This document aims to define a practical plan of action for the IFRC Secretariat to effectively integrate child protection, as a minimum standard, within its organizational systems and development, protracted crisis and emergency operations. The tim
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eline for the action plan is 2015 to the end of 2020.
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Child sex trafficking is a severe form of trauma exposure that has significant immediate and long-term consequences for survivors. According to the United Nations International Labor Organization, in 2016 more than 1 million children worldwide were
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victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Currently, no reliable estimate of the prevalence of child sex trafficking in the US exists, in part due to its hidden nature, disparities in definitions, and methodological challenges.
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Thirty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child at a moment of rapid global change marked by the end of apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the birth of the World Wide Web. These develop
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ments and more brought momentous and lasting evolution, as well as a sense of renewal and hope for future generations. In a reflection of that hopeful spirit, the Convention has since become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.
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This guide is designed to assist UNICEF staff and partners, in establishing and
operating Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in an emergency. It attempts to provide
readers with the main principles of a CFS and the processes on how to establish
one.
Th
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e overall aim is to improve the standards and capacity of field staff, by providing
the required knowledge to support the design and operations of child friendly
spaces.
It will facilitate an understanding of how to develop a CFS in contexts in which
children’s well-being are threatened or damaged as a result of conflict or natural
disasters. More specifically, this guide attempts to broaden and strengthen the
knowledge, skills and attitudes of protection officers/field staff so that they are able
to respond to the multi-faceted needs of children.
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Child friendly spaces (CFS) have become a widely
used approach to protect and provide psychosocial
support to children in emergencies. However,
little evidence documents their outcomes and
impacts. There is widespread commitment among
humanitar
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ian agencies to strengthen the evidence
base of programming. Recognizing this, the Child
Protection Working Group (CPWG) of the Global
Protection Cluster and the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental
Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency
Settings have identified research in this area as a
high priority.
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Child friendly spaces (CFS) are safe spaces where
communities create nurturing environments in which
children can access free and structured play and
learning activities. CFS, also commonly referred to
as
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Child Centred Spaces or Safe Spaces for Children,
may provide educational and psychosocial support
and other activities that restore a sense of normality
and continuity for children whose lives have been
disrupted by war, natural disaster or other emergency
situations.
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The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has been coordinating sector wide reforms that aim to improve equity and quality of maternal and child health services. As part of these efforts, the ministry is also exerting concerted effor
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ts to improve availability and use of quality RMNCH pharmaceuticals. Management of RMNCH pharmaceuticals has had significant challenges such as poor availability of essential pharmaceuticals and wastages of valuable resources as pharmacy professionals were not demonstrating the required knowledge, skill and attitude towards availing the pharmaceuticals and ensuring their rational medicine use.
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Sexual abuse perpetrated against children is one of the most significant crises of our time. Child sexual abuse is a significant risk factor for children, in common with other forms of child maltrea
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tment. Sexual abuse can have severe short- and long-term consequences on the physical, mental, social, emotional and economic well-being of children, families and communities. In emergencies, the threat of all forms of child abuse and gender-based violence (GBV), including child sexual abuse, is acute and widespread.
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Produced by UNICEF and IRC, with the support of the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) and the generous funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Caring for Child Survivors o
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f Sexual Abuse (CCS) Resource Package (Second Edition, 2023) is a revision of the original CCS Guidelines and associated Training (First Edition, 2012). The Second Edition offers an up-to-date global technical guidance on providing a model of quality care for children and families affected by sexual abuse in humanitarian settings. The new resources include both revised and content additions based on practitioner feedback, the most recent evidence and learning. In particular, the Guidelines aim to bring a stronger focus on gender inequality, intersectionality, as well as the connections between the best interests of the child and a survivor-centered approach.
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Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life. Most children died during the summer months.
"Around half of children across Eur
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ope and Central Asia – or 92 million children – are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally. The increasingly high temperatures can have serious health complications for children, especially the youngest children, even in a short space of time. Without care, these complications can be life-threatening,” said Regina De Dominicis UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.
Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies. Heat stress is a direct cause of infant mortality, can affect infant growth and cause a range of paediatric diseases. The report also notes that extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.
As the temperatures continue to rise, UNICEF urges governments across Europe and Central Asia to:
- Integrate strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves including through National Determined Contributions (NDC), National Adaptation Plans (NAP), and disaster risk reduction and disaster management policies with children at the centre of these plans
Invest in heat health action plans and primary health care to more adequately support heat-related illness among children
- Invest in early warning systems, including heat alert systems
- Adapt education facilities to reduce the temperatures in the areas children play in and equip teachers with skills to respond to heat stress
- Adapt urban design and infrastructure including ensuring buildings, particularly those housing the most vulnerable communities are equipped to minimize heat exposure
- Secure the provision of safe water, particularly in countries with deteriorating water quality and availability.
UNICEF works with governments, partners and communities across the region to build resilience against heatwaves. This includes equipping teachers, community health workers and families with the skills and knowledge to respond to heat stress.
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A Formative Evaluation of UNICEF’s Child Protection System Building Approach in Indonesia
The community based programme aims to address the psychosocial needs of children and youth through helping to rebuild peaceful child- and youth-friendly communities through the use of cultural, creative, recreational, sportive and social activities.
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Within War Child, the community-based approach is relatively new and Sierra Leone was the first self-implementing War Child Programme Area (WPA) applying this approach.
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We live in a world in which 28 million children have been driven from their
homes as a result of conflict, persecution and insecurity¹. If current trends
continue, more than 63 million children could be forced to flee by 2025², of
which over 25 million will cross borders and become refugees. At
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least
300,000 of these child refugees will end up alone, separated from their
families³. Without a step-change in the provision of education for refugee
children, at least 12 million of them will be out of school by 2025⁴.
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This global progress report attempts to lay the groundwork for the kind of accelerated action needed. Section 1 presents key data, trends and developments in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. That is followed in Section 2 by a deeper dive into the impact of the COVID-
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19 pandemic, which has created and contributed to many threats and challenges to progress for women, children and adolescents. In Section 3, the report concludes with recommendations for accelerating progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda even in such challenging times, with an emphasis on partnership
and clear-eyed recognition of the consequences of failing to do better.
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Journal of Infection and Public Health 12 (2019) 213–223
Lancet Glob Health 2015; 3: e396–409. Open Access