1 AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF COMMUNITY-BASED CHILD PROTECTION MECHANISMS AND THEIR LINKAGE WITH THE NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM OF SIERRA LEONE1 The Columbia Group for Children in Adversity July 25, 2011 1 This research is the first part of a multi-year program of action research that aims to strengthen community-based child protection mechanisms by supporting effective linkages with the national child protection system. Currently, this research is being conducted in Sierra Leone and Kenya. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Columbia Group is indebted to the residents of the 12 villages who opened their doors to us and gave freely of their time and views. For the rich learning they provided, we are very grateful. We also wish to thank the District Officials in Moyamba and Bombali who advised on, participated in, and enabled this research. This research would not have been possible without the collaboration of many agencies and stakeholders. At Freetown level, we wish to thank the Government officials and NGO members of the inter-agency reference group for their support and guidance regarding this research. We extend special thanks to UNICEF for its extensive support for and facilitation of this research and for its secundment of David Lamin to this project; to Save the Children for secunding Victor Kamara to our research team, providing the meeting space used for the ethnographic training, supporting the graduate student practicum, and providing valued logistical support; to Plan International for their guesthouse support and technical advice in Moyamba; to HANCI for making it possible for one of their staff members to be a member of the research team; and to ChildFund, Defence for Children International, and War Child Holland for their technical guidance and support in Bombali District. Thanks also go to Dr. Aisha Ibrahim of Fourah Bay College who served as Gender Advisor on this work. At field level, the research was implemented by a team of highly capable Sierra Leonean researchers. Special thanks go to Dora King, the Lead National Researcher who served as lead ethnographer and also Bombali Team Leader, and to David Lamin, the Moyamba Team Leader whose rich insights into Sierra Leone guided us at many stages. David and Dora‘s leadership, understanding of the local contexts, ethical sensitivity, mentoring capacity, and tireless efforts were indispensible for the success of this research. Warm thanks also go to Victor Kamara, Edith Konneh, and Marylene Fofana of the Moyamba Team and to Isata Mahoi, George Quaker, and Nenneh Kailie of the Bombali Team. Their willingness to learn, to live and work under challenging conditions, and to go beyond the initially expected work period were as inspiring as they were necessary for the completion of this research. This research owes to a productive partnership between Save the Children and the Columbia Group. At the international level, the Columbia Group extends its sincere thanks to Sarah Lilley of Save the Children, who coordinated the global Reference Group that oversees this research. The Columbia Group thanks the Oak Foundation, Save the Children, UNICEF, andWorld Vision for their generous support of this research. The Columbia Group thanks in particular its international researchers who guided this project. Dr. Kathleen Kostelny was lead analyst of the ethnographic data; Lindsay Stark was lead methodologist; Dr. Stella Neema (of Makerere University in Uganda) advised at several points; and Dr. Mike Wessells was Principal Investigator and lead author of this report. The views expressed in this report are those of the research team and should not be assumed to reflect the views of any agency associated with this initiative, including donors, Reference Group members, and other partners. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations . 4 Executive Summary . 5 Introduction . .. 22 Background . 22 The Sierra Leone Context. 24 The National Child Protection System . 25 Objective and Approach . 29 Methodology . 31 Site Selection. 31 Study Population and Participants . 35 Research Team and Organization . 35 Selection, Training, and Capacity Building . 36 Research Tools . 37 Research Ethics. 39 Data Capture, Transcripts, and Records . 42 Work Plan and Implementation . 44 Data Analysis. 45 Limitations . 46 Key Findings . 48 Children, Childhood, and Child Development 48 Protective Factors and Preventative Mechanisms 54 Main Harms to Children . 55 Additional Harms to Children . 69 Pathways of Response . 76 Linkage of CBCPMs with the National Child Protection System . 88 Implications and Recommendations . 102 Lessons Learned . 110 References . 113 Annexes. 115 1: Global Inter-Agency Reference Group . 115 2: Agenda for the Preparatory Workshop . 116 3. Ethnographic Research Tools . 122 4. Summary of Research Activities . 174 4 ABBREVIATIONS CBCPM Community-based child protection mechanism CBO Community-based organization CRA Child Rights Act CWC Child Welfare Committee DCI Defense for Children International FGM/C Female genital mutilation/cutting FORUT Campaign for Development and Solidarity FSU Family Support Unit GBV Gender-based violence ILI Inter-Agency Learning Initiative MoU Memorandum of Understanding MSWGCA Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children‘s Affairs NGO Nongovernmental Organization NPSE National Public School Exam SLP Sierra Leone Police TBA Traditional birth attendant UNICEF United Nations Children‘s Fund WFP World Food Program 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs) are used widely by NGOs and communities to address and prevent the harms to children caused by violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. A key question, however, is how effective and sustainable these mechanisms are. A global, inter-agency desk review of mostly externally facilitated CBCPMs was conducted as the first phase of work and the foundation for this study. It reported that two key determinants of effectiveness and sustainability of CBCPMs were ownership by the community and linkage with the national child protection system. The review identified as challenges the paucity of evidence regarding the effectiveness and sustainability of CBCPMs, the failure of many externally catalyzed CBCPMs to build on already existing mechanisms and processes, and the tendency of many agencies to cause inadvertent harm by, for example, establishing CBCPMs as parallel mechanisms that are poorly linked with the national child protection system. The ethnographic research presented in this report is part of an inter-agency, grounded learning initiative undertaken in response to the desk review. It aims to strengthen child protection practice in the global child protection sector through research in three countries in West Africa (Sierra Leone), East and Southern Africa (Kenya), and Southeast Asia, respectively. The key components of the learning initiative in each country are to (1) document existing CBCPMs in multiple areas and their linkages with the national child protection system, (2) define population based outcomes and measures for gauging the effectiveness of the national child protection system, (3) systematically test the effectiveness of community owned interventions to strengthen the linkages between CBCPMs and the national child protection system, (4) feed the findings back to communities, governments, and agency partners in each country as a means of stimulating reflection and action on strengthening CBCPMs, and (5) use what is learned to strengthen child protection practice at national, regional, and global levels. The research is part of a wider interagency learning initiative, which also include the development of a community of practice. The initiative is funded with generous support from the Oak Foundation, USAID, UNICEF, Save the Children, and World Vision. The initiative is implemented through strong interagency partnerships and overseen by a global reference group (Annex 1). Save the Children serves as coordinator for the initiative and chair of the global reference group, and the Columbia Group for Children in Adversity serves as the technical lead for the research. The present study is the first part of the research in Sierra Leone, which will use a quasi- experimental design to test the effectiveness of community-designed interventions to strengthen the linkages between CBCPMs and the national child protection system. The research was conducted by a team of Sierra Leonean researchers with the support of international researchers from the Columbia Group. The objective of this study, which was conducted January-April, 2011, was to learn systematically about the functioning of existing CBCPMs and their linkages with the national child protection system. 6 METHOD The research used a methodology of rapid ethnography that focused on child protection aimed to provide a rich, grounded picture of local beliefs, values, and practices in regards to children, their developing activities and social relations, and the community mechanisms for their protection and well-being. To explore the actual functioning of CBCPMs, people were asked in multiple contexts what happens when a particular child protection issue arises—who do people actually go to, who makes the decisions, which actions are taken, and how do various stakeholders who occupy different social positions view the outcomes. People were free to identify any process or mechanisms of response by, for example, indigenous processes, NGO committees, or aspects of the national child protection system. This was a bottom-up process of mapping