Displaying 1 - 10 of 14
Abstract
Foster care is widely described as an effective approach for the relief and protection of children experiencing abuse and neglect in their homes. Less recognized is the particularly challenging experience of foster carers in “failed-state” settings and the resulting effects on foster children’s reintegration process. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, no public out-of-home care is established for vulnerable children. In July, 2017, “Foyer Ekabana”, launched a network of parents at parish level who willingly accepted to foster vulnerable children, named “Secours à l’…
According to this article from Forced Migration Review, when the majority of aid comes from external sources, it can cause those who receive the aid to feel powerless. External aid, along with the stress of protracted displacement can force changes in family structures and caregiving practices, thus threatening the family structure. In the most extreme cases, researchers found that parents may leave the family or a child, rationalising that the children would be better off without the parent or on their own.
This article focuses on the Gihembe camp in Rwanda, which…
Save the Children is undertaking innovative participative research in West and Central Africa on informal alternative care mechanisms,with a particular focus on kinship care. An estimated 15.8% of children under the age of 15 years in West and Central Africa do not live with their biological parents, the vast majority living in extended family care and only a negligible number lives in institutional care in that region. Evidence suggests that children are placed in kinship care for a variety of reasons, including traditional practices, poverty, increasing value for education and…
Children without appropriate care (CwAC) is a focus area for Save the Children’s child protection work for the period 2010-2015. The goal is that by 2015, 4.6 million children without appropriate care, and their families, including children affected by HIV and AIDS and those on the move, will benefit from good-quality interventions within an improved child protection system.
This report assesses the practice of kinship care within four research countries in the West and Central African region (Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Niger), reflecting upon the…
Abstract
While the principles behind community-based participatory research (CBPR) are firmly established the process of taking CBPR with children and youth to scale and integrating it into the programming of non-governmental organizations has been scarcely documented. This paper reflects on the experiences of Save the Children in implementing a multi-country CBPR program to increase understanding of kinship care in DRC, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The paper discusses challenges faced, lessons learned and highlights how the research process enabled action and advocacy initiatives at…
“Children without Appropriate Care (CwAC) is a priority area for Save the Children’s child protection work for the period 2010-2015. In working toward this priority, Save the Children embarked on a multi-country participatory research initiative from 2012-2013. This was undertaken to build knowledge on alternative care practices, especially informal kinship care, prevalent in the West and Central Africa. Nigeria and three other countries were involved in this regional research; the other countries are Niger, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This study finds that kinship…
This publication, produced by the Parenting in Africa Network (PAN), highlights the skillful parenting practices of several pastoral communities in Africa, including the Gabra and the Maasai people in Kenya, the Bozo community in Mali, the Ndebele of South Africa, and the Swahili community of the coastal strip of Africa. The aspects of parenting highlighted are: pre-birth mother care, post birth mother and child care, instilling skills in responsibility and respect, child-parent interaction, the role of fathers, sexuality and puberty, preparation for marriage, care of vulnerable children, and…
A regional Save the Children participatory research initiative was undertaken to build knowledge on endogenous care practices within families and communities, especially informal kinship care, in order to better understand how the practice works and provide recommendations for programming to increase the care and protection of children. The research was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and was primarily qualitative and exploratory. Similar research was underway in Niger and was…
This research looked at the factors affecting the family reintegration of girls in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa, an operational zone of the local NGO OSEPER, a partner of War Child for a 3-year project, seeking to address the needs of street-connected girls, including family reintegration. The interviews included a sample of 32 girls living and working on the streets, among whom 24 had already tried family reintegration but had since returned to the streets. It also included 26 families/caregivers, including 10 cases in which girls had returned to the…
This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee’s recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.