All reports

Evidence on Policymaking, Programme Implementation and Impacts for Women and Girls

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Evidence on Policymaking, Programme Implementation and Impacts for Women and Girls

How can social protection programmes and policies achieve gender equality?Systematic evidence on this inquiry is limited, including on the role of design, implementation and contextual factors, and the integration of gender in social protection systems. To address this evidence gap, UNICEF Innocenti undertook a multi-year Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme from 2018–2024.This synthesis report showcases evidence from 11 case studies across 9 countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam. The report presents evidence on the effects of cash-based programmes on various gender equality outcome domains including economic security and empowerment, health, education, psychosocial well-being, protection, voice and agency. It includes an assessment of the degree of gender integration in the cash-based programmes as demonstrated by intent and actual design features. The role of design and implementation processes and contextual factors in influencing impact is also discussed. The report also presents findings from five political economy analyses that examined how gender was considered within social protection reforms and explored the obstacles and levers for enhancing gender integration within social protection policy reforms and systems.This project was funded by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Suggested citation: Kuss, Maria Klara, et al., Towards Gender-Responsive Social Protection: Evidence on policymaking, programme implementation and impacts for women and girls, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, October 2024.

Children’s Involvement in Organized Violence

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Children’s Involvement in Organized Violence

The use of children in organized violence is not a new phenomenon, yet in today's increasingly fragmented global landscape, this exploitation has taken on more complex and dangerous forms. The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing and intensifying armed conflicts, and the accelerating effects of climate change have deepened the vulnerabilities of children worldwide. A diversified group of armed actions, including non-state armed groups, organized criminal groups and violent networks, are adapting their tactics, often recruiting, coercing or inciting children to engage in violent acts.These developments suggest that child involvement could intensify in the context of broader global crises and technological innovations.Efforts to counter the use of children in organized violence remain fragmented, with responses often pursued in isolation from one another. This working paper addresses the gaps in our understanding by exploring how children are drawn into violence through a socioecological lens, examining the pathways that lead them to participate across various types of armed groups.Addressing this complex challenge requires multidisciplinary approach—rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and tailored to the unique needs of diverse contexts. The urgency of the issue demands a cohesive, global response that prioritizes the protection of the next generation.

17 September 2024

Meaningful Youth Engagement in the Multilateral System

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17 September 2024

Meaningful Youth Engagement in the Multilateral System

Does youth participation in multilateral forums have an impact on decision making?What do young people consider to be the barriers and enablers of meaningful youth engagement?How do we involve young people in ways that are meaningful?These are some of the questions at the centre of inquiry for the research presented in Voices for Impact: Meaningful youth engagement in the multilateral system. The report puts a spotlight on the voices and experiences of youth participants at multilateral forums. It deep dives into the true meaning of youth engagement, its key elements and its perceived impact on youth participants themselves, on society and on policy decision making processes.Key recommendations on meaningful youth engagement include the following:To provide support before, during and after youth engagementTo create enabling environments that empower young peopleTo make participation go beyond consultationTo be inclusive and truly representative of youth voicesTo be accountableDeveloped together with youth engagement experts and young people, the report also offers a guidance note on how to meaningfully engage with youth participants in multilateral fora.Suggested citation: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Voices for Impact: Meaningful youth engagement in the multilateral system, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, September 2024.

11 September 2024

Child Rights Youth Foresight Report 2024

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11 September 2024

Child Rights Youth Foresight Report 2024

What does the future hold for children’s rights?How do children and young people envision the future of their education, health, work, privacy, security, technology and the environment?Twelve Youth Foresight Fellows embarked on an intensive journey to seek answers directly from more than 800 children and young people in over 50 workshops held across 12 countries. The Fellows used foresight tools and their knowledge and skills in children’s rights and advocacy to design and lead national projects. The case studies presented in this report offer valuable considerations on the future of children’s rights over the next 10 to 25 years.The youth-led foresight processes present findings that include implications for the national contexts, considerations for emerging issues and recommendations by children and young people to proactively address threats and leverage opportunities.The Fellow’s work to engage diverse groups of children and young people in participatory foresight activities is testament to what is possible when youth are given the appropriate support and tools to pave their own paths forward. By serving as a platform for young people to share their perspectives on the future of children’s rights, this report responds to the growing need to meaningfully engage children and youth in shaping our collective future.The launch of the Young Visionaries report on September 16, right before the Summit of the Future, had more than 465 attendees from 75 countries. Alongside the fellows, guest speakers included:Felipe Paullier, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth AffairsCat Tully, the Director of the School of International Futures Sofia Borges, Senior Vice President of the UN FoundationChris Earney, the Head of UN Futures Lab. To watch the highlights of the launch, click the video below. To watch the full-length launch video, click here. Suggested citation: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Young Visionaries: Child rights youth foresight report 2024, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, September 2024.

28 August 2024

Intergenerational Perspectives on the Futures of Governance

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28 August 2024

Intergenerational Perspectives on the Futures of Governance

This is a youth-led foresight and research report that explores the current challenges and future pathways for democracy. The report integrates the Three Horizons framework and insights from an intergenerational group of participants to bring forth avenues and to create more inclusive and equitable democratic systems that reflect and respect the voices of all generations. It also addresses the urgent need for youth engagement in shaping democratic futures. The report highlights key areas of technology, alternative models of democracy and innovative approaches to governance.

Leveraging Education to End Child Labour

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Leveraging Education to End Child Labour

Global progress in child labour reduction has stalled since 2016. In South Asia, the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, recurrent extreme weather events and the cost-of-living crisis further threaten to slow or even reverse the progress made. This synthesis report addresses a timely need for new research to help decision-makers and practitioners identify policy and programmatic actions that can support prevention and reduction of child labour in South Asia, with a focus on the role of education. Drawing on quantitative data and qualitative primary evidence from UNICEF Innocenti’s research in Bangladesh and India, it offers an accessible and rigorous overview of recent trends and patterns in child labour and explores how these relate to children’s schooling experiences in both countries. Implications of COVID-19 for education and labour, and the role of child marriage as a key related outcome, are also assessed. The report also explores children’s perspectives of their labour and schooling experiences, including in migration contexts as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures. The report concludes with programmatic and research recommendations for further action at regional, country, and global levels.

Child Labour and Schooling in India

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Child Labour and Schooling in India

India has made rapid progress towards the universalization of school education, hand in hand with a decline in child labour. Despite progress, child labour persists in the country, just as school attendance and completion rates reveal gaps in educational attainment.This report addresses a timely need for new research to help decision-makers and practitioners build an improved understanding of how to strengthen the role of education in the elimination of child labour across India. Drawing on quantitative secondary data analysis and qualitative primary data analysis, it offers an accessible and rigorous overview of recent patterns in child labour in India and their linkages with children’s school participation. The report also explores children’s perspectives of their labour and schooling experiences, including in migration contexts as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures. The report concludes with programmatic and research recommendations for further action.

Child Labour and Schooling in Bangladesh

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Child Labour and Schooling in Bangladesh

In the past two decades, Bangladesh experienced a substantial reduction in the prevalence of child labour, associated with improvements in school enrolment and completion. Despite progress, child labour persists in the country, also driven by household earning losses and school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.This report addresses a timely need for new research to help decision-makers and practitioners identify policy and programmatic actions that can support prevention and reduction of child labour, with a focus on the role of education. Drawing on quantitative secondary data analysis and qualitative primary data analysis, it offers an accessible and rigorous overview of recent trends and patterns in child labour and explores how these relate to children’s schooling experiences. Implications of COVID-19 for education and labour, and the role of child marriage as a key related outcome, are also assessed. The report concludes with programmatic and research recommendations for further action.

01 August 2024

Ghana LEAP 1000 Programme

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01 August 2024

Ghana LEAP 1000 Programme

The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) was introduced in 2008 as Ghana’s flagship social protection programme, implemented under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. The programme provides cash transfers and access to the national health insurance scheme, with the objectives to reduce poverty and support human capital development. In 2015, LEAP 1000 was piloted by extending programme eligibility to households with pregnant women and children under the age of 12 months. Beyond reducing poverty, LEAP 1000 had the primary objective to improve young children’s nutrition and wellbeing.Reports and briefs are available for the baseline (2015), Round 2 (2017) and Round 3 (2022) LEAP 1000 surveys. Baseline and 2017 data were used for a first mixed methods impact evaluation examining impacts after two years of implementation of LEAP 1000. Data collected in 2022 were used for a longer-term evaluation, after seven years of implementation. The evaluations provide impacts on household-level outcomes, such as consumption, food security and poverty, as well as individual level outcomes such as health, schooling, and time use. In the 2022 round, a focus on child labour was added, motivated by the fact that child labour is persistent in Ghana. Young children initially targeted by LEAP 1000 in 2015 were of primary-school age in 2022, which is a relevant age for engagement in child labour.

31 July 2024

Ethical Research Involving Children

The human dignity of children must be honoured, and their rights and well-being must be respected in all research, regardless of context. To help meet this aim, the Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC) compendium acts as a tool to generate critical thinking, reflective dialogue and ethical decision-making, and to contribute to improved research practice with children across different disciplines, theoretical and methodological standpoints, and international contexts. Emphasis is placed on the need for a reflexive approach to research ethics that fosters dynamic, respectful relationships between researchers, children, families, communities, research organizations, and other stakeholders. Hence, the content of this ERIC compendium moves beyond prescriptive approaches to encourage a more critical engagement with ethical issues and contemporary research practices across the multiple sectors and national/international contexts in which these take place.