STRENGTHENING the CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM to END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN in EASTERN and SOUTHERN AFRICA Credit for Cover Photo: © UNICEF/UNI361764/Sobecki
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STRENGTHENING THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA Credit for cover photo: © UNICEF/UNI361764/Sobecki Acknowledgements The UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) commissioned Child Frontiers to develop a compendium of promising practices on ending harmful practices and violence against children across the region. This documentation was written by Emily Delap of Child Frontiers with significant contributions from UNICEF Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia country office staff. Thanks also go to the ESARO child protection team for their inputs under the leadership of Jean Francois Basse and Mona Aika. The publication was designed by hopeworks. May 2021 Summary What is a child protection system? COMPONENTS GOALS • Legal and regulatory framework End all forms of violence against Effective governance structures, x • children including coordination mechanisms • Prevention and response services • Physical violence and injury • Minimum standards and oversight • Mental / emotional violence • Human, financial and infrastructure • Sexual violence resources • Abuse • Mechanisms for child participation and Neglect community engagement • Exploitation • Data collection and monitoring • x Ensure that children grow-up in caring and nurturing families Why take a system strengthening approach to child protection? • To be able to respond to all the forms of violence that children experience. • To ensure the engagement and coordination of a range of different actors / across sectors. • To avoid a fragmented approach with potential for duplication and gaps. System strengthening is endorsed by global policies and guidance on violence against children. © UNICEF/UNI297235/Schermbrucker Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 3 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa How to take a system strengthening approach Applying a system strengthening approach to end violence against children requires adopting a series of interrelated strategies that together operationalize the core elements of the system. The relationship between these strategies is outlined in the diagram below and described in greater detail beginning on page 10. The different components or steps are not presented in strict chronological order or in order of importance, as these may vary from country to country depending on the existing status of the system. All apply during both normal periods and in humanitarian crises. Strong systems developed at normal times will be better able to respond in conflict, disasters and global pandemics. C esearc Dev ver-arc strateg C actors • overnment ith ey responsiility TAKE ACTION • Ss agencies donors private sector Dev efor • hildren families and communities F em orkfor C Pro ev Eag and enable effective child I participation sect Monitor and reflect Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 4 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Introduction Rather than working only with particular groups of abused or exploited children, child protection system strengthening involves making improvements to the entire system of support for all children across all settings.1 This means, for example, developing evidence-based policies and services supported by a strong workforce, adequate resources, and supportive social norms. UNICEF and other child protection agencies have been promoting this approach for over two decades.2 Child protection system strengthening is endorsed by UNICEF's latest strategic plan3 and global strategies to address violence against children, and much work has been done to implement this approach.4 Despite widespread acceptance of the value of system strengthening, a recent evaluation shows that more needs to be done before responses to violence against children are fully systematic.5 There is still a tendency to work on single child protection issues without considering the impact on the broader system.6 Coordination between actors and work across sectors also remains problematic.7 There can be particular challenges with system strengthening during emergencies, especially in relation to creating links to existing community structures and government services.8 Efforts to encourage system strengthening are hindered by a lack of understanding among some stakeholders of what child protection system strengthening is and why it is important.9 This paper aims to promote child protection system strengthening to reduce violence against children in Eastern and Southern Africa. It explores the concept of child protection system strengthening and provides concrete examples from the region of system strengthening in practice. It is aimed at UNICEF country office staff, government and others working in the region. © UNICEF/UNI327045/Ayene © UNICEF/UNI326703/Tesfay Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 5 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa © UNICEF/UN0356677/Kanobana What is child protection, and is it the same as ending violence against children? Child protection is commonly defined as preventing and responding to the violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children.10 It refers to strategies and policies to enforce the protective rights covered by the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child.11 Violence against children can be defined as: "… all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse."12 This term covers aspects of harm included in definitions of child protection and provides further detail of the forms of violence that children may suffer. Notably, violence against children relates not just to the physical injury most commonly associated with violence, but also to psychological damage, neglect and exploitation. According to UNICEF's theory of change on violence against children, ending violence involves prevention and protecting and restoring children's physical, mental and social wellbeing when violence occurs.13 This standpoint aligns with the goal of child protection. However, child protection rights extend beyond ending violence; they also encompass areas such as the prevention of family separation and the provision of appropriate alternative care, birth registration, and access to justice. Ending violence and protecting children is essential. Ensuring children grow up in nurturing family environments free from violence is widely acknowledged to be essential to enabling their healthy development and wellbeing. Children need to be properly protected to reach their full potential. All have the right to grow up free from violence, and particular efforts may need to be made to ensure the rights of those groups who are excluded and discriminated against, such as girls, children with disabilities and those from minority populations.14 Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 6 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa What is child protection system strengthening? A child protection system is defined as: "formal and informal structures, functions and capacities that have been assembled to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children."15 Child protection systems operate during both normal and emergency periods, and are comprised of the following components:16 • A robust legal and regulatory framework, as well as specific policies related to child protection. • Effective governance structures, including coordination across government departments, between levels of decentralization and between formal and informal actors. • A continuum of services (spanning prevention and response). • Minimum standards and oversight (information, monitoring and accountability mechanisms). • Human, financial and infrastructure resources. • Mechanisms for child participation and community engagement. • Robust data collection and monitoring systems. Child protection systems involve a range of actors. Governments have primary responsibility for ensuring the protection of children. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), UN agencies, donors, and the private sector all provide services and resources to the system.17 Social workers are its backbone, without which the system would fail. Children, parents, wider families and communities are both beneficiaries of the system and contributors to it through child participation and community engagement. In many cases, the limited reach of government and CSOs means that communities play a substantial role in violence prevention and response.18 Part of system strengthening involves ensuring that states can meet their responsibilities to protect children and can link effectively with community members and structures that support the system. A child protection system also includes inputs from allied sectors, such as health, education, justice and social protection.19 Often there is considerable overlap between systems which address violence against children and those that address violence against women. System strengthening requires coordinating interventions 20 across sectors. © UNICEF/UN0356676/Kanobana Useful Resources x ACPF et al. (2013) Strengthening Child Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Call to Action. Joint inter- agency statement. x UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision (2013) A Better Way to Protect ALL Children: The Theory and Practice of Child Protection Systems,