. Given the emergency Ebola in DRC, this webinar is to inform stakeholders in child protection to help optimize the response to this emergency. Participation in the webinar will help shed light on the factors that place children at risk during epidemics of infectious diseases, as well as the practical steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks.
The webinar on The Protection of Children During infectious Disease Outbreak webinar (with video pre - recorded and a session of Live questions/answers ) will be held on Thursday, June 28 at 14:00 UTC +1. To register for the session of live questions/answers, register here.
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Revision of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action is revising and updating the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) to incorporate the latest evidence. CPMS was launched in 2012 and has been widely used in over 50 countries by an estimated 72,000 humanitarians, translated into 14 languages and contextualised in 17 countries. The second edition of the CPMS will reflect and address the realities and challenges around child protection in today’s humanitarian settings. Participatory and inclusive consultation and drafting processes will include a wider range of local and nontraditional humanitarian actors. By including all the latest evidence, the new edition will give child protection workers and others an essential tool for quality programming. Learn more about the CPMS here or contact the co-Chair of the CPMS Working Group here.
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New website: Global Initiative to End all Corporal Punishment of Children The Global Initiative recently announced the launch of a brand new logo and website. The website includes detailed reports of all states and territories worldwide, summaries of global progress, a countdown to universal prohibition of corporal punishment, and a range of resouces to support law reform and advocacy to end corporal punishment of children. Explore the new website here.
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| Terres Des Hommes: Aide a L'enfrance: Monitoring & Evaluation Consultancy Terres Des Hommes (Tdh) is currently seeking a monitoring and evaluation consultant with experience in child protection. Tdh is developing and implementing field projects in three areas of child health and protection: Children and young people in migration, access to justice, and the fight against child labor. The consultant will develop a methodology and tools to measure / capture change in terms of the quality of institutional services, community mechanisms and practices of protection in general. It will also examine the specialized sub-dimension that includes criteria specific to the protective accompaniment of children and young people affected by migration to the level of i) institutional services and ii) formal and non-formal community actor.
Learn more about the position and apply here. To learn about the position in French, read here. Learn more about Terres Des Hommes here.
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| World Vision UK: Consultancy World Vision International is currently seeking a consultant to conduct research for a project addressing vulnerability factors and building resilience to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. The research will be conducted in four phases, namely: (i) methodology development and planning, (ii) a literature review, (iiii) primary data collection through in country research missions in 2-3 primary countries and questionnaires and case studies from 2-4 secondary countries, and lastly (iv) a global policy report synthesizing the findings of the research. Learn more about the position here. Interested candidates should contact Erica Hall and submit a CV, statement of availability, daily rate, sample, and reference for similar work.
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| International Migration: Call for Papers The Guest editors of International Migration, the official journal of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), are seeking manuscripts for a 2019 special issue on Global Compacts on Refugees and on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCR). This special issue presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance on migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development. The resulting compact would seek to promote responsibility-sharing for refugees and host countries in order to respond more effectively, and find solutions for those who require international protection and assistance. The guest editors are interested in articles that delve deeply into one or more issues within each compact as well as ones that compare treatment of one or more issues across the two compacts. Co-editors also welcome articles on gaps between the two compacts. To be considered for publication, scholars are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words, describing the topic, methodology and preliminary findings of the proposed article. The submission deadline for abstracts is June 30, 2018.
Learn more about the call for abstracts and submission here.
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| Save the Date and Call for Papers
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Annual Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Meeting, 2018
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VOICE International Conference 2018: "Finding Scientific Answer to the 21st Century Challenges for Families, Communities, and Public Policy"
Learn more about the call for papers here. Learn more about the VOICE International Conference 2018 here.
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