Bottom-Up Approaches to Strengthening National Child Protection Systems: Placing Children, Families, and Communities at the Center
Dr. Mike Wessells
Professor, Columbia University in the Program on Forced Migration and Health
Michael Wessells, PhD, is Professor at Columbia University in the Program on Forced Migration and Health. A long time psychosocial and child protection practitioner, he is former Co-Chair of the IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. He has conducted extensive research on the holistic impacts of war and political violence on children, and he is author of Child soldiers: From violence to protection (Harvard University Press, 2006).
Currently, he is lead researcher on inter-agency, multi-country research on community driven interventions for strengthening linkages of community-based child protection mechanisms with government led aspects of national child protection systems. He regularly advises UN agencies, governments, and donors on issues of child protection and psychosocial support, including in communities and schools. Throughout Africa and Asia he helps to develop community-based, culturally grounded programs that assist people affected by armed conflict and natural disasters.
Abstract
In sub-Saharan Africa, efforts to strengthen national child protection systems have frequently taken a top-down approach and focused on the creation of new structures and the improvement and reach of formal, government... [ view full abstract ]
In sub-Saharan Africa, efforts to strengthen national child protection systems have frequently taken a top-down approach and focused on the creation of new structures and the improvement and reach of formal, government managed services. An ongoing challenge, however, is that the uptake of services remains low as local people typically experience little sense of ownership of or meaningful connection with the formal aspects of the child protection system.
This address will emphasize the importance of developing contextualized approaches to system strengthening that complement top-down approaches with bottom-up approaches to strengthening child protection systems. Presenting data from the Interagency Learning Initiative in Sierra Leone, it will show how much of the actual child protection is done by family and community processes, and that children themselves are agents of their own protection and well-being. Yet a disconnect often exists between these nonformal mechanisms and the formal aspects of the national child protection system, as local people may be reluctant to use the formal system and reject child rights as not reflecting their own values and culture.
The address will demonstrate the benefits of prioritizing support for family and community systems as a key element of strengthening national child protection systems. Drawing on the work of the Interagency Learning Initiative in Sierra Leone, it examines a case of bottom-up system strengthening that features youth leadership and community driven action on behalf of vulnerable children. It illustrates how community driven linkages with the formal system promote the use of formal services and enable ownership, effectiveness, and sustainability of the system. It suggests that with appropriate facilitation, community driven action can be an effective platform for changing local social norms in ways that promote children's rights and well-being.
Session
KN-5 » Keynote (13:00 - Tuesday, 16th September, Shiratori Hall)
