On Tuesday 4 December 2012, the Bond Child Rights group hosted a discussion on current challenges and opportunities in the field of child protection and the launch of a new edited collection Child Protection in Development. The meeting brought together members of the group, which comprises over 20 NGOs and research organisations, with other researchers and actors working in child protection.
Key challenges
Jo Boyden, Professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford and Director of Young Lives, began by identifying a number of key challenges for child protection. First, there is a need to consolidate evidence about what works and to build a critical mass of support for this field, in order to counter the recent reduction in funding. In part this retreat is due to this being the most complex area in working with children, where demonstrating impact is not clearcut as it involves long-term work in engaging with communities and social processes. Second, the field of child protection is also divided between those who champion the enforcement of legally established standards and norms and those who support a more empirical basis. This shapes how we focus our work and engage with other cultures. A narrow or normative focus on risk or specific practices obscures the broader values and political economy which generate risks for children and can create a dynamic where local communities feel judged. Instead we need to be thinking about working with community practices and local understandings of problems facing children.
Next, Amanda Griffith, Director of the coalition for Family for Every Child, offered insights into the new approach taken by EveryChild to build an alliance of national NGOs focussed on family strengthening, positive alternative care, and reintegration or supported independent living for children. The coalition acts as a platform for sharing and amplifying the expertise of members, embedded in local context and culture. Amanda echoed many of the challenges identified by Jo before setting out a number of opportunities for child protection, including the UN Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children, pockets of donor alignment around child protection and international initiatives such as the Child Protection in Emergencies Working Group, New York and Geneva Working Groups on children without parental care and the Better Care Network. Child protection is also shifting to a more systemic approach which recognises and advocates child protection as integral to health, education, justice and social protection. The post-2015 discussions about the Millennium Development Goals can also act as a catalyst for a series of activities to increase understanding of and commitment to child protection and child protection systems.
Stronger evidence needed
Finally, Daniel Stevens, Child Rights Manager at World Vision UK, reflected on the principles for child protection set out in the Child Protection in Development book and their implications for NGOs. He noted the challenge for stronger evidence, in particular to support the shift towards a systems approach. World Vision International has formed a partnership with the International Institute for Child Rights and Development to develop an evidence base and identify what can be learnt from World Vision?s child protection work. He described how NGOs are also faced with managing the tension between moving into international advocacy but not straying away from being rooted in work in local communities and taking the time to listen, especially to children.
During the very rich discussion that followed these presentations key points raised included the need for better awareness of the potential backlash or unintended consequences of child protection interventions; the importance of working with local communities, who even in the developed world are often at the front line of responding to child protection concerns; the need for better communication concerning child protection outside of the field; and the question of whether measurements of child protection outcomes should focus on what is being reduced (i.e. violations) or what is being increased (i.e. children?s well-being).
The presentations and discussion were followed by a drinks reception to celebrate the launch of the new book Child Protection in Development based on the Development in Practice special issue on Development, Children and Protection published earlier in the year.
Child protection is currently at a crossroads: while there are many challenges, there are also key opportunities which need to seized and built upon in order to better protect children.
On Tuesday 4 December 2012, the Bond Child Rights group hosted a discussion on current challenges and opportunities in the field of child protection and the launch of a new edited collection Child Protection in Development. The meeting brought together members of the group, which comprises over 20 NGOs and research organisations, with other researchers and actors working in child protection.
Key challenges
Jo Boyden, Professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford and Director of Young Lives, began by identifying a number of key challenges for child protection. First, there is a need to consolidate evidence about what works and to build a critical mass of support for this field, in order to counter the recent reduction in funding. In part this retreat is due to this being the most complex area in working with children, where demonstrating impact is not clearcut as it involves long-term work in engaging with communities and social processes. Second, the field of child protection is also divided between those who champion the enforcement of legally established standards and norms and those who support a more empirical basis. This shapes how we focus our work and engage with other cultures. A narrow or normative focus on risk or specific practices obscures the broader values and political economy which generate risks for children and can create a dynamic where local communities feel judged. Instead we need to be thinking about working with community practices and local understandings of problems facing children.
Next, Amanda Griffith, Director of the coalition for Family for Every Child, offered insights into the new approach taken by EveryChild to build an alliance of national NGOs focussed on family strengthening, positive alternative care, and reintegration or supported independent living for children. The coalition acts as a platform for sharing and amplifying the expertise of members, embedded in local context and culture. Amanda echoed many of the challenges identified by Jo before setting out a number of opportunities for child protection, including the UN Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children, pockets of donor alignment around child protection and international initiatives such as the Child Protection in Emergencies Working Group, New York and Geneva Working Groups on children without parental care and the Better Care Network. Child protection is also shifting to a more systemic approach which recognises and advocates child protection as integral to health, education, justice and social protection. The post-2015 discussions about the Millennium Development Goals can also act as a catalyst for a series of activities to increase understanding of and commitment to child protection and child protection systems.
Stronger evidence needed
Finally, Daniel Stevens, Child Rights Manager at World Vision UK, reflected on the principles for child protection set out in the Child Protection in Development book and their implications for NGOs. He noted the challenge for stronger evidence, in particular to support the shift towards a systems approach. World Vision International has formed a partnership with the International Institute for Child Rights and Development to develop an evidence base and identify what can be learnt from World Vision?s child protection work. He described how NGOs are also faced with managing the tension between moving into international advocacy but not straying away from being rooted in work in local communities and taking the time to listen, especially to children.
During the very rich discussion that followed these presentations key points raised included the need for better awareness of the potential backlash or unintended consequences of child protection interventions; the importance of working with local communities, who even in the developed world are often at the front line of responding to child protection concerns; the need for better communication concerning child protection outside of the field; and the question of whether measurements of child protection outcomes should focus on what is being reduced (i.e. violations) or what is being increased (i.e. children?s well-being).
The presentations and discussion were followed by a drinks reception to celebrate the launch of the new book Child Protection in Development based on the Development in Practice special issue on Development, Children and Protection published earlier in the year.
Child protection is currently at a crossroads: while there are many challenges, there are also key opportunities which need to seized and built upon in order to better protect children.