community-led child protection
‘There is nothing for us without us’: Evaluation of a Multi-District Pilot Scale Up of Community-Led Child Protection in Sierra Leone
Published: 2024
Author: Drs. Kathleen Kostenly and Mike Wessells
A case study of how community-led child protection approach was scaled up in Sierra Leone.
Horizontal spread of community-owned protection: A case study from Marafa, Kenya
Published: 2023
Author: Kathleen Kostelny, Ken Ondoro, and Michael Wessells
“In an era of localization of aid and calls to share more power with communities, a valuable questions to be asked include ‘How could local people scale up a child protection intervention?’ and ‘What would a scale up effort driven by local communities look like, and could it achieve positive outcomes for children?’ “
The Development of a Community-Led Child Protection Approach in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Published: 2025
Author: Rinske Ellermeijer et al.
This paper describes the iterative process of the development of a community-led child protection approach, including (1) a systematic review of the literature, (2) formative work in Uganda and Lebanon, (3) a field test in Sri Lanka and (4) a feasibility study in Colombia, with a review by technical experts. This process resulted in the identification of a six-phase community-led approach aiming to (i) enhance the protection of children and (ii) increase children’s sense of protection.
Protection of Children from the Ground Up: Enhancing Localised Approaches in Conflict and Crises – Background Paper
Published: 2025
Author: The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
This paper begins with briefly introducing the focus of this year’s theme, providing key definitions and concepts being used in the paper, and defining three focus areas within the broad spectrum of approaches that facilitate localised, ground-up child protection. These are: 1. Strengthening context-relevant and community-owned child protection 2. Strengthening local systems and actors, including leadership 3. Child and community engagement in project cycles to facilitate accountability.
Protocol for a mixed-methods effectiveness evaluation of the community-led child protection approach (Seeds) in La Guajira, Colombia
Published: 2025
Author: Rinske E.C. Ellermeijer et al.
The aim of this mixed-methods study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-led child protection approach (Seeds) in La Guajira, Colombia.
A systematic review of the literature on community-level child protection in low- and middle-income countries
Published: 2023
Author: R.E.C. Ellermeijer, M.A. Robinson, A.F. Guevara, G. O’Hare, C.I.S. Veldhuizen, M. Wessells, R. Reis & M.J.D. Jordans
“This systematic review synthesises the current state of literature on community-level child protection in LMICs. The aim of the review is to present available evidence and effective strategies that implementing agencies can use to support community-level structures, practices, resources and processes.”
A Participatory Approach to Child Protection in Implementing Mission Vatsalya
Published: 2024
Author: Inter-Agency Initiative to Enable Community Participation in Child Protection
Fostering Community Collaboration with Panchayat: Participatory Assessment of Needs and Appetite for Change to Enable Action (PANACEA) 2023-2024. “The introduction of Mission Vatsalya 2021, the erstwhile ICPS Scheme, mandates one of the panchayats’ standing committees to act as the Child Welfare and Protection Committee, emphasizing embedding child protection within local communities. The scheme directs Panchayats to integrate children’s issues into their Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) and allocates 5% of untied funds for child welfare and protection. These provisions establish vital foundations for promoting child protection at the grassroots level, enabling communities to engage in interventions concerning child welfare and protection, optimize resource allocation, and integrate cultural diversity into child-centric strategies.”
The New Ecology of Early Childhood: Revisiting Bronfenbrenner’s theory in the context of contemporary challenges and opportunities
Published: February 2025
Author: Philip A. Fisher, PhD & Joan Lombardi, PhD
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach to human development—and early childhood in particular—remains highly influential in scholarly work, policy, and practice, but much has changed since its formulation. This paper proposes an updated version which incorporates more recent learning around neuroscience and the evolving challenges and contexts in contemporary America. The socio-ecological approach is an important framework for community-led child protection.
Localizing Child Protection at Community Level – How to Shift Power and Increase Community Ownership
Published: October 2025
Author: Mike Wessells
A Practice Brief – The era of localization presents both key challenges and opportunities in community-level child protection. This brief highlights how shifting power to communities and generating high levels of community ownership is fundamental for localizing child protection effectively and sustainably. It explores how child protection practitioners are key players in supporting a localized, evidence-based, community-led child protection approach.
Localizing Child Protection – Why Community Ownership Matters. Briefing Paper
Published: October 2025
Author: Mike Wessells
A Call to Action for Donors. This briefing paper outlines challenges to localizing child protection at community level in development and humanitarian work. It presents a Call to Action that emphasizes shifting more power to communities and supporting stronger community ownership through the use of community-led and -owned child protection approaches.
Executive Summary: Shifting Power, Localizing, and Strengthening Ownership: Three Country Learnings and Challenges in Community-Led Child Protection
Published: May 2025
Author: Wessells, M., & Kostelny, K. (2025)
Summary version of a synthesis report of research from three countries around community-led child protection with actionable learning around shifting power to communities from child protection.
Shifting Power, Localizing, and Strengthening Ownership: Three Country Learnings and Challenges in Community-Led Child Protection
Published: May 2025
Author: Wessells, M., & Kostelny, K. (2025)
A synthesis report of research from three countries around community-led child protection with actionable learning around shifting power to communities from child protection.
What I’ve Learned with Juan José Castellanos Piedrahita
Published:
Author:
Juan José tells us about a War Child Holland programme which has been working with a displaced rural indigenous community now living in the town of Quibdó in Chocó.
Through a community reflection on the risks to their children in this non-traditional, peri-urban environment, community members mobilised a traditional structure to help keep their children safe.
Episode recorded 03 April 2023
Juan José Castellanos Piedrahita
War Child Holland programme manager, Colombia
RESOURCES
Ficha de situación – Chocó: Quibdó
Resguardos de Paz – módulos del proyecto. Guardia Indígena
LINKS
https://www.warchild.net/country-colombia/
https://www.warchildholland.org/intervention-seeds/
https://daily.jstor.org/paulo-freires-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-at-fifty/
https://www.participatorymethods.org/resource/participatory-research-orlando-fals-borda
Disclaimer: What I’ve Learned is produced as an audio resource. Where possible, please listen to the audio as opposed to reading the transcript. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. The official record for What I’ve Learned podcasts is the audio. The opinions expressed in What I’ve Learned podcasts are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Community Child Protection Exchange nor any of the groups or organisations which have collaborated with these podcasts.
If you have any questions regarding the podcasts please contact [email protected]
What I’ve Learned with Professor Mike Wessells
Published:
Author:
In this episode, I speak to Professor Mike Wessells, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, and a long-time champion of community- and people-led approaches for child protection and MHPSS. Mike and I discuss an example of deeply participatory work undertaken with war-affected young mothers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and northern Uganda.
By talking us through the mind set and approach used to work with these young mothers, Mike shows us how giving space to the mothers to decide for themselves what outcome was best for them, enabled what they and the community considered to be a successful reintegration process.
Additionally, through this example, Mike also highlights how peacebuilding and social cohesion are inextricable elements of community- or people-led actions for the wellbeing of children and communities.
Episode recorded 23 March 2023
Professor Mike Wessells
Professor Emeritus of Clinical, Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
Researcher and practitioner, MHPSS and Child Protection
Resources
Integrating MHPSS and peacebuilding: A mapping and recommendations for practitioners
How process matters in strengthening MHPSS: A Reflection
Endline report – Community Action to Address Child Marriage and School Dropout:
Findings from Action Research on Community-Led Child Protection in Jharkhand, India
Supporting community-led child protection – an online guide and toolkit
Disclaimer: What I’ve Learned is produced as an audio resource. Where possible, please listen to the audio as opposed to reading the transcript. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. The official record for What I’ve Learned podcasts is the audio. The opinions expressed in What I’ve Learned podcasts are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Community Child Protection Exchange nor any of the groups or organisations which have collaborated with these podcasts.
If you have any questions regarding the podcasts please contact [email protected]
What I’ve Learned with Dr Glynis Clacherty
Published:
Author:
Dr Glynis Clacherty talks us through an example of an intergenerational child-led programme in rural Nshamba, Tanzania.
Over 20 years ago children affected by HIV worked together to help each other deal with the psychological and practical hardships they were experiencing.
Now, young adults who were once part of the programme support other children to run their own income producing activities and negotiate life together.
Episode recorded 23 March 2023
Dr. Glynis Clacherty
Researcher, South Africa/Zimbabwe
Resources
Mobilising Children & Youth into their Own Child- & Youth-led Organisations
A journey into children’s participation
Links
Disclaimer: What I’ve Learned is produced as an audio resource. Where possible, please listen to the audio as opposed to reading the transcript. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. The official record for What I’ve Learned podcasts is the audio. The opinions expressed in What I’ve Learned podcasts are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Community Child Protection Exchange nor any of the groups or organisations which have collaborated with these podcasts.
If you have any questions regarding the podcasts please contact [email protected]
Tatu Tano – a portrait
Published: 2015
Author: Kurt Madoerin/Kwa Wazee
An outline of the Tatu Tano programme and learning from 2015.
Community action to reduce child marriage in Shinyanga, Tanzania. Summary report
Published: 2021
Author: Firelight Foundation
This report summarises achievements and learnings from an independent evaluation conducted by the AfriChild Centre of Excellence for the Study of the African Child, CBO grantee-partners’ reports, reports from community dialogues conducted by grantee-partners with their communities, consultant reports, and observations and reflections by Firelight staff.
Building meaningful participation in reintegration among war-affected young mothers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and northern Uganda
Published: 2011
Author: Susan McKay, Angela Veale, Miranda Worthen & Michael Wessells
In this paper, the authors describe an innovative ¢eld practice ^ community-based, participatory action research (PAR) that meaningfully involved formerly associated young mothers, and other vulnerable young mothers, in their communities.
Endline Report: Community Action to Address Child Marriage and School Dropout: Findings from Action Research on Community-Led Child Protection in Jharkhand, India
Published: 2021
Author: The Inter-Agency Core Group (CINI, Chetna Vikas, Child Resilience Alliance, PLAN India, & Praxis)
Endline report of action research undertaken in Jharkhand state, India of community-led action to address child marriage and school dropout.
Tatu Tano – a portrait
Published: 2015
Author: Kurt Madoerin. Kwa Wazee
A background document on the Tatu Tano programme in Nshamba, Tanzania, Developed and implemented by Kwa Wazee.
What I’ve Learned with Ken Ondoro & Juan José Castellanos Piedrahita
Published:
Author:
An episode from the What I’ve Learned podcast series.
Hosted by War Child Holland and the Exchange, this episode features Ken Ondoro and Juan José Castellanos Piedrahita discussing what community-led child protection can look like and how they have approached it.
LINKS & RESOURCES
https://www.warchildholland.org/country-colombia/
https://www.warchildholland.org/intervention-seeds/
Disclaimer: What I’ve Learned is produced as an audio resource. Where possible, please listen to the audio as opposed to reading the transcript. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. The official record for What I’ve Learned podcasts is the audio. The opinions expressed in What I’ve Learned podcasts are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Community Child Protection Exchange nor any of the groups or organisations which have collaborated with these podcasts.
If you have any questions regarding the podcasts please contact [email protected]
A journey in children’s participation
Published: 2002
Author: The Concerned for Working Children - Compiled and Edited by Nandana Reddy and Kavita Ratna
A document which shares the body of knowledge acquired by the Concerned Working for Children, India, and questons which still need answering.
Mobilising Children & Youth into their Own Child- & Youth-led Organisations
Published: 2008
Author: Kurt Madoerin. Published by REPSSI
Several decades of experience in working with vulnerable children across the planet had resulted in Kurt coming to believe that in the face of family, community and societal disintegration, the single most important supportive “intervention” that could be offered “to”, and more importantly “with” children and youth, might be the mobilisation of children and youth into their own child-led and youth-led organisations.
Reconsidering child protection systems: Critical reflections
Published: No date
Author: Bill Forbes, Alexander Krueger, Nicole Behnam, Philip Cook, Mike Wessells and John Williamson
This paper examines the most recent large-scale development in child protection work—the shift from individual child protection projects towards strengthening national child protection systems.
Child Friendly Spaces: Toward a Grounded, Community-Based Approach for Strengthening Child Protection Practice in Humanitarian Crises
Published: 2013
Author: Michael Wessells and Kathleen Kostelny
Natural helpers play a critical role in ensuring children’s safety during and in the aftermath of crises.
What are the most effective early response strategies and interventions to assess and address the immediate needs of children outside of family care?
Published: 2012
Author: Neil Boothby, Mike Wessells, John Williamson, Gillian Huebner, Kelly Canter, Eduardo Garcia Rolland , Vesna Kutlesic, Farah Bader, Lena Diaw, Maya Levine , Anita Malley, Kathleen Michels, Sonali Patel, Tanya Rasaj, Fred a Ssewamala , Vicki Walkerk
Children and Armed Conflict: Interventions for Supporting War-Affected Children
Published: 2017
Author: Michael G. Wessells
This article, which introduces the 2nd Special Issue on Children and Armed Conflict, outlines 3 pillars of systemic supports for war-affected children: comprehensiveness, sustainability, and Do No Harm. It shows how supports should be multileveled, resilience-oriented, multidisciplinary, tailored to fit different subgroups, and attentive to issues of policy and funding.
Children and Armed Conflict: Introduction and Overview
Published: 2016
Author: Michael G. Wessells
An article featuring the rise of systems thinking evident in ecological frameworks and child protection systems, it emphasises resilience approaches and the movement away from deficits frameworks that underscore disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It also identifies numerous obstacles to achieving a comprehensive understanding of war-affected children. Primary among these are a weak evidence base, insufficient attention to contextual diversity, use of non-holistic approaches, and the marginalisation of children’s agency.
Children and Peace – From Research to Action
Published: 2020
Author: Nikola Balvin & Daniel J. Christie, Editors
Full publication from the Peace Psychology Book Series
Enabling Full Participation: A Community-Led Approach to Child Protection
Published: 2020
Author: Kathleen Kostelny, Michael Wessells, and Ken Ondoro
Chapter 18 from N. Balvin, D. J. Christie (eds.), Children and Peace, Peace Psychology Book. Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22176-8_18
Child friendly spaces impact across five humanitarian settings: a meta-analysis
Published: 2019
Author: Sabrina Hermosilla, Janna Metzler, Kevin Savage, Miriam Musa and Alastair Ager
Humanitarian crises present major threats to the wellbeing of children. These threats include risks of violence, abduction and abuse, emotional distress and the disruption of development. Humanitarian response efforts frequently address these threats through psychosocial programming. Systematic reviews have demonstrated the weak evidence-base regarding the impact of such interventions. This analysis assesses the impact of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), one such commonly implemented intervention after humanitarian emergencies.
Community-driven systems change
Published: 2021
Author: Firelight Foundation
The power of grassroots-led change for long-term impact, and how funders can nurture it.
A SCHOOL FOR EVERY CHILD! Story of a community-led Initiative against school absenteeism in Jharkhand
Published: 2021
Author: The Inter-Agency Core Group CINI, Chetna Vikas, Child Resilience Alliance, Plan India, & Praxis
A short, illustrated story of a community-led initiative against school absenteeism in Khunti, Jharkhand, India.
CHILD BRIDES NO MORE! Story of a community-led Initiative against child marriages in Dhanbad, Jharkhand
Published: 2021
Author: The Inter-Agency Core Group CINI, Chetna Vikas, Child Resilience Alliance, Plan India, & Praxis
A short, illustrated story of a community-led initiative to end child marriages in Dhanbad, Jhakahand, India.
Endline report: Community Action to Address Child Marriage and School Dropout: Findings from Action Research on Community-Led Child Protection in Jharkhand, India
Published: 2021
Author: The Inter-Agency Core Group CINI, Chetna Vikas, Child Resilience Alliance, Plan India, & Praxis
Action research for community-led child protection in Jharkhand State, India.
Video Worksheet 7: Building community consensus
Published: May 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The seventh and final video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video Worksheet 6: Managing non-violent conflict
Published: May 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The sixth video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video Worksheet 5: Deep Listening
Published: April 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The fifth video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video Worksheet 4: Enabling inclusive dialogue
Published: April 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The fourth video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video Worksheet 3: Being Humble and Respectful
Published: April 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The third video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video Worksheet 2: Being a Facilitator
Published: April 2020
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The second video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Video worksheet 1: Introduction to community-led child protection approaches
Published: March 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
The first video worksheet in the Exchange’s 2022 video series and WhatsApp learning group.
Summary of action research in Kenya to test community-led models of child protection
Published: March 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
This summary was developed as a background resource for the Exchange’s WhatsApp 2022 learning group. To read more about this group link here.
WhatsApp Learning Group 2022 – Lessons from Marafa, Kenya
Published: March 2022
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange
This video series offers an introduction to community-led child protection approaches and shares lessons from Ken and Joathem, two experienced facilitators who work in Marafa, Kenya. Follow along with the weekly video series to learn about key principles and skills for community-led child protection approaches, and use the weekly worksheets to reflect on how you could use these approaches in your own child protection work.
Join the WhatsApp learning group and receive the content straight to your phone. Just send a message to +27 787 458 832
Watch Viva Marafa! for a snapshot of a community protecting its children.
Read the background and introduction to the action research in Marafa, Kenya.
What to expect
Every week you will receive a short video and worksheet on your phone.
Each week focuses on a key consideration or skill required for a community-led child protection approach.
Each video comes with a worksheet that you can use for self-reflection or you might decide to form your own reflection group in your office, or your own WhatsApp group. You can invite colleagues to join this group even after the start date.
If you have questions, comments or other things you’d like to share, you are welcome to send them to Lucy. She will answer as many questions as possible and share her answers, your comments and other resources with the group (anonymously). This will include inviting you all to provide input on other participants questions from time to time to learn from diverse perspectives.
Rules of engagement
This group is a broadcast list so you will not see other people’s contact details or who is on the group. You can message Lucy directly of you’d like to share something with the whole group.
You can share any of the content you receive (videos, worksheets and stories) with your colleagues or other people who may be interested.
This group is a safe space. We are all here to learn so feel free to share opinions and ask questions. All questions are good questions!
This learning group is time-bound and will finish the week of 22 May 2022.
You can leave the group at any time for any reason simply by clicking on the Exchange WhatsApp profile then ‘edit’ then ‘delete contact’. Alternatively, ask Lucy to remove you.
We will never share your contact details with anyone for any purpose. We will keep your contact details for future announcements after this group has finished. If you’d like us to delete your details please let Lucy know.
Videos
1. Introduction to community-led child protection approaches (release date: 28 March 2022)
2. Being a facilitator (release date: 4 April 2022)
3. Being humble and respectful (release date: 11 April 2022)
4. Enabling inclusive dialogue (release date: 18 April 2022)
5. Deep listening (release date: 25 April 2022)
6. Managing non-violent conflict (release date: 2 May 2022)
7. Building community consensus (release date: 9 May 2022)
Worksheets
1. Video Worksheet: Introduction to community-led child protection approaches (release date: 28 March 2022)
2. Video Worksheet: Being a facilitator (release date: 4 April 2022)
3. Video Worksheet: Being humble and respectful (release date: 11 April 2022)
4. Video Worksheet: Enabling inclusive dialogue (release date: 18 April 2022)
5. Video Worksheet: Deep listening (release date: 25 April 2022)
6. Video Worksheet: Managing non-violent conflict (release date: 2 May 2022)
7. Video Worksheet: Building community consensus (release date: 9 May 2022)
Community action to end ‘early sex’ in Kenya: Endline report
Published: 2020
Author: Kathleen Kostelny, Ken Ondoro, & Mike Wessells
An endline study (Oct-Nov 2019) of action research undertaken in Marafa and Bamba, Kenya. The research aimed to develop and test systematically the effectiveness of more community owned processes of child protection that link with formal, government aspects of child protection, and to use the learning from the research to strengthen practice.
Protecting Children in Humanitarian Settings Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
Published: 2019
Author: Columbia University
This online course examines how children’s social environments at different levels, such as the family, community and societal levels, influence children’s adversity, development and resilience. Course participants will engage in critical thought about current international child protection practice and how to strengthen it. The course will invite participants to identify opportunities for using the learning from science and practice, to enrich current child protection approaches in humanitarian settings. Learn more and enroll here.
Supporting community-led child protection – an online guide and toolkit
Published: 2018
Author: Michael G. Wessells for the Child Resilience Alliance
The terms “community-based” and “community-led” are often used interchangeably, but there is in fact a world of difference between these two approaches. A community-led approach to child protection is driven by the community themselves. Here, it is the community who holds the power and owns the process, not NGOs or outside experts. It is also the community who makes the decisions about which harms to children to address and how to address them...Link to the online guide here.
Community Management of Child Friendly Spaces Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Uganda. A case study.
Published: 2018
Author: Clacherty, G. published by the Interagency Learning Intitative on Community Based Child Protection, the Community Child Protection Exchange and TPO Uganda
A case study collaboration between the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI) on community-based child protection mechanisms, the Community Child Protection Exchange, and TPO Uganda.
Tisser la Toile: documenter l’approche au développement communautaire et protection de l’enfance à Kolwezi, RDC
Published: 2018
Author: Mark Canavera et al. avec Good Shepherd International Foundation
Le but de ce document et le processus de recherche qui le sous-tend est d’articuler le modèle que les Soeurs du Bon Pasteur (GSS) ont mis en place à Kolwezi en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). En consultant des intervenants de multiples niveaux les Soeurs du Bon Pasteur et leur personnel, les participants de leurs programmes, les membres de la communauté qui ne participent pas au programme, les partenaires gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux et les représentants des sociétés minières, nous avons cherché à documenter ce que les Soeurs du Bon Pasteur ont réalisées à Kolwezi au cours des cinq dernières années dans le but de fournir des recommandations constructives sur l’avenir du programme, qui est actuellement en cours de révision pour une réplication possible dans les zones situées autour de Kolwezi.
Weaving the web: documenting community-based development and child protection in Kolwezi, DRC
Published: 2018
Author: Mark Canavera et al. with Good Shepherd International Foundation
The goal of this document – and the research process that underpins it – is to articulate the model that the Good Shepherd Sisters (GSS) have been implementing in Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). By consulting with stakeholders from multiple levels – the Good Shepherd Sisters and their staff, participants in their programmes, community members who are not involved in the programme, government and non-government partners, and mining company representatives – we aimed to document what the Good Shepherd Sisters have been doing in Kolwezi over the past five years with an eye to provide constructive recommendations about the future of the programme, which is currently under review for possible replication in areas around Kolwezi.
Brief: An integrated approach for a community-based child protection in artisanal mining communities in DRC
Published: 2018
Author: Bon Pasteur Kolwezi/GSIF
A short brief about research (2018) undertaken in Kolwezi in the DRC. Sustainable, low-carbon future seems unthinkable without batteries and cobalt. Yet the human and environmental costs of cobalt production are unsustainable for the communities living at the ‘upstream’ end of the supply chain. While the market price of cobalt tripled in the past 2 years, human rights conditions in the mining communities of Kolwezi (DRC), the global capital of cobalt, have not improved accordingly, and, for many, have declined.
Brief: Terre Des Hommes – working with community actors to protect children
Published: 2018
Author: Terre Des Hommes
A short brief on how TDH approaches working with communities and connecting formal and informal actors for child protection.
Communiqué from the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI) on Community-based Child Protection Mechanisms and Systems – Entebbe, Uganda, November 13-15, 2018
Published: 2018
Author: The Interagecy Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection and Systems Strenghtening
We came together as child protection actors from global, regional, national and local contexts to reflect on progress to date, and to identify next steps, in supporting stronger community-led or “bottom-up” approaches to strengthening child protection systems. We renewed our commitment to putting communities in the driving seat to protect their own children and we successfully agreed at the meeting how we would take action forward.
The story of the Vutamdogo Clubs, Mwanza, Tanzania. Youth clubs run livelihood projects and a literacy programme that provides protection for young children
Published: 2018
Author: Written by Glynis Clacherty, edited by Lucy Hillier, with contributions from Mike Wessells. Photographs by James Clacherty.
A case study collaboration between the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI) on community-based child protection mechanisms, the Community Child Protection Exchange, and Tanzanian Home Economics Association (TAHEA).
The Tatu Tano child-led organisation – Building child capacity and protective relationships through a child-led organisation, North-western Tanzania
Published: 2018
Author: Written by Glynis Clacherty, edited by Lucy Hillier, with contributions from Mike Wessells. Photographs by James Clacherty.
A case study collaboration between the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI) on community-based child protection mechanisms, the Community Child Protection Exchange, and Kwa Wazee, Tanzania.
Child Rights and Practitioner Wrongs: Lessons from Interagency Research in Sierra Leone and Kenya
Published: 2017
Author: Michael Wessells, Columbia University and Kathleen Kostelny, Columbia Group for Children in Adversity
Child rights are fundamental for ending violence and injustice against children and promoting children’s wellbeing. However, the top-down manner of introducing child rights is frequently problematic. Ethnographic research in Sierra Leone and Kenya indicates that top-down, impositional approaches to teaching child rights can lead local people to view child rights as a harm to children or to prefer traditional practices that can clash with human rights standards. To implement child rights, the use of a slow, respectful process of internally guided social change is recommended. To appear in M. Ruck, M. Peterson-Badali, and M. Freeman (Eds.) Handbook of Children’s Rights: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Taylor and Francis.
How collaboration, early engagement and collective ownership increase research impact: Strengthening community-based child protection mechanisms in Sierra Leone
Published: 2017
Author: Michael Wessells, David Lamin, Marie Manyeh, Dora King, Lindsay Stark, Sarah Lilley and Kathleen Kostelny
Chapter 5 of the publication “The Social Realities of Knowledge for Development: Sharing Lessons of Improving Development Processes with Evidence” published by the International Development Institute, 2017. Using Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI) action research in Sierra Leone, this chapter from a DfiD provides a case study on how a highly collaborative approach can enable child protection research to achieve a significant national impact. The chapter describes how the inter-agency research facilitated a community-driven approach to addressing teenage pregnancy.
Truck drivers stand for child protection – The story of the Regional Association of Truck Drivers Against Exploitation of Children, Uganda, Kampala/Mombasa trucking route: A Case Study
Published: 2018
Author: Written by Glynis Clacherty, edited by Lucy Hillier, with contributions from Mike Wessells for the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI)
This case study tells the story of a regional association set up by truckers to protect children, in particular to stop truck drivers from picking up girls under 18 in the towns along the Uganda section of the Kampala-Mombasa trucking route. It tells the story of some of the truckers who took a stand against sexual exploitation of under-age girls as individuals and how they approached the Uganda Reproductive Health Bureau (URHB) to help them with technical information.
Protecting children through village-based Family Support Groups in a post-conflict and refugee setting, Northern Uganda: A Case Study
Published: 2018
Author: Written by Glynis Clacherty, edited by Lucy Hillier, with contributions from Mike Wessells for the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI)
This case study tells the story of a child protection programme developed by a community-based organisation called Children of the World that works in villages in northern Uganda. The Children of the World programme was chosen for this set of case studies because of its focus on the importance of a personal psychological process for real sustainable child protection.
Enhancing community engagement in child protection Kampala and Arusha Workshops – Highlights from the workshops
Published: 2018
Author: Community Child Protection Exchange for the Interagency Learning Initiative (ILI)
A themes-focused report back of the workshops held in Kampala and Arusha 30 Jan-01 Feb and 06 Feb-08 Feb, 2018. These workshops were designed to create the time and space for practitioners in Uganda and Tanzania to reflect deeply on aspects of their own organisation’s community-based child protection work, learn about each others’ work and other evidence and learning, and to think about how they might employ some different approaches moving forward.
Creating Community Responsibility for Child Protection: Possibilities and Challenges
Published: 2009
Author: Deborah Daro and Kenneth A Dodge
A research article which looks at five different community child abuse prevention efforts (in the USA) which focus on enhancing community capacity, including formal and informal resources, and local cultural contexts.
Community Action and the Test of Time: Learning from Community Experiences and Perceptions
Published: 2006
Author: Jill Donahue and Louis Mwewa
Case studies of mobilisation and capacity building to benefit vulnerable children in Malawi and Zambia.
Community-based protection and mental health and psychosocial support
Published: 2017
Author: UNHCR
A report by UNHCR which seeks to help community-based protection actors and MHPSS practitioners understand the implications of their work for one another’s field of expertise including how they can collectively contribute to the wellbeing and protection of people affected by forced displacement.
Agencies, Communities and Children: a report of the Interagency Learning Initiative: Engaging Communities for Children’s WellBeing
Published: 2008
Author: Nicole Benham for the Interagency Learning Initiative
A report which aims to identify key issues, as a step toward the development of a broad consensus on good practice in engaging with communities to promote children’s safety and wellbeing.
In Pursuit of Safe Havens – a study of harms faced by children in Jharkhand state of India
Published: 2016
Author: Columbia Group for Children in Adversity Inc., CINI, Chetna Vikas, Plan India, Praxis – Institute for Participatory Practices.
Reflections from an inter-agency action research initiative aimed at learning from communities in Jharkhand state of India about harms faced by children and protections available to them.
Community engagement to strengthen social cohesion and child protection in Chad and Burundi – “Bottom Up” participatory monitoring, planning and action
Published: 2016
Author: International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), Dr. Philip Cook, Michele Cook, Natasha Blanchet Cohen, Armel Oguniyi & Jean Sewanou
A final report on action research which looked at how communities can help drive monitoring, planning and action around social cohesion strengthening and child protection in Chad and Burundi.
Worse than the war’: An ethnographic study of the impact of the Ebola crisis on life, sex, teenage pregnancy, and a community-driven Intervention in rural Sierra Leone
Published: 2016
Author: Kostelny, K., Lamin, D., Manyeh, M., Ondoro, K., Stark, L., Lilley, S., & Wessells, M.
The Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone disrupted the Interagency Learning Initiative’s action research on strengthening community-based child protection mechanisms. In response, ethnographic research was conducted to investigate the wider effects of the Ebola crisis as well as the specific effects on the community led intervention and problems related to teenage pregnancy.
Bottom-up approaches to strengthening child protection systems: Placing children, families, and communities at the center
Published: 2015
Author: Mike Wessells
This article examines an alternative approach of community-driven, bottom-up work that enables non formal–formal collaboration and alignment, greater use of formal services, internally driven social change, and high levels of community ownership. From the journal: Child Abuse & Neglect
Presentation by Mike Wessells – Kampala workshop, 17-18 August 2016
Published: 2016
Author: Mike Wessells
Mike Wessells’ presentation at the Kampala workshop 17-18 August 2016 where he discusses questions about community driven child protection which keep him awake at night.
Agencies, Communities, and Children
Published: 2008
Author: Nicole Benham
A Report of the Interagency Learning Initiative: Engaging Communities for Children’s Well-Being.
This 2008 report, commissioned by an inter-agency steering committee and produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund, drew largely upon interviews with practitioners to draw out factors that both enable and constrain good practice with regards to working with community-based child protection and welfare groups.
Sierra Leone: “Change That Counts”
Published: 2010
Author: Dr. Lindsay Stark
“Change That Counts” Results from the follow-up study of a community-led intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone
Access the recording of the webinar on the CPC Learning Network’s YouTube channel here.
Dr. Lindsay Stark, Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the CPC Learning Network and lead methodologist in developing this survey to measure children’s well-being, will present the process of designing the measurement tool as well what we are learning at the second data collection point, nearly a year after implementation began.
Sarah Lilley, deputy head of child protection at Save the Children UK and coordinator of the Interagency Learning Initiative on community-based child protection mechanisms and child protection systems, will serve as a respondent.
This webinar took place on 15th October at 09:00 New York, 14.00 UK, 15.00 Geneva, 15.00 Johannesburg, 16.00 Nairobi, 18.30 Colombo, 20.00 Bangkok, 21.00 Manila. The webinar lasts about 1hr 15 mins.
A short background article about the Sierra Leone studies and the full accompanying reports can be found here.
Sierra Leone: what we are learning about community based child protection mechanisms
Published: 2010
Author:
Between 2011 and 2014 the Interagency Learning Group on community-based child protection mechanisms and child protection systems released a series of reports which document the development, implementation and preliminary findings of an innovative community-based child protection action research programme in Sierra Leone.
This ground-breaking research was conceived in response to concerns around the effectiveness and sustainability of common models of community-based child protection such as child protection committees or child protection focal points. For many years numerous international agencies, donors and governments have been incorporating these models into child protection policy and programming even though there is very little evidence demonstrating if, how and why these types of community approaches are effective.
The research findings so far are encouraging. They indicate that by taking adequate time – in partnership with the local community – to get a clearer picture of how people perceive and address childhood, child protection and risks to children, truly community-owned interventions which build on existing local structures and groups can be facilitated. In this particular case the communities targeted the high incidence of teenage pregnancies. Early evaluations suggest that the intervention has helped reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in communities, that it has strengthened community links to government health services and that the intervention has the potential to continue in the long term without direct external leadership.
Download and read the four-page brief on the implications of this work for community-based child protection implementation. This will be available soon!
Phase One: An ethnographic study to help us understand how communities in Sierra Leone approach protecting children
In 2011 the ethnographic study set out to try and identify local people’s concepts of childhood and child protection, what they perceive to be risks for children and how communities commonly respond to child protection concerns. This included looking at how community responses are linked to any “formal” child protection systems, such as the police, health services or social welfare.
Download and read the ethnographic study brief here (7 pages)
Phase Two: Communities mobilise and participate in action research to reduce teenage pregnancy
The communities identified the problem of teenage pregnancy as a priority which they wanted to address in the next phase. Local people were frustrated because they had tried hard to reduce teenage pregnancy but had not succeeded. Looking for a more effective approach community people thought that engaging with government officials such as the staff at health posts could help communities reduce the problem. A collective “Task Force” was created by the communities which represented sub-groups – such as children, elders and women – and villages and which took responsibility for implementing the intervention with the support of locally-based facilitators and monitors.
Download and read an overview of the intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy here (14 pages)
Phase Three: Evaluations and community members report positive preliminary results
After a year of implementation preliminary findings were identified through a midline evaluation in 2014. Comparison villages were included in the baseline and midline evaluations to allow for comparison between teenagers taking part in the community-led intervention and teenagers with no intervention in their village. In addition, participatory workshops generated feedback and information.
Download and read the midline evaluation brief of the intervention here (18 pages)
Download and read the preliminary results of the participatory review workshops here (11 pages)
Download and read the baseline report here (60 pages)
Read about and watch the webinar with Lindsay Stark and Sarah Lilley recorded on 15th October 2014 here.
Next steps: 2014 and beyond
A plan is being implemented to progressively withdraw the external facilitators and monitors from the communities and to transfer these functions entirely to the communities.
The sustainability of the intervention over longer periods of time will also be tested including how the intervention can go to scale, by enabling similar intervention processes in the comparison chiefdoms and in other districts.