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 first webinar in our joint webinar series! Voices for Change (V4C) sought to strengthen the enabling environment for young women’s empowerment in Nigeria. It did this by taking a norms marketing approach to inspire young people’s attitudinal and behaviour change towards: women’s role in household decision-making, women’s leadership, and violence against women and girls. In this webinar, we will take you through the innovations, lessons, and challenges. We will share insights around the robust monitoring system developed to track changes in young people’s attitudes and behaviours, how the change happened, and the audience response to the mass-media communications. This webinar will be May 31, 2018 at 8:00 AM EDT.

Register for the webinar here, and check the CPC website for upcoming webinar announcements. (Hint: the next webinar is in just two weeks!)

CPC Director Lindsay Stark, Research Associate Gary Yu, and colleagues recently published an article on using a population-based survey approach to estimate child separation in post-Hurricane Haiti.  This study, undertaken on behalf of The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, in collaboration with Save the Children, explores findings of a population-based approach to measure the prevalence of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) during the Hurricane Matthew aftermath in Haiti. This study is the first known attempt to measure the prevalence of child separation following a natural disaster. Overall, the rates of separation were relatively low. Similarities between primary and secondary reports of child separation via the Neighborhood Method indicate that this may be a viable approach to measuring UASC in certain contexts. This study is part of the Measuring Separation in Emergencies (MSiE) project.

Read the article here, or contact the corresponding author here. 

This research is the result of a collaboration between UNHCR, the CPC Learning Network, and TPO Uganda, and the report was written by CPC Director Lindsay Stark, CPC Faculty Affiliate Sarah Meyer, and colleague Sabrina Hermosilla. The report describes the research conducted in 2016 in Kiryandongo and Adjumani refugee settlements in Uganda, presenting a comparison of child protection system strength between 2014/5 and 2016, and child protection outcomes over the same time period. The report also presents key lessons, both in terms of methodology and the child protection situation for adolescent refugees in these refugee settlements in Uganda. This report is part of the Measuring Impact Through a Child Protection Index (CPI) study. 

Read the full report here.

CPC Research Associates Laura Gauer Bermudez and Gary Yu, Graduate Research Assistant Lily Lu, Director Lindsay Stark, and colleagues from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) recently published an article on HIV Risk Among Displaced Adolescent Girls in Ethiopia. Using baseline data from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in three refugee camps in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State in Ethiopia, this study quantitatively examined the associations between HIV risk factors, attitudes on gender inequality, intimate partner violence (IPV) acceptability, and self-esteem for female adolescent refugees primarily from Sudan and South Sudan. The findings suggest acceptance of inequitable gender norms and low self-esteem to be associated with common HIV risk factors among refugee adolescents living in Ethiopia. Greater attention towards the intersections of gender equality and self-valuation is needed when seeking to understand HIV risk among refugee adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa. This study is part of the IRC's COMPASS program: Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces.

Read the article here, or contact the corresponding author here. 

Debbie Landis (formerly a CPC Learning Network Research Associate), CPC Research Associate Gary Yu, Director Lindsay Stark, and colleagues from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) recently published an article on violence and formal education among girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A quantitative survey was conducted with girls between the ages of 10–14 across 14 sites in South Kivu, DRC. The prevalence of three forms of violence was estimated across four levels of participation in formal education, and multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models were used to compare girls’ increasing levels of education to those who reported never attending school. Trend tests across the four levels of education were conducted for violence outcomes. Girls’ higher levels of participation in formal education were significantly associated with lower reported rates of physical and sexual violence. Findings suggest a significant protective effect of formal education on girls from physical and sexual violence. Findings also suggest a significant relationship between girls’ age and risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence. This study is part of the IRC's COMPASS program: Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces.

Read the article here, or contact the corresponding author here. 

CPC faculty affiliate Arturo Harker Roa and colleagues recently published an article on the mental health of victims and ex-Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) members. The peace accord between the FARC and the Colombian Government has been widely lauded by the international community, and rightly so. Yet, formidable challenges remain to its implementation. One substantial challenge is the high percentage of former guerillas as well as victims of the conflict in need of mental health care.

Read the article here, or contact the corresponding author here. 

We would like to bid farewell to Kim Diaz, Joolan Saroor, Anna Hoover, and Mona Mazraani. Joolan, Anna, and Mona worked as Graduate Research Assistants with the CPC Learning Network during their time as Columbia University Mailman Public Health students, and they will be moving on to wonderful things post-graduation! Kim worked as an intern with the CPC over the past semester and will be joining the Peace Corps. Thank you for all that you do and all that you have done for the CPC!

Join Research Connections and researchers from Mathematica Policy Research and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, for a webinar on the new American Indian and Alaska Native Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AI/AN FACES 2015) data file, the first national study of Region XI Head Start children and families. To obtain access to the AI/AN FACES 2015 data, researchers must complete the ICPSR standard application, as well as study-specific requirements. The webinar will be held on June 4, 2018 at 1:00 PM EDT.

Learn more about the webinar and register here.

The guest editors of Child Indicators Research, the official Journal of the International Society for Child Indicators, are seeking manuscripts for a 2019 special issue on child neglect. This special issue offers an opportunity to contribute to an interdisciplinary understanding of conceptualizations, determinants, and consequences of child neglect and, in so doing, to reforming child protection systems globally. The guest editors welcome empirical research, literature review, and conceptual submissions with direct implications for measurement/indicators covering any type and dimension of inadequate care and protection of children, regardless of who is responsible, with consequences in all spheres of child development/wellbeing. Scholars from any country and any theoretical framework using scientifically sound qualitative and/or quantitative methods are invited to submit their child neglect work for consideration. The submission deadline is September 15, 2018.

Learn more about the call for papers and submission here.

Forced Migration Review (FMR) is currently calling for articles for an upcoming issue on education: needs, rights, and access in displacement. This new issue of FMR will provide a forum for practitioners, advocates, policymakers, researchers, and those directly affected to look at more recent developments, share experience, debate perspectives and offer recommendations. This issue will address primary, secondary and tertiary education. The FMR Editors are looking for policy- and practice-oriented submissions, reflecting a diverse range of experience and opinions. Forced Migration Review issue 60 will be published in February 2019 with a major feature on education. The deadline for submission of articles is October 15, 2018.

Learn more about the call for articles and submission here.