Working paper: Strengthening child protection system in sub-Saharan Africa

Working paper: Strengthening child protection system in sub-Saharan Africa

The inter-agency working paper consolidates current thinking, examples and lessons learned about child protection system strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa and suggest a way forward. The focus is on concrete actions that reflect country narratives and is followed by recommendations for continuing and sustaining the work.

There is a growing interest in applying the systems approach to strengthening child protection efforts. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the systems approach shifts attention to a larger systemic framework that includes legal and policy contexts, institutional capacity, community contexts, planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation subsystems.

This approach differs from child protection efforts that focus on single thematic issues, such as HIV/AIDS, disability, child trafficking, street children, child labour, emergencies and institutionalization. These single-issue approaches often result in a fragmented and unsustainable child protection response. 

Nkundabana toolkit

Nkundabana toolkit: English

Nkundabana toolkit: French

Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 167 out of 182 in the Human Development Index (UNDP's Human Development Report of 2009). According to Rwandan Government sources, 56.9% of all Rwandans live on less than one US dollar per day (Enquête Intégrale sur les Conditions de vie des Ménages 2005-2006, NISR). Rwanda also has one of the highest numbers of orphans worldwide. As of 2005, 21% of Rwandan children were orphans (National Institute of Statistics 2005).These children face highly complex circumstances due to the combined effects of recovery from war and genocide, extreme poverty affecting 36% of Rwandan households, and consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.Communities have already proven to be supportive of orphans and vulnerable children in many ways. For example, many families foster orphans or unaccompanied children. However, the capacity of households to address the situation is decreasing, in part because an increase in fertility from 5.8 children per woman in 2000 to 6.1 in 2005 is causing rapid population growth.  The most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), conducted in 2005, reported that only 60% of Rwandan children live with both their parents. That means that 40% either live with only one parent, are fostered by their extended family, or live in households headed by children or young adults.  Despite the high-level commitment of the Rwandan Government to achieve the rights of all children without any kind of discrimination, access to basic services for the majority of OVC remains an enormous challenge.

In order to address this situation, MIGEPROF (Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion), in collaboration with its main partners, developed a 5-year National Strategic Plan of Action for OVC in 2007. This Plan of Action constitutes the national framework to guide all interventions in support of OVC. A comprehensive Minimum Package of Services for OVC has been developed (See MIGEPROF's  National Guide on a Minimum Package of Services for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC)).

These services are already implemented by most of the stakeholders working with OVC.  One of these services, psychosocial support for the most vulnerable children using a communitybased  approach, is an important strategy to address the needs of children living without the supervision of an adult, and to help themcope with their early responsibilities as heads of households.

One of the practices in this field has been the Nkundabana (literally, “I love children”) model. Initiated by Food for the Hungry International (FHI) in early 2000, this model was further developed by CARE International in the former Gitarama province and now expanded to the Northern province.This model has been identified by the Rwandan Government as a best practice, and has been integrated as one of the priority activities of the National Strategic Plan of Action for OVC, under the strategic objective of “Strengthening of the capacity of OVC, families and communities to provide psychosocial care and support for OVC, including preventative and curative measures to increase well-being, resilience and self-esteem of OVC.”

Integrating Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention

Landers_FinalReport.pdf

This mapping of networks, campaigns, movements and initiatives aims to promote synergy across the Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention fields by integrating frameworks, programmes and policies.

Namibia National Agenda for Children 2012-2016

Namibia's National Agenda for Children 2012-2016

The Namibia National Agenda for Children 2012-2016 is a call to action to put the constitutional mandate on the rights of children into implementable strategies. The Agenda is anchored on five pillars: health and nourishment; early childhood development and schooling; HIV prevention, treatment, care and support; adequate standard of living and legal identity; and protection against neglect and abuse.

The importance of Namibia developing its first-ever National Agenda for Children was highlighted through the publication of Children and Adolescents in Namibia 2010: A Situation Analysis, and through a review of the National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2006-2010). Two critical issues were identified through these processes: that Namibia needed to adopt a multi-sectoral approach to planning and implementation towards child-centred development, and that we needed to look more broadly at the concepts of vulnerability and inequity through the lens of a child’s life cycle.

Through a broad-based consultative process which involved government, NGOs, civil society organisations, children and development partners, the national commitments for children were identified, discussed and prioritised. While these five-year commitments have been integrated into current sector policies and plans to a large extent, the National Agenda for Children brings them together concisely, which will enable all stakeholders to plan, implement and monitor their actions for children in a coordinated manner. The Agenda also serves as a major contribution to overall national development planning processes.

While the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare has been assigned the task of facilitating the development of the national agenda for children, the primary responsibility for ensuring that is is implemented lies with the line ministries and their partners.

Integrating Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention

Landers_FinalReport.pdf

This mapping of networks, campaigns, movements and initiatives aims to promote synergy across the Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention fields by integrating frameworks, programmes and policies.

Mapping and assessing child protection systems in west and central Africa: A five-country analysis paper

Mapping and assessing child protection systems in west and central Africa: A five-country analysis paper

This paper was developed on behalf of the Regional OVC Reference Group for west and central Africa, which includes Plan International, Save the Children International, and UNICEF. The paper presents the findings and insights generated through the mapping and assessment of national child protection systems in five West African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The goal of the country research was to provide national actors with a profile of their existing system and an initial assessment of its contextual appropriateness and relevance to the populations being served.

Child protection systems: Mapping and assessing child protection systems in eastern and southern Africa

Child protection systems: Mapping and assessing child protection systems in eastern and southern Africa.PDF 

This assessment, commissioned by UNICEF East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), examines the situational context with respect to child protection systems in the east and southern Africa Region, highlighting existing programming and lessons learned. It proposes the way forward for both national as well as global stakeholders.