Research
The Country Programme Action Plans (CPAP) and the Results and Resource Framework (RRFs) will clearly stipulate strategic results to be expected by the end of 2012. In order to measure progress and assess the achievement of these outputs at the end of the 5-year Programme Cycle, baselines - representing a marker of the situation of child protection in the Pacific as of 2008 – are necessary. The difficulty in monitoring progress and measuring change as a result of child protection interventions has been documented in numerous studies . Monitoring in relation to child protection is universally weak, with few adequate systems in place. Data collection is often poor, and even where the commitment and capacity exist, capturing child protection information can be extremely difficult due to the nature of many child protection abuses. In the Pacific, the need to better assess and document actual results in the are of child protection programming has been explicitly stated in the transitional documents prepared at the time of ‘handing over’ the management and funding of the “Pacific Children’s Programme” (PCP) to UNICEF (in July 2005). While it was recognized that the previously conducted KABP surveys had been a useful tool in designing PCP programme interventions, and while subsequent tools for monitoring have been used (such as ‘Most Significant Change’, Rapid Appraisal Tool (RAT) and Community Asset Assessment Tool (CAAT)) they have not provided the required hard quantitative data that would allow the programme to establish clear linkages between programme interventions and possible change in behaviour and practices in communities. Furthermore, the lack of ‘hard evidence’ has in some cases failed to convince Government management and planners of the achievements, thus hindering the ‘phasing in’ of the PCP into Government systems. While stakeholders were uniform in their appreciation for the programme and the perceived results, these were often based mainly on anecdotal evidence. With the view of maximizing the ability to demonstrate change as a result of the Child protection programme interventions by the end of 2012, baselines will be developed for each of the three expected Programme outcomes. Together, these baselines will provide an in-depth diagnosis of the current status of the child protection system in the five Pacific Island Countries of Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In addition to the baseline itself, it is also expected that strategic recommendations for programme design and direction will be provided, including recommendations for programme communication, advocacy and social mobilization. Numerous qualitative studies have been undertaken on a range of child protection issues over the past few years in the Pacific Island countries. Under the Pacific Children’s Programme (initiated in 2001 in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu with support from AusAID/IDSS), Qualitative Studies on Child Protection Practices were conducted in the three countries in 2001, followed by Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior and Practice (KABP) Surveys in 2003. Other qualitative studies and assessments have also been conducted, including qualitative studies on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in four countries (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati). A similar study is currently underway in Samoa. These studies highlight patterns and types of CSEC in the Pacific and underlying factors contributing to sexual violence against children. The studies also examine the national capacity to address CSEC and provide recommendations for future action. Work has also been undertaken in assessing the overall situation of violence against children in the Pacific in conjunction with the UN Global Study on Violence against Children. Conducting the research to establish the baselines will provide an opportunity to build on and complement the existing studies to arrive at a more comprehensive situational analysis of child protection in the Pacific that is both qualitative and quantitatively sound. For more details on the Child Protection Research please click here.
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