Community update: Child protection, January 2019

Helen Kearney
Helen Kearney
Helen Kearney is Global Advocacy Advisor with Terre des hommes in Switzerland
Helen is an advocacy professional with a background in child protection and international law. She has worked for Save the Children, UNICEF, Plan International, Translators Without Borders, Terre des hommes, Children in a Changing Climate Coalition, The Guardian, Marie Stopes International, UNFPA, UNICRI and ChildFund Alliance. Helen has led and collaborated on projects in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, Greece, Italy, Guatemala, the UK and the USA. Now based in Switzerland, Helen works for Terre des hommes and the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action.
Community updates provide brief highlights from expert practitioners about what they see as the key developments in a specific area, what resources they would recommend, and what to look out for in the coming months.

Key developments in the area of child protection

Roundtable on child protection and education collaboration

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (The Alliance) and the Inter-Agency Network of Education in Emergencies (INEE), in partnership with Elevate Children Funders Group and International Education Funders Group, held a joint meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on 15 and 16 October 2018. The theme for the two-day roundtable was “A Framework for Collaboration Between Child Protection and Education in Humanitarian Contexts”. The event convened over 250 practitioners, researchers, donors, and policy makers from both sectors and built on previous efforts, including a joint annual meeting of the Education (EiE) and Child Protection (CP) sectors in October 2013.

The Roundtable opened with a framework for integrated Child Protection and Education in Emergencies as well as a look at the bottlenecks to effective integration. In Voices from the Field, practitioners identified obstacles and practical recommendations for collaboration between the two sectors. Attendees expressed a shared commitment to a child-centric vision of integrated programming and contemplated the way forward.

CPMS revision

The revision and updating of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) continued – over 1200 child protection workers met in 47 locations to discuss the current draft of the revised CPMS. 17 countries and one regional office joined the consultations. 245 children and youth took the time to share their ideas and feedback. We are on track to see the 2nd edition in late 2019.

Community-based child protection

Members of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action’s Community Based Child Protection Task Force have undertaken a systematic review of literature and research on the types and nature of community based child protection approaches, how they function, and how agencies can engage more effectively with communities. The findings are being drafted and piloted in the form of "Key Considerations.” These Key Considerations will be a component of the upcoming Inter-Agency Field Guide for Strengthening Community Based Child Protection.

Recommended resources

Roundtable on child protection and education collaboration:

CPMS revision:

Community-based child protection:

Keep an eye out for...

The launch of the publication Child Neglect in Humanitarian Settings: Literature review and recommendations for strengthening prevention and response.
PHAP community updates are written by members of the association and other practitioners in their personal capacity. The views expressed belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of PHAP or any other organizations with which the author is associated.