Child Frontiers

Our latest newsletter is now available https://lnkd.in/gTJnN7a9 This issue covers: Details of our new Safeguarding Policy Insights from care-experienced children on social services workers Staff transitions and new appointments Updates on our work in Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Mali

Upcoming seminar on Rights Based Ethical Research with Children and Vulnerable Groups  24 July We are proud to be presenting at this open learning session targeted at academic and NGO researchers who need ethical clearance for their research with children and vulnerable groups. The workshop will highlight some of the challenges and share learnings in designing research protocols for ethical review and in seeking ethical clearance. Our Child Frontiers team, Vimala A. Crispin and Ya Sae-war, will lead a session looking specifically at working with experiential youth as researchers and co-designers of research initiatives. Other sessions include: -The social, cultural and rights-based research contexts with vulnerable groups -The benefits and challenges of research ethical guidelines -How to make 'risk-benefit' assessments work Details: 24 July, 9am to 4pm at Mahidol University’s Institute for Human Rights & Peace Studies, Thailand, online attendance is available. You can register here https://lnkd.in/eTWEXXvU #researchprotocols #ethicalclearance

Thank you ISPCAN - Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention for offering this important webinar for child protection professionals: understanding secondary traumatic stress and improving well-being. Sign up details below. #childprotection #professionalwellbeing

Ensuring children's access to justice in Kiribati Child Frontiers’ legal specialists, Leisha Lister and Indira Rosenthal recently returned to the Pacific to lead a workshop on children's access to justice in Kiribati. This visit was part of a UNICEF Pacific programme to learn about and improve children’s access to justice across five island nations: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.   The two-day workshop in the capital island, South Tarawa, was launched to a warm atmosphere of laughter and goodwill among participants - who represented agencies responsible for justice, child protection, and ending violence against women. This positive tone continued throughout the discussions, where government and civil society participants shared their knowledge, experiences, and reflections about pursuing child-sensitive law enforcement and judicial practices in the Kiribati context.      Building on successful workshops in Vanuatu and Fiji earlier this year, the Kiribati validation event was another important milestone in this multi-country UNICEF Pacific initiative. The meeting participants validated the country report findings and adopted a practical, action-oriented 2-5-year roadmap for adapting the national child justice system. This roadmap outlines strategies to strengthen programs and services, inter-agency collaboration, and coordination mechanisms to enhance child protection and children's access to justice across Kiribati’s outer islands. The Child Frontiers' team sincerely thanks all participants for their insightful contributions, which made this a richly rewarding experience. They also express gratitude to the UNICEF Kiribati team for their exceptional support. In the coming months, Leisha and Indira will round out the project’s validation workshops in the Solomon Islands and Samoa. #childjustice #accesstojustice #Pacificislands #kiribati

We are committed to recognising, understanding and addressing vulnerabilities and challenges faced by children in all their diversity, This Pride month we highlight the specific vulnerabilities of LGBTQI children and commit to valuing them in our work.

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development This quote from Ken Ondoro, one of our Consultants in Kenya, is especially poignant today on World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development: “Considering communities and families as allies in child protection transforms the narrative from a place where harm occurs to a powerful network of support, resilience and endless possibilities for every child” We can co-create innovative and culturally grounded solutions by creating spaces to listen and learn from each other's experiences. Today, we celebrate the diverse voices helping reshape dialogues on child welfare. #culturaldiversity #diversity #Diversityandinclusion #worldculturediversityday #inclusion #culture

Today, on the International Day of Families, we celebrate families in all forms and recognise the diversity of family structures and relationships. For the millions of children who cannot be cared for by their parents, care by the extended family or friends of the family offers the best chance of a home. It allows children to be looked after by someone they know and gives them a sense of belonging. This is known as kinship care. Kinship care is the most used and preferred form of care outside parental care. Yet kinship caregivers often take on major responsibilities with limited support. That's why we're spotlighting new guidance, produced by Family For Every Child, on supporting kinship care  https://lnkd.in/eRr-gwCF Using lessons learned from practitioners around the world, it's a comprehensive guide on the needs of kinship care families and the policies and practices required to ensure all children have the opportunity to grow up in a nurturing and safe family environment. #internationaldayoffamilies #newpublication #kinshipcare #families

Adapting Capacity Building Approaches to Local Realities Child Frontiers’ Principal Consultant, Raffaella Boschetti has recently completed an intensive assessment of the capacities of UNICEF Mali’s implementing partners to prevent and respond to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). The review included 93 partners based in Bamako, Gao, Toumbouctou, Sikasso, Mopti, and Kayes. This assessment gives UNICEF and its partners a baseline for tracking progress of the organisation's PSEA capacity. An extensive capacity building followed the assessment phase, and we provided technical, individually tailored support to 54 implementing partners. The anticipated onsite training facilitation shifted fully online given tightened entry restrictions to Mali. Guiding six 3-hour virtual sessions required our team to foster trust, encourage transparent and open dialogue, and focus on local challenges and opportunities.  By listening closely to real-life examples and co-creating tailored recommendations, strong connections grew quickly. Flexibility and relationship-building were key and continually adapting the course to include case stories that resonated with participants ensured the information was not too theoretical. Our team tried to find the balance between the ‘ideal’ standards (United Nations Protocol On Allegations Of Sexual Exploitation And Abuse Involving Implementing Partners) while also setting achievable individual organizational action plans tailored to partners' context and capacities. Results have been impressive so far, with some now fully meeting expected PSEA requirements to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse. Raffaella reflected ‘We knew the training sessions had to be really meaningful to partners. We ensured each training session was tailored to those attending, and that UNICEF Mali’s implementing partners could ask any question they wanted, and see their practical concerns addressed. So, it was interactive and really specific to each organisation’s reality and challenges.’ As part of the study, the Child Frontiers team also carried out a major qualitative research, involving more than 250 girls, boys, women, men, and key stakeholders in four regions of Mali. The research explored people’s understanding of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, as well as what participants believed to be their causes, consequences and potential solutions. The study was led by Ben C. and the results are currently being finalised and shared with UNICEF.                                                                                                                 Our thanks to the UNICEF Mali country team for their support throughout the process and to all the partner organisations and individuals who worked with us on this important project.  #PSEA #onlinetraining #capacitybuilding

Child Frontiers has been working alongside Mother's Choice in Hong Kong Mother's Choice 母親的抉擇 to contextualize the "Safe Families" service from the U.S. The program is designed to connect new young mothers with volunteers in the community to support them. Safe Families is supported by UBS Optimus which recruited Child Frontiers to accompany the team through an ongoing external assessment and provision of technical support during the three-year piloting phase. This has been a collaborative partnership and the Safe Families team has been very receptive to Child Frontiers' input and recommendations throughout the process. The changes made from our evaluations and work with the Safe Families team included expansion of the beneficiary scope, working to manage expectations of volunteers and mothers from the outset of the relationship and involving other family members including parents, grandparents and partners in the circle of support where appropriate and possible.   Overall, all Safe Families stakeholders, including mothers, volunteers, community members and church leaders report that the service is having a very positive and beneficial impact on mothers and children involved. One mother said, “Actually I’ve never met anyone who taught me life skills like they (the volunteers) did.” Ultimately, this program has highlighted the benefits of evaluation being used alongside the program to provide feedback and allow for ongoing adjustments, rather than conducting a review and assessment after the program. By working together throughout the pilot, Child Frontiers and the Safe Families team were able to continuously learn and adapt as necessary – keeping the focus on providing the best possible support for young mums and their children. For more information about Safe Families: https://lnkd.in/dH5-2YyE #MothersChoiceHK #SafeFamilies #EveryChildInALovingFamily

Here’s details of a new programme, based in the UK, aimed at leaders responsible for diversity, equity and inclusion and those supporting staff/teams who may have experienced trauma.