Child protection in emergencies Child protection in emergencies is defined as the prevention of and response to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence against children. Emergencies both exacerbate pre-existing protection concerns and create new ones. This occurs as disasters, conflict and crises introduce new risks to the affected population and reduce children and communities’ protective mechanisms. The range of protection concerns faced by children in humanitarian contexts comprises:
Dangers and injuries
Children associated with armed forces and armed groups
Physical violence and harmful practices
Sexual violence
Child labour
Psychosocial distress and mental disorders
Unaccompanied and separated children
Justice for children
Background and purpose of the data collected The Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), established in 2007, is a sub-group of the Global Protection Cluster, and brings together a range of global-level partners who work in or support child protection in emergencies. One important aspect of their work is advocacy to promote a better understanding of and support for child protection in emergencies. This report has been developed by the CPWG for child protection practitioners, donors and decision-makers within and outside of the child protection sector. The purpose of the data collected is to:
Communicate the state of child protection in emergencies globally;
Support assessments of child protections issues and capacity at country level; and
Provide a baseline for tracking progress on child protection.
Method Data has been collected on the 42 countries that have a Humanitarian Coordinator or that were on the Inter- Agency’s Standing Committee Early Warning Early Action list at the time of writing (March 2015). Sources are the following: UN Population Fund (2015 projections), World Health Organization, Global Status Report on Violence Prevention (2014), UNICEF Global Databases (2014, MICS and DHS surveys), Child Helpline International Databases (2014) and the Social Services Workforce Training report (2014). Data Marked by a + has been provided or updated by the child protection coordination group in country.
Acknowledgements As mentioned above the data compiled is based on work carried out by several different agencies working in the areas of violence prevention and child protection. The CPWG also wishes to thank Helen Johnson who carried out the coordination and data management of the entire project.