STRENGTHENING the CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM to END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN in EASTERN and SOUTHERN AFRICA Credit for Cover Photo: © UNICEF/UNI361764/Sobecki

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.

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 overnment ith ey responsiility TAKE ACTION Ss agencies donors private sector hildren families and communities F

E and enable eﬀective child I

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.

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, Conference Report

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 7 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Why is child protection system strengthening needed to end violence against children?

There are three main arguments for taking a system strengthening approach to end violence against children. First, children do not usually fit into neat categories according to the form of violence they have experienced. Most vulnerable children face multiple types of abuse, neglect or exploitation simultaneously or over the course of childhood.21 For example, violence in the home can force children onto the streets. Those living on the streets often face sexual abuse, exploitation, physical harm and the psychological damage of stigma and discrimination. They frequently come into contact with police and may be detained.22 Strategies that just focus on one part of children's experience are unlikely to meet all of their complex needs. Forms of vulnerability also change over time and flexible and responsive systems are needed to meet emerging needs. For example, advances in technology have exposed more children to online abuse.

Second, responses to violence require inputs from across a range of sectors.23 In the scenario described above, the child living on the streets may require assistance from health workers to deal with sexual health or early pregnancy; social workers to respond to the abuse and exploitation suffered and psychologists to support mental health. They may also need access to social protection and justice. This range of services is required for many other forms of violence, including online abuse and violence experienced during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.24 Only a coordinated system with effective case management led by an agency with responsibility for child welfare can ensure that vulnerable children get all of the help that they need. Systems should always aim to both prevent and respond to violence, with a particular emphasis on prevention.

Third, responses to child protection are often highly fragmented with huge potential for duplication and gaps.25 This problem can be especially pronounced during humanitarian crises.26 Child protection is often de-prioritised and underfunded, and commonly there is no single government agency with oversight of this area.27 As a result, provision comes from a plethora of government agencies, CSOs and community groups. A coordinated response has the potential to avoid overlaps in provision, increase efficiency and enhance coverage and effectiveness. Strong coordination between state and non-state actors is essential to this effort.

In recognition of the value of system strengthening, this approach is endorsed by key global initiatives and guidance on violence against children.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 8 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa These include: • The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children,28 which uses INSPIRE, a package of seven strategies to end violence against children;29 • UNICEF's Theory of Change on Violence Against Children, which outlines critical elements of strategies to end violence,30 and • Know Violence, an international learning initiative exploring the evidence on violence against children.31 All three of these initiatives have a focus on system strengthening. For example, UNICEF's theory of change shows how a strong system is needed to achieve the goal of ending all violence against children.32 Both INSPIRE and Know Violence highlight the importance of core aspects of system strengthening, such as coordinating work across sectors, and building the capacity of the workforce.33 The diagram below shows how the elements of a child protection system relate to the INSPIRE framework.

Elements of a child protection system Relevant element of INSPIRE

A robust legal and regulatory framework, as well Strategy 1: Implementation and enforcement of as specific policies related to child protection laws

Implementation consideration: Prepare national and local government plans of action

Effective governance structures, including Cross-cutting activity 1: Multi-sectoral cooperation coordination across government departments, between levels of decentralization and between formal and informal actors

A continuum of services (spanning prevention Strategy 2: Norms and values and response) Strategy 3: Safe environments Strategy 4: Parent and caregiver support Strategy 5: Income and economic strengthening Strategy 6: Response and support services Strategy 7: Education and life skills

Minimum standards and oversight (information, Cross-cutting activity 2: Monitoring and evaluation monitoring and accountability mechanisms)

Human, financial and infrastructure resources Implementation considerations: Estimate cost, identify sources of financial support and develop and manage human resources.

Mechanisms for child participation and Implementation consideration: Assess needs community engagement

Robust data collection and monitoring system Cross-cutting activity 2: Monitoring and evaluation

Useful Resources x UNICEF (2017) Preventing and responding to violence against children and adolescents. Theory of Change x World Health Organisation (2016) INSPIRE - seven strategies to end violence against children x Know violence in childhood (2017) Actions to end violence in childhood

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 9 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa How to use a system strengthening approach to end violence against children

Ten strategies to systematically end violence against children

Applying a system strengthening approach to end violence against children requires adopting ten interrelated strategies.34 These strategies operationalize the core elements of the system described above.

Carry out Develop an Establish Work across Develop/reform research over-arching or support sectors and implement and consider strategy coordination legislation and strategic entry bodies policies points

Build the Provide Engage with Finance the Establish social service prevention communities system accountability workforce and response and enable mechanisms, services effective child monitor the participation system, reflect and adjust

The relationship between these strategies is outlined in the diagram below. The first step is to carry out research and efforts to develop an over-arching strategy for strengthening the system. Steps 3 and 4 relate to the importance of coordination and cross-sectoral collaboration for the implementation of the strategy. Steps 5 to 8 suggest the key areas of reform needed for system strengthening, and step 9 refers to the mobilization of resources to ensure that these actions can be taken. Step 10 is about accountability and monitoring the system. These steps are not presented in strict chronological order or in order of importance, which may vary from country to country depending on the existing status of the system.

These strategies apply during both normal periods and in humanitarian crises, including during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Strong systems developed at normal times will be better able to respond in conflict, disasters and global pandemics. Too often during emergencies system strengthening is either neglected or parallel systems are established which ignore and fail to strengthen existing systems.35

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 10 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa C

C overnment ith ey responsiility TAKE ACTION Ss agencies donors private sector hildren families and communities F

E and enable eﬀective child I

Monitor and reﬂect

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 (2018) Strengthening child protection systems: Evaluation of UNICEF strategies and programme performance x Save the Children (2019) Strengthening child protection systems: Guidance for country offices x UNICEF and UNHCR (2018) Bridging the humanitarian divide for refugee children in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region x The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (2016) Adapting to learn, learning to adapt: Overview of and considerations for child protection system strengthening in emergencies

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 11 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Carry out research and consider strategic entry points

Child protection systems are complex, and it is not possible to enhance the entire system at once. Strategic entry points must be identified that will lead to maximum benefits for children and act as a catalyst for wider reform. Data are crucial here, using findings from prevalence surveys on violence against children, investigations of particular child protection violations, and the analysis of regular administrative data, including information collected through case management.36 Mapping of the child protection system is needed to reveal promising practices and gaps in regulations, workforce staffing and skills, service provision, and budget allocations.37 (Budget and expenditure analysis is discussed in more detail below). Mapping must include all aspects of the system; both the formal services offered by government and CSOs, and the roles played by children, families, communities, religious institutions and customary courts. Mapping should also explore the linkages between aspects of the system.38 In research and mapping, it is essential to consider child protection risk and response during both normal and emergency situations.39

Over the past decade, many countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region have carried out surveys on violence against children. The examples included in Box 1 below show how these data have led to a range of strategic entry points.

Box 1: The impact of violence against children surveys (VACS)40 • Tanzania’s VACS found that one in three girls and one in seven boys experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. This survey was a wake-up call for politicians. It started a process that led to costed National Plans of Action on violence against women and children for mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar (see Box 3).41 • In Kenya, VACS results were used to strengthen parenting training and sexual violence prevention in families, scale-up rape services and create a national sexual violence monitoring and evaluation framework. • Eswatini used VACS findings as an impetus for new legislation on intimate partner violence and sexual offences and established child-friendly courts. • In Malawi, VACS data spurred governments to increase investments in parenting programmes and life skills training and led to policies to address harmful gender norms. • Data from the Zimbabwe VACS informed guidance on the management of sexual abuse and violence, including medical, legal, and psycho-social service provision. VACS data also provided a starting point for an empowerment framework for girls.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 12 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Some countries in the region have chosen to focus on particular issues as a basis for system strengthening. This approach can enable effective engagement with stakeholders and garner political support and funding.42 It also acknowledges that not all children have the same priorities and allows the needs of especially vulnerable groups to be met.43 However, this approach has the potential to create competition between issues, and to result in the creation of sub-systems or a system which is specialized in just one area of child protection.44 To avoid these pitfalls, it is important to consider how work on single issues fits into the process for wider system change and use this work to instigate change for the benefit of all children. Box 2 provides an example from Rwanda, where care reform was used as an entry point to strengthen the child protection system.

Another dilemma in terms of strategic entry points is the degree to which system strengthening focuses on ‘upstream’ work with national governments or ‘downstream’ approaches with sub-national governments or community structures. UNICEF’s remit means that it works primarily with governments. Such engagement is at the core of system strengthening as governments hold ultimate responsibility for children’s rights. However, work with communities is also important, particularly whilst government ©UNICEF/UNI326161/Otien systems are being established.45

Box 2: Care as an entry point for system strengthening in Rwanda46

Strong government commitment to care reform in Rwanda has provided a crucial opportunity for reducing violence against children. This commitment came from a belief in the value of the family, a survey highlighting the large number of children in institutional care, and the piloting of the closure of one facility, which demonstrated that the reintegration of children was possible. Care reform has led to over 3000 children returning to their families and the establishment of foster care. Perhaps more importantly, it has also enhanced the entire child protection system.

As part of the care reform programme, professional social work was established in Rwanda for the first time. A cadre of around 30,000 community volunteers was also strengthened to assist children and families. Both professionals and volunteers now monitor and support vulnerable children in communities, regardless of whether they have been in institutional care. The care reform process was used to build the National Child Development Agency, again with wider ramifications for all children in Rwanda. Finally, former institutions have been transformed into centres for community outreach, providing early childhood development, counselling and income-generating support to vulnerable families. This new service provision protects a far broader group of boys and girls than those who lived in residential care.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 13 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Develop an overarching strategy

Having an effective and costed overarching government-led strategy on child protection/ending violence against children is highly beneficial for system strengthening. Such a strategy helps to ensure that all of the elements of the system are working together towards common goals.47 It minimizes the risk of duplication of efforts and creates a clear framework for measuring progress.48 An overarching strategy should be used to articulate the components, nature and purpose of the child protection system. This is important because government and others often struggle to envision a child protection system and may have different ideas about what constitutes its critical components.49 The strategy should seek to create a child protection system which can end violence against children in both normal times and during conflict, disasters and pandemics.

Experience suggests that whilst the strategy must be government-led and owned, other key stakeholders should be involved to ensure relevance and ownership.50 Having such a strategy in place helps UNICEF country offices, other UN agencies, and CSOs more clearly consider and align their contributions.

National action plans to end violence against children are a form of over-arching strategy. Other options include a broader child protection strategy, including child protection in a children’s act or integrating child protection into national development plans. National action plans on violence have been developed in several countries in the region, including Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya.51 Many of these countries have become so-called 'Pathfinder countries' as part of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and have received additional support in strategy development.52 Typically, national action plans include sections on the following. • An analysis of forms of violence against children and of progress and gaps in addressing this violence. • Principles and approaches. • Goals and outcomes. • A costed action plan. • Roles of stakeholders, including accountability to achieve goals. • Details of a coordination body to manage the implementation of the strategy. • Indicators of success and strategies for monitoring progress. Countries such as Tanzania have found it to be effective to merge national plans of action on violence against children with strategies to end violence against women, thus helping to avoid duplication of efforts.

Recent evaluations of UNICEF's global work on child protection system strengthening suggest that it is vital to recognise the investment and time needed for system change.53 This means that whilst national strategies must be ambitious and aim to end violence against children, UNICEF and others should be realistic in terms of what they can achieve in a given timeframe in low resource settings.

Box 3 provides the example of Tanzania's National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children.54

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 14 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 3: Tanzania's National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children.55

Tanzania was one of the first countries to conduct a national survey on violence against children in 2009, which was followed by studies on the social welfare workforce and institutional capacity related to child protection. To fully understand the child protection system, the system was also mapped at the local level across several districts. Evidence on the extent of violence in the country generated significant interest in strengthening the child protection system from the government. This eventually led to the development of eight strategies and coordination bodies that each responded to particular forms of violence against women and children, such as child marriage. However, analysis of these strategies found that they led to a fragmented response, often with a high level of duplication, because they operated independently of each other. Consequently, in 2016, the eight strategies were consolidated into one overarching framework – the National Plan of Action – with a goal of ensuring all women and children are free from all forms of violence.

The National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children was developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders who reflected on lessons learnt from global guidance and violence prevention and response programmes in Tanzania. This process led to the identification of 18 issues specific to the Tanzanian context, which were organised into eight thematic areas, aligned with the Inspire framework.56 Activities were then developed and costed against each thematic area, and indicators for measuring progress were produced. The National Plan of Action focuses on both women and children, which helped ensure broader buy-in and synergies in addressing these two overlapping issues.57

As outlined in the introduction to the National Plan of Action:

"For Tanzania, the [National Plan of Action] represents a strategic shift in thinking about how Tanzania will address the problem of violence against women and children. Instead of focusing on interventions that are issue-based, Tanzania will now focus on building systems that both prevent violence against women and children in all its forms and respond to the needs of victims/ survivors."58

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 15 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Establish or support coordination bodies

A strong child protection system requires effective coordination mechanisms.59 These should bring together those working to end violence against children across all sectors and at multiple levels, including children and communities.60 Coordination is important during emergencies when there is often a rapid roll-out of a complex array of services, with multiple new actors involved in service provision.61 Ideally, coordination strategies used during emergencies will make use of and strengthen existing organising bodies.62 Coordination relies on trust and cooperation and begins with consultations with key stakeholders to understand perspectives is beneficial.63

Coordination bodies should operate at the highest levels of government to ensure that the importance of child protection is acknowledged and that there is consistency of response across the country. These bodies should also support collaboration at other levels of government and include a range of actors such as CSOs and donors. Donors often play a crucial role in shaping child protection systems, especially in contexts where child protection is underfunded and reliant on external resources. Examples of the function and members of © UNICEF/UN0467998/Kabuye

coordination bodies operating at national, district and community levels are given in the table below. Box 4 provides an example of the coordination mechanisms used in Madagascar.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 16 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Level of the Example of functions of the Examples of members of the coordination coordination mechanism coordination mechanism mechanism

National • Establish a common vision for Policy makers working across a range of strengthening the child protection/ sectors, including: protection system and ending violence against children • Child protection/social welfare • Commission research • Social protection • Identify priorities • Justice (including the police) • Develop legislation, policies and • Health guidance • Education • Develop and finance over-arching • Finance strategies, such as national action • Planning plans, including M&E framework • CSO programme managers • Monitor progress and hold key • UN/ donors actors to account

District • Map service provision and ensure • District level officers working in sufficient data for localized planning relevant ministries • Develop referral pathways • District level CSO programme • Identify local priorities managers • Integrate child protection into • Judges district level planning • Pool and mobilize resources • Coordinate stakeholders and services • Monitor progress and hold key actors to account • Coordinate responses to cases of violence

Community • Coordinate responses to cases of • Social workers violence • Police officers • Monitor progress • Healthcare workers • Teachers • Community volunteers • Community and religious leaders

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 17 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 4: Coordinating actions to end violence against children in Madagascar64

UNICEF Madagascar has worked with the government to establish and strengthen the National Child Protection Committee. The committee aims to coordinate all activities related to child protection and sets the strategic direction of the response to violence against children. Representatives of all of the core ministries sit on the committee, alongside several CSOs. Informal sub-committees have also been formed on issues such as child marriage and online exploitation which report back to the central committee. So far, the committee and sub-committees have drafted policies, developed tools and helped to ensure that Madagascar adheres to global standards.

UNICEF has also supported 164 local Child Protection Networks (CPNs) across ten regions of the country. Forty-nine of these networks operate at the district level and the remainder at the municipal level. These groupings bring together staff from government ministries of population, justice, education, youth, and health, with the police, courts and CSOs to coordinate actions to prevent, report and respond to cases of violence, exploitation and child marriage. All members of the CPNs receive training on child rights and child protection. The networks prepare annual action plans, and UNICEF supports the implementation of some activities. The CPNs respond to individual reports of abuse or neglect and make referrals to legal services, health care or psychosocial support. CPNs publicise a local helpline to support children to protect themselves from violence.65 In some districts, child protection networks hold regular case management meetings to ensure follow up of reported cases.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 18 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Work across sectors

The causes and consequences of violence against children are complex. Its drivers include poverty and inequality, lack of access to education, social and gender norms, and conflict or other emergencies.66 Violence impacts on children's mental and physical health, education and earning potential.67 As a result, preventing and responding to it requires collaboration between a range of different sectors. It is most common for efforts to address violence to involve collaboration between social welfare, education, health, justice, law enforcement and social protection actors. For example, the education sector can play a strong role in violence reduction, both in terms of ending violence within schools and as an entry point for reducing violence in other areas of children’s lives.68 As shown in Box 5, other sectors not usually associated with child protection can also have a significant impact on reducing violence. Coordination between sectors can be challenging, especially as agencies that do not have a specific child protection remit often fail to recognise that they play a role in addressing violence.69 In some cases, a lack of child protection expertise can actually exacerbate the trauma that children experience. Raising awareness about the effects of violence on other aspects of child wellbeing and respectful and clear communication are important to enhance inter-sectoral cooperation (see Box 5 for example).

Box 5: A joint programme between child protection and water and sanitation in South Sudan70

Safety audits in South Sudan revealed that women and girls often experience violence whilst accessing water and sanitation facilities. Child protection and water and sanitation (WASH) experts joined forces to develop a programme that aimed to reduce violence and increase access to water and sanitation. The programme included consultations with women and girls to design facilities to make them safer, the careful monitoring of facilities, and the provision of group discussions and health and literacy classes in women and child-friendly spaces. Violence outcomes were also systematically monitored in WASH programming. A provisional evaluation of this programme found that it improved access to WASH facilities and reduced violence.

"Success factors related to this project were linked to the fact that GBV [Gender-Based Violence] staff recognized the good work of WASH and focused their support on very practical suggestions, keeping the responsibility for the programme within WASH (rather than shifting it to the GBV team). The GBV team also focused on the fact that WASH were making their own programming better, never using 'mainstreaming' language, but talking about enhancing dignity, privacy and safety of WASH projects, and using language which was familiar to WASH cluster colleagues."71

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 19 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Develop / reform and implement legislation and policies

Policies signal government vision and expectations whilst laws provide a regulatory framework which is legally binding. Laws and policies need to be accompanied by regulations, standards and guidance which support implementation.72 The overarching strategy described above is a policy which guides the response to violence against children. However, other policies, legislation and regulations are also needed.

Laws and policies should be culturally and contextually appropriate rather than imported from other countries without adaptation. 'Home-grown' approaches increase relevance and adherence.73 For laws and policies to be applied, sufficient budget must be allocated, and effective monitoring mechanisms put in place.74

Customary law needs to be considered alongside the laws created by governments. These non-statutory laws can be highly influential, particularly in relation to care and violence within the family.75 Customary laws which damage child rights must be challenged, and customary laws should not be used to govern criminal violations such as sexual violence.76 Changes to government and customary law often go hand in hand with norm change; norms can shape and be shaped by laws and policies.77 Evaluations suggest that whilst laws and policies are important for ensuring a consistent and government-owned approach, system strengthening strategies frequently place excessive focus on legislative change.78 Government agencies often lack the capacity to enforce laws or implement policies, and communities do not always support legislation, particularly when it impinges on family life, customary practices or religious values.79 This means that any action to change policies must be balanced by investments in other parts of the system, including workforce capacity building, social norm change and work with communities. The diagram below shows how effective laws and policies are impacted by other aspects of the child protection system.

Capacity of frontline workers Budget to implement and enforce Guidance and allocations action plans

Cultural and contextual Effective laws and policies Monitoring relevance

Alignment with Coordination social norms bodies

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 20 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Strengthen the social service workforce

The social service workforce can be defined as: "Paid and unpaid, governmental and non-government professionals and para-professionals, working to ensure the healthy development and wellbeing of children and families."80

This workforce forms the backbone of any child protection system. Social workers support families and children, create linkages between the state and communities, coordinate responses from different sectors, enforce laws, implement policies, and deliver services. They are mandated to make and support decisions about the best interests of children which can affect their wellbeing throughout their lives.81 Without this workforce, most aspects of the system would fail.82

"No system can function effectively without the individuals who make that system come to life."83

Social service workforce strengthening is an area where UNICEF has placed particular emphasis in Africa and globally.84 All UNICEF country offices working on child protection are encouraged to support workforce strengthening as it is such a crucial part of the system.85 This is an area where far more government investment and support is needed in Africa, where there are often extremely low numbers of social service workers who cannot reach even a fraction of the vulnerable children and families in need.86

Social workforce strengthening should include the following:87 • Advocating for greater recognition of social work as a professional practice and academic discipline dedicated to the protection and wellbeing of children and families. • Assessing the workforce. • Planning workforce strengthening and generating appropriate policies and legislation. • Identifying the categories, roles and numbers of social services workers, including revisions to job descriptions and clarity regarding appropriate caseloads. • Establishing a governing body and considering registration and licensing requirements. • Developing codes of ethics and standards of practice. • Budgeting for workforce strengthening. • The education and training of social workers, which should be competency-based, practical and culturally relevant. Training should also be aligned with national educational priorities. • Providing ongoing supports for recruitment and retention, including appropriate management and supervision.

Emergencies can bring in new funding to child protection, providing a good opportunity for workforce strengthening. When developing the workforce during crisis periods, it is vital to avoid creating a parallel workforce that will disappear once the emergency is over. Instead, efforts should be made to build permanent capacity within the country.88 Box 6 below offers an example of the importance of workforce strengthening for addressing violence against children in Uganda.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 21 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 6: The role of the national government social welfare workforce in supporting victims of violence in Uganda89

In Uganda, the Government’s social welfare workforce is under-resourced with insufficient numbers of qualified social workers from district to community level. While there are full time Probation and Social Welfare Officers placed at district level, there are no fully dedicated social workers at lower levels who focus on prevention and response services.90 To address this gap, in collaboration with UNICEF, government have placed 67 Social Welfare Officers at the sub-county level in nine districts. This effort has been made to demonstrate the positive impact of social workers on violence prevention and response. Social workers take part in child protection coordination committees and refer cases identified at the community level through para-social workers to the district level or to other justice, health and education service providers. They also provide psycho-social support to victims and ensure cases are managed in line with national standards. They carry out some case management in complex cases, including when children have been subjected to sexual violence, are in conflict with the law or in need of care. Probation and Social Welfare Officers also participate in Best Interest Determination (BID) panels that assess the situation of individual refugee children.

Strengthening the government’s child protection workforce has helped build the capacity of government social workers at the sub-national level to reach more children and women with improved services. At the same time, evidence-based advocacy is being used to argue that investing more in the government’s social welfare workforce will lead to improved services, increased reporting and greater accountability from perpetrators.

Many UNICEF offices in the region have worked to © UNICEF/UN0467983/Kabuye support paraprofessionals and community volunteers as part of the workforce. The role of these groups and individuals is particularly important in contexts where there are very few professional social workers. Box 7 provides the example of the Isibindi model in South Africa and includes references to similar programmes in Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique and Zambia. Both paraprofessionals and unpaid community volunteers need proper training, mentoring and support to safeguard children and ensure they can make effective contributions.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 22 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 7: The Isibindi model in South Africa91

Isibindi was established in 2005 by the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers. The programme trains community Child and Youth Care Workers (CYCWs) to deliver health, education, child protection and economic strengthening support. Government has since agreed to fund the programme across the country with a goal of recruiting 1.4 million CYCWs. UNICEF support aspects of the programme in the Eastern Cape.

CYCWs are trained through 14 week-long training modules spread out over two years and receive accreditation at the end of this period. New CYCWs are mentored by experienced CYCWs from their community, a model that has proven successful because the veteran CYCWs bring field expertise and share culture and languages.

CYCWs monitor and support vulnerable children and families in the community and provide referrals to teachers, social workers, and health care workers. Assistance is delivered through home visits and in 'safe parks,' spaces in the community where children can play, do homework, receive meals and learn life skills.

Evaluations show that the Isibindi programme has led to violence reduction, increased community cohesion and challenged harmful gender norms. Using CYCWs from the same impoverished communities as vulnerable children and families ensures a strong understanding of the problems being faced. It also enables employment generation; nearly 60 percent of CYCWs were unemployed before joining the programme. CYCWs have successfully promoted inter-sectoral cooperation, forging new linkages between service providers.

"We get the children who don't have food, and we refer them to social workers to get food parcels, and we get the children that don't attend schools, and we advise those children to go to school and attend, and we ask the [government social protection agencies] to give bursaries…" - Child and youth care worker

South Africa is not the only country to use community volunteers as part of its workforce. • Rwanda has a 'Friends of the Family' network of over 30,000 volunteers operating in all villages in the country.92 • In Mozambique, the YouthPower Action project provides support to adolescents from a network of CSO-supported volunteers.93 • A recent assessment of the use of paraprofessionals in Uganda found that they significantly increased the workforce's capacity. However, there are concerns that the use of community volunteers will lead to increased reporting of child maltreatment, and professional social workers do not always have the resources required to respond.94 There are numerous programmes in the country promoting community volunteers, who often perform similar roles but with different job titles. The government is now establishing child wellbeing committees to merge the various community volunteer schemes into one integrated body.95 • Box 9 provides a further example of the use of community volunteers in Zambia.

Useful Resources x UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (2019) Guidelines to strengthen the social service workforce for child protection

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 23 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Provide prevention and response services

A range of services is needed to prevent and respond to violence against children, including the following:96 • Household economic strengthening, often combined with other services through 'cash-plus' interventions, such as adding parenting support to a cash transfer programme. • Parenting and caregiver support through home visiting, caregiver support groups or parenting programmes (for example the Sinovuyo model from South Africa).97 • Temporary alternative care and respite care. • Family tracing and reintegration support. • Legal services and diversion programmes. • Mental and physical health services and support with drug or alcohol addiction. • Access to safe schools and life skills training.98 • Community child protection groups, children's groups, and awareness raising. • Child helplines such as the 116 number which is widely available and used in the region. • Work with the private sector to address victims of exploitation. • Case management and referral mechanisms (discussed in further detail below). • Work to build on positive social norms and/or address those that are harmful.99 • Birth registration, vital for ensuring access to many services. In identifying which services to develop, it is crucial to begin with a mapping of provision, including the supports provided by communities and existing government structures. Enhancing what already exists is vital.100 As with social workforce strengthening, services developed during emergencies should build on the national child protection system, with the aim of lasting long after the crisis is over.101 Particular attention should be given to prevention services,102 though this is an area where government and UNICEF often struggle to develop a coherent approach.103 The provision of services through 'one-stop' centres has proven to be effective in some contexts as this model enables children and families to access legal, health, social and other services in one place, though these can be difficult to sustain beyond direct donor funding.104 Box 8 shows the range of services supported through Kenya's National Plan of Action on Violence Against Children and provides an example of a one-stop centre. © UNICEF/UN0223968/Prinsloo

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 24 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 8: Services to address violence against children in Kenya105

The 2019 Kenya VACS showed low levels of service provision in the country. Only a third of females and a quarter of males who had experienced childhood sexual violence knew where to seek help. Only 37 percent of the females and three percent of the males who knew where to access support had sought assistance. Similarly, low numbers of children were aware of sources of support and few sought help for physical violence. The Government of Kenya acknowledges that there is an absence of a systematic multi-sectoral approach to service provision and inadequate investment in the financial and human resources needed to run services. Many existing services are also adult-focused and need to be refined or expanded to address the needs of children as well.

To rectify this situation, Kenya's National Prevention and Response Plan on Violence Against Children aims to: "Improve access to quality health services, social services and justice for all children who are at risk of or have experienced violence."

The plan calls for a range of services, including the following. • Criminal justice services for child survivors and offenders of violence. • Access to health services. • Strengthened social services. • Improved referral mechanisms. • Helplines to report and respond to violence against children. UNICEF has been helping the government to achieve goals related to service provision by supporting various services. This help has included building the capacity of Child Protection Centres, which offer a safe space for children to share their concerns and for parents to receive information and support. These one-stop facilities provide legal aid, support for reintegration with families, individual case management, counselling and referral to other services.

Case management is a key means of ensuring that vulnerable children and families get the services that they need. Case management uses standardized guidance to support social workers in identifying needs, making referrals to appropriate services, monitoring children and families, and keeping effective records.106 It can involve statutory case management led by a social worker or other officials, and community-based case management led by volunteers or paraprofessionals. Statutory case management is used for the more serious cases of violence and abuse. In many countries, there are multiple case management systems working with vulnerable children. These may include case management established to respond to violence or vulnerabilities linked to HIV, or as part of a social protection system.107 The use of several systems can lead to numerous problems, including inefficiencies and overlap in provision, and children having to explain traumatic experiences to different actors repeatedly.108 Integrated case management coordinates the process across sectors and agencies.109

Case management often involves the use of information management systems, such as Primero.110 These platforms make it easier for social workers to share information with colleagues in other sectors and to hand over cases when a child moves between areas of the country or across borders.111 Information management systems can also be used to monitor the number of children experiencing and reporting violence, as well as responses to violence. Box 9 provides an example from Zambia on case management used by community volunteers.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 25 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 9: Community case management to end violence against children in Zambia112

In Zambia, community volunteers from 17 districts have been trained in case management to identify vulnerability and provide support to children. Volunteers are given basic tools which provide step by step guidance on risk assessment and response, and forms to systematically record each case. This community case management approach provides a holistic assessment of needs and can be used for the protection of children against multiple forms of violence. Case management guidance has also been developed to identify and respond to children at risk of marriage. Community case workers are linked to government systems. They make referrals to government services and hand over cases which involve more serious child rights violations.

Community case management is showing promising results with social workers reporting that that a larger number of families can be reached using this approach. Community case management also allows early identification of at-risk groups and a stronger focus on prevention. The engagement of community members has made case management more relevant to local needs. Despite these benefits, there are also several challenges associated with the approach. For example, volunteers have varying degrees of literacy and struggle with the terminology and form-filling involved in case management. More also needs to be done to ensure that the data generated by case management is analyzed to identify the most significant drivers of violence against children.

Useful Resources x World Health Organisation (2016) INSPIRE - seven strategies to end violence against children x This toolkit provides good practice examples of a number of different services to prevent and respond to violence. x UNICEF (2019) Everybody wants to belong: A practical guide to tackling and leveraging social norms in behaviour change programming x UNICEF (2019) Technical guidance communication for development programmes for addressing violence against children x UNICEF and Maestral (2017) Integrating case management for vulnerable children: A process guide for assessing and developing integrated case management in Eastern and Southern Africa

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 26 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Engage with communities and enable effective child participation

Surveys on violence against children show that many who experience violence in Eastern and Southern Africa do not receive support from services offered by the state or CSOs.113 Some of these children receive no assistance;114 others rely on families and communities, including customary courts.115 Whilst there is a clear need to build service provision, more also needs to be done to engage with communities.116 Research to understand the role that children, families, neighbours, and community and religious leaders/structures play in addressing violence is a vital starting point. This inquiry should include examining the structures and mechanisms that are already in place in communities that affect violence, both positively and negatively, and the degree to which children and families use and value these structures and mechanisms. Some of the ways to engage communities in violence prevention and response include involving local leaders and community members in awareness raising and changing social norms (see Box 10 for example), engaging in dialogues with communities to respond to violence, establishing child protection committees, and using community volunteers as part of the workforce (see Box 7 for examples). It is also important to consider and strengthen the links between families and communities and the formal system.117

Engaging communities can be critical during emergencies, when children are often at their most vulnerable, and there is a shortfall in formal service provision. Experience across the region suggests that links can be created between established community child protection mechanisms and refugees.118

As well as involving adult community members in child protection systems, it is vital to engage children. The 2018 global evaluation of UNICEF’s global child protection system strengthening efforts found that governments provide limited opportunities for children’s voices to be heard. Children should be acknowledged as agents of change and be given the opportunity to provide feedback and help shape services and support.119

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 27 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Box 10: The Communities Care Programme in Somalia120

Communities Care is a global UNICEF flagship programme designed to reduce the tolerance of gender-based violence and increase community support to survivors. It was established in Somalia in 2013 in response to high levels of violence against women and girls. The programme involves training local facilitators to bring together community members to discuss social norms that relate to violence. So far, it has reached over 350,000 community members. An evaluation of the programme found that it led to a significant change in norms which support violence, and increased trust in violence prevention and response services. The programme has bridged the gap between formal service providers and community members, enhancing dialogue and understanding between these two groups. Its success is attributed to several factors, including young people's engagement in programme design and local organizations' involvement in monitoring the programme. The SASA! approach to violence reduction in Uganda offers a similar example of successful community engagement in norm change.121

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 28 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Finance the system

Child protection systems require adequate resources to operate effectively, particularly in terms of government budget.122 Ministries that support child protection are often chronically underfunded,123 and advocacy is needed to increase allocations. This is also the case during emergencies; evidence shows massive underfunding of child protection, with only 0.5% of humanitarian funding allocated to it.124

In working to properly fund child protection, it is important to view child protection as a universal, essential service, much like education or health. Only through creating such a perception is it possible to promote adequate and sustainable government funding of the system.125 Strategies that focus purely on the moral case for enhanced provision have often failed.126 Estimating the financial costs of violence against children can motivate governments and donors to invest more in prevention and response.127 Box 11 below provides an example of research that calculates the high cost of child marriage in Ethiopia.

Box 11: The cost of child marriage in Ethiopia128

It is estimated that child marriage costs Ethiopia US $4.8 billion per year. The country relies extensively on international aid and ending child marriage would save it the equivalent of up to one-sixth of the aid received by 2030. The costs of child marriage are linked to: • early pregnancy and subsequent infant mortality and stunting, • school drop-out and reduced earning potential for women, • a high fertility rate, and • the costs associated with intimate partner violence.

Mobilizing resources also requires a clear understanding of how much is already being spent, and what additional allocations are needed to meet shortfalls. A consideration of the public financing of child protection is a formal requirement of UNICEF's system strengthening work in Eastern and Southern Africa.129 The regional office in Nairobi has developed a simple-to-use guide to support country programmes in budget analysis.130 Several important lessons have been learnt from UNICEF's work related to public financing and child protection, including the following:131 • Start with a clear vision. It is impossible to calculate the cost of a child protection system unless there is agreement about what that system includes. Map out the system's goals and all that is needed to prevent and respond to violence against children. • Think big. Rather than focusing on the cost of scaling up services to cover more children or regions, consider what is needed to resource the entire country-wide system. Develop a phased plan for increasing resources. • Consider the costs incurred by other sectors. As child protection is heavily integrated with other sectors, it is vital to estimate the contributions needed from health, justice, education and social protection.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 29 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa • Analyse effectiveness. Examine different models or types of intervention to select those that are most cost effective. In particular, highlight the savings that will be incurred from a focus on prevention rather than response. • Examine the national and sub-national levels. Remember that many programmes are delivered by local authorities and that not all budget decisions are made centrally. • Recognise donor contributions but work towards a government-funded system. The contributions of UNICEF, other UN agencies, CSOs and donors should be included in estimates of expenditure. However, in the long run, the goal should be a sustainable government-funded child protection system.

Box 12 provides an example of child protection budget analysis in Malawi.

Box 12: Analysing the child protection budget in Malawi132

Child protection budget analysis in Malawi involved four steps.

1. Identifying the different aspects of a child protection system that should be found in government budgets. 2. Mapping all of the ministries, departments and agencies with responsibility for parts of the system. 3. Carrying out a line-by-line analysis of the budgets to identify child protection-related budget lines. 4. Comparing needed spend against actual spend.

During this analysis, both direct and indirect budgets were examined. Direct budgets refer to interventions that deliberately aim to address violence. Indirect budgets contribute to child protection goals but are not primarily designed for this purpose. A detailed analysis was also carried out on district-level spending and on budgets related to ending child marriage.

The analysis found that spending in 2019/2020 had decreased compared to 2018/19, despite an overall government budget increase. Only US $0.03 was spent on child protection per child over the year, representing 0.02 percent of the total government budget. Expenditure was primarily focused on response, with limited contributions to preventative services. These findings are now being used to advocate for increased investment and a greater focus on prevention.

Financing the child protection system in the region usually requires attracting donor funding. Some donors struggle with complex explanations of systems strengthening and nebulous outcomes that they cannot immediately relate to improved child wellbeing. Often donors instead prefer to focus on a single child protection issue with clear objectives, such as reducing child marriage. It is important to educate donors on system strengthening and explain how it contributes to ending rights violations.133

Useful Resources x UNICEF (2020) Guidelines for developing a child protection budget brief. x Girls Not Brides and the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage (2018) Economic impact of child marriage: An information sheet

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 30 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Establish accountability mechanisms, monitor the system, reflect and adjust

It is impossible to know if the system is addressing violence against children unless the work it does is monitored. Ideally, monitoring will be guided by a framework included in an overarching strategy. Monitoring should examine levels of violence and whether systems, structures and programmes are achieving change. It is essential to evaluate if individual interventions are successful and if the combination of interventions improves the overall system.134 Monitoring also should include assessing if national and international goals on violence reduction have been met, including SDG targets.135 National coordination bodies should examine monitoring data regularly to determine if adjustments need to be made to strategies, and monitoring may also need to take place at a sub-national level.136

A range of different sources of information can be used to assess progress on violence against children. These include repeat VACS, administrative data, and evaluations of programmes.137 Administrative data includes, for example, case management records and records from the police and legal proceedings. There is often a chronic lack of such information in relation to child protection. Ideally, regular systems of data collection will be established and built into national statistical and data collection systems. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data is needed to determine the magnitude of violence against children and provide in-depth information on the effectiveness of strategies to combat it.138 The perspectives of children, families, communities and frontline workers are essential.139

Monitoring data is vital for holding the government to account for their responsibility to protect children from violence. Accountability requires some agreed standards that must be met, information to assess performance against standards, mechanisms to judge the adequacy of actions taken and sanctions when standards are not met. Accountability mechanisms can take many different forms. They often include formal mechanisms such as treaty bodies or a children’s ombudsperson or using the legal or political system. Increasingly, social accountability mechanisms are being used to support children and families to monitor adherence to standards © UNICEF/UN0451420/Simwaka and advocate for change.140

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 31 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Conclusion

A holistic child protection system is vital for ending violence against children. Vulnerable children often experience multiple forms of violence, and require coordinated responses involving a range of sectors and actors. Only through strengthening a system that addresses child and family vulnerability in a holistic manner can these girls and boys get the assistance that they need. Adopting a system strengthening approach requires data collection to inform careful strategic planning. Coordination bodies need to be established at national and sub-national levels to monitor results regularly and adjust strategies. A range of sectors should be engaged, and the central role of children, families and communities in addressing violence must be acknowledged and incorporated into prevention and response strategies. The social service workforce, including community volunteers, form the backbone of the system and should be strengthened. Children and their families need prevention and response services, and violence prevention should be prioritised. The system must be adequately resourced. Working out the cost of inaction and analyzing budget shortfalls can be powerful tools for advocating for increased resources. Finally, ending violence against children is challenging, and it is important to regularly reflect on what is and is not working and adjust strategies accordingly.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 32 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa [15] Cited in UNICEF (2021) UNICEF HQ CPSS Technical Sources Paper (unpublished draft) as the most widely used definition of child protection system strengthening within UNICEF. [1] UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision See also: UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World (2013) A Better Way to Protect ALL Children: The Theory Vision 2013 p.3 and Practice of Child Protection Systems, Conference Report New York: UNICEF [16] Ibid (2021); ACPF et al. (2013); UNICEF (2021); UNICEF HQ CPSS Technical Paper (unpublished draft). [2] UNICEF (2018a) Strengthening child protection systems: Evaluation of UNICEF strategies and programme [17] Ibid (2021). performance New York: UNICEF [18] Ibid (2021).

[3] UNICEF (2018) UNICEF’s strategic plan 2018-2021 New [19] Ibid (2021). York: UNICEF [20] Ibid (2021). [4] World Health Organisation (2016) INSPIRE - seven [21] ACPF et al (2013); UNICEF (2017a). strategies to end violence against children Geneva: WHO [22] Consortium for Street Children (2011) State of the [5] UNICEF 2018a world’s street children. London: Consortium for Street [6] Ibid. Children.

[7] Ibid. [23] ACPF et al (2013); UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children [8] The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and World Vision (2013); UNICEF 2017a; WHO 2016. (2016) Adapting to learn, learning to adapt. Overview and [24] Save the Children (2019). consideration for child protection system strengthening [25] Ibid. UNICEF (2019a) Strengthening child protection in emergencies Geneva: The Alliance for Child Protection systems at local and decentralised levels. Technical guide. in Humanitarian Action; Save the Children (2019) Dakar: UNICEF. Strengthening child protection systems. Guidance for country offices London: Save the Children; UNICEF and [26] Save the Children (2019). UNHCR (2018) Bridging the humanitarian and development [27] ACPF et al (2013). divide for refugee children in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region. Geneva: UNHCR [28] https://www.end-violence.org/

[9] Ibid. [29] World Health Organisation (2016) INSPIRE - seven strategies to end violence against children. Geneva: WHO. [10] ACPF et al. (2013) Strengthening Child Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Call to Action. Joint [30] UNICEF (2017a). inter-agency statement. African Child Policy Forum; African [31] http://www.knowviolenceinchildhood.org/about/ Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child initiative Abuse and Neglect; Environnement et Développement [32] UNICEF ( 2017a). du Tiers-monde; International Social Service; Mouvement Africain des Enfants et Jeunes Travailleurs; Plan [33] World Health Organisation (2016); Know violence in International; Regional Inter-agency Task Team on Children childhood (2017) Actions to end violence in childhood - and AIDS; Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative; Save evidence highlights 8 Ending violence in childhood. New the Children; SOS Children’s Villages International; Terre des York: Know violence in childhood. hommes; UNICEF; and World Vision International. [34] Summarised from: ACPF et al (2013); UNICEF (2017a); [11] UN (1989) United Nations Convention on the Rights of Save the Children (2019) and UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the the Child New York: United Nations Children and World Vision (2013).

[12] UNICEF (2017a) Preventing and responding to violence [35] Save the Children (2019). against children and adolescents. Theory of Change [36] WHO (2016); Government of Rwanda and UNICEF New York: UNICEF. There are many different definitions (2018) Care reform in Rwanda: Process and lessons learnt of violence against children. This is based on the UN 2012-2018. Kigali: UNICEF; UNICEF (2018a); UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child. (2017a).

[13] Ibid. [37] Save the Children (2019)

[14] ACPF et al (2013); UNICEF (2017a); UNICEF, UNHCR, [38] Ibid. Save the Children and World Vision (2013); UN (1989). [39] Save the Children (2019); UNICEF and UNHCR (2018).

[40] Examples from WHO (2016).

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 33 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa [41] See also: https://apolitical.co/en/solution_article/ [62] The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action tanzanias-radical-119m-plan-to-end-violence-against- (2016). women-and-children. [63] Save the Children (2019). [42] UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision [64] From: UNICEF (2019b) Country office annual report (2013). 2019. Madagascar. Antananarivo: UNICEF; interview [43] Ibid (2013); UNICEF (2019a); UNICEF (2021). with country office staff and https://www.unicef.org/ madagascar/en/stories/mahery-road-recovery [44] UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision (2013); UNICEF (2021). [65] The helpline is run jointly by the Municipality of Anananariyo and the Child Protection Service of the Police in [45] UNICEF (2021). collaboration with the Ministry of Population. [46] Government of Rwanda and UNICEF (2018). [66] UNICEF (2017a). [47] WHO (2016); Government of Tanzania (2016) National [67] Ibid (2017a). Plan of Action to end violence against women and children in Tanzania 2017/18 - 2021/22 Dar es Salaam: Government [68] See: https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/files/ of Tanzania; Department of Social Development; Republic paragraphs/download/STL%20Global%20 Programmatic% of South Africa (2014) South Africa integrated programme 20Framework_.pdf of action addressing violence against women and children [69] UNICEF (2017a). (2013-2018). Pretoria: Dept of Social Development. [70] From: UNICEF (2016b) Multi-country real time [48] WHO (2016) evaluation of UNICEF gender-based violence in [49] From discussions with UNICEF staff. emergencies programmes. South Sudan country report. New York: UNICEF. [50] Government of Tanzania (2016). [71] Ibid (2016b:46). [51] Government of Tanzania (2016); Department of Social Development, Republic of South Africa (2014). [72] Save the Children (2019).

[52] https://www.end-violence.org/ [73] Ibid (2019).

[53] UNICEF (2018a). [74] Ibid (2019).

[54] Government of Tanzania (2016). [75] Ibid. UNICEF (2018a).

[55] Government of Tanzania (2016). Ministry of Health, [76] Save the Children (2019). community development, gender, elderly and children, [77] Ibid (2019). Mzumbe University, University of Huddersfield and UNICEF (2017) A study on the drivers of violence against and [78] UNICEF (2018a). positive change in Tanzania and Zanzibar. Dar es Salaam: [79] Save the Children (2019). Government of Tanzania; UNICEF (2016a) Building a holistic [80] UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce child protection system, step by step in the United Republic Alliance (2019) Guidelines to strengthen the social service of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: UNICEF. workforce for child protection. New York: UNICEF. p.9 [56] The eight thematic areas included in the plan are: [81] Ibid (2019). household economic strengthening, challenging harmful norms, creating safe spaces, improving parent to child [82] Ibid (2019). relationships, the development and implementation of laws, [83] Ibid (2019:5). a comprehensive and integrated protection system, and an [84] UNICEF (2018a). effective coordination mechanism. In selecting priorities for the National Action Plan, stakeholders considered four [85] UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce criteria: strength of the evidence base, relevance to women Alliance (2019). and children, scope for multi-sector engagement, and if [86] The Global Social Services Workforce Alliance (2019) there is a strong focus on prevention programmes and The state of the social service workforce: Trends and services (Government of Tanzania 2016). recommendations for improving the workforce. New York: [57] From discussions with UNICEF staff. The Global Social Services Workforce Alliance.

[58] Government of Tanzania (2016: ix). [87] UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (2019). [59] WHO (2016). [88] Save the Children (2016); UNICEF and UNHCR (2018). [60] Save the Children (2019). [89] From interviews with UNICEF country office staff. [61] Ibid (2019).

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 34 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa [90] MGLSD (2019) Functional Review of the Government [105] Information on VACS and the National Plan of Action Social Service Workforce in Relation to Child Protection on Violence Against Children from: Government of Kenya Kampala: Government of Uganda. (2019); Information on UNICEF’s services from: UNICEF (2019d) Country office annual report 2019. Kenya. Nairobi: [91] Details on the Isibindi model are from: Kvalsvig, J and UNICEF; UNICEF (2017b) Country office annual report 2017. Taylor, M (2015) Isibindi programme effects on service Kenya Nairobi: UNICEF; UNICEF (2018b) Country office delivery and community capacity to care for orphans and annual report 2018. Kenya Nairobi: UNICEF. vulnerable children in South Africa. A formative evaluation. Pretoria: Child development research unit, USAID; UNICEF [106] UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce (2020a) External evaluation of UNICEF’s contribution Alliance (2019). towards the Isibindi adolescent and youth development [107] UNICEF and Maestral (2017) Integrating case programme implemented between January 2014 to management for vulnerable children: A process guide for September 2018 in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Revised assessing and developing integrated case management in report. Pretoria: UNICEF. Eastern and Southern Africa. Minneapolis: Maestral. [92] Government of Rwanda and UNICEF (2019) [108] UNICEF and Maestral (2017) Programme brief. Building the social service workforce for childcare reform in Rwanda Rwanda: UNICEF [109] UNICEF and Maestral (2017)

[93] Catholic Relief Services (2018) Using a system [110] https://www.primero.org/ approach at a community level in a human resource See also an evaluation of Primero: https://www.unicef.org/ constrained context. The YouthPower Action project in evaldatabase/files/EOI_Case_Study_Primero.pdf Mozambique Baltimore: CRS. [111] UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce [94] Driscoll, J (2020) ‘The role of para-social workers in Alliance (2019). rural communities in Uganda: Strengthening community [112] Information provided through discussions with resilience for the protection of children’ Child Abuse UNICEF country office. Review, May 2020. [113] For example, the Tanzania VACS shows that only 1 in 5 [95] From interview with UNICEF staff. females and 1 in 10 males who experienced sexual violence [96] List from WHO (2016) and Save the Children (2019). prior to age 18 sought services. Of those who experienced [97] https://www.unicef-irc.org/ sexual violence prior to age 18, about 1 out of 8 females research-family-and-parenting/ and less than 1 out of 20 males actually received services (Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, [98] See: https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/ Elderly and Children, Mzumbe University, University of files/paragraphs/download/STL%20Global%20 Huddersfield and UNICEF (2017). The most recent VACS for Programmatic%20Framework_.pdf Kenya found similar findings (Ministry of Labour and Social [99] Some analysis suggests that system strengthening Protection of Kenya, Department of Children’s Services. includes tertiary response for children at risk or suffering (2019) Violence against Children in Kenya: Findings from from serious harm, and secondary prevention for a National Survey, 2019. Nairobi: Ministry of Labour and populations with risk factors associated with violence. Social Protection. However, it does not include primary prevention, services [114] Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, directed at the general population, including altering norms Elderly and Children, Mzumbe University, University of before they have result in harm to children. As such, it is Huddersfield and UNICEF (2017). Ministry of Labour and argued that only focused norm change directed at those Social Protection of Kenya, Department of Children’s already or highly at risk of harm can be considered part of Services. (2019) the child protection system (UNICEF 2021). [115] ACPF et al. (2013); UNICEF (2018a). [100] Save the Children (2019). [116] UNICEF (2018a). [101] The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (2016); UNICEF and UNHCR (2018). [117] ACPF (2013).

[102] ACPF et al (2013). [118] UNICEF and UNHCR (2018).

[103] UNICEF (2018a). [119] UNICEF (2021).

[104] Save the Children (2019); interviews with country [120] UNICEF (2020d) C4D Works! Addressing GBV-related office staff. social and gender norms through the Communities Care programme in Somalia. Nairobi: UNICEF.

[121] Example cited in WHO (2016).

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 35 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa [122] UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision (2013); ACPF et al (2013).

[123] Save the Children (2019).

[124] Ibid (2019).

[125] UNICEF (2020d) The contribution public finance for children can make to child protection objectives. New York: UNICEF.

[126] UNICEF (2020d); UNICEF (2020e) Guidelines for developing a child protection budget brief. Nairobi: UNICEF

[127] UNICEF (2020e).

[128] World Bank and Centre for Research on Women (2018) Economic impacts of child marriage - Ethiopia country brief. Washington: World Bank; Girls Not Brides and the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage (2018) Economic impact of child marriage: An information sheet London: Girls not Brides.

[129] UNICEF (2020e).

[130] Ibid (2020e).

[131] From UNICEF (2020e), UNICEF (2020d); Save the Children (2019).

[132] UNICEF (2020f) 2019 20 child protection budget brief – Malawi. Lilongwe: UNICEF; UNICEF (2020g) 2019/20 Brief analysis of district child protection and ECD budgets. With UNICEF proposal for 2020/21 budgets Lilongwe: UNICEF; Government of Malawi and UNICEF (2020) Budget scoping on programmes and interventions to end child marriage in Malawi. Lilongwe: UNICEF.

[133] From discussions with UNICEF staff. This may be hard to do at the country level and may require work at the international or regional levels.

[134] From discussions with UNICEF staff.

[135] From discussions with UNICEF staff.

[136] Save the Children (2019); WHO (2016).

[137] WHO (2016).

[138] WHO (2016).

[139] Save the Children (2019); WHO (2016).

[140] All information in this paragraph is from: UNICEF (2015) Accountability for children’s rights. With special attention to social accountability and its potential to achieve results and equity for children. New York: UNICEF.

Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 36 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa Strengthening the child protection system to end violence UNICEF 37 against children in Eastern and Southern Africa