All reports

30 November 2023

Leading Minds 2022: Identities

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30 November 2023

Leading Minds 2022: Identities

In the 21st century, children’s identities are evolving, shaped by forces such as globalization, urbanization, demographic transition, climate change, digitalization, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitics. Identity is also at the heart of how many young people experience discrimination. Such experiences have led young people, in particular, to question entrenched beliefs, traditions, inequities and injustices related to identity. These questions were at the heart of Leading Minds 2022, a conference held in by UNICEF Innocenti in Florence in November 2022. The conference involved leading scholars, scientists, innovators, influencers, philanthropists, governments and young people who gathered to discuss identity and the need to build positive child identities. This publication provides insight on this critical conversation.

28 November 2023

Designing a Youth-centred Journey to the Future

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28 November 2023

Designing a Youth-centred Journey to the Future

When we think about the future, we tend to think about children and youth as beneficiaries of the world we create. But this approach — regardless of good intentions — is a missed opportunity to learn from young people and co-design a future that better reflects their priorities. This youth foresight playbook aims to facilitate a more inclusive approach by offering ways to engage youth as co-authors and co-owners in foresight and decision making. Written for foresight practitioners and youth-focused and youth-led organizations, as well as think tanks and other UN agencies, Designing a Youth-centred Journey to the Future is hands-on toolkit developed to help make foresight more accessible to young people, and to transfer power to them through meaningful youth engagement principles. This playbook includes inputs from young foresight practitioners around the world and offers readers: An introduction to youth foresight UNICEF Innocenti’s youth foresight journey to date Insights from young people on leading their own foresight processes Resources and opportunities to support your journey A set of 12 worksheets offering tasks and activities you can use Acknowledgements This project is made possible with funding and enthusiastic support from United Nations Global Pulse and the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs, Finland. We are grateful for their continued partnership and commitment to youth participation and child rights.

21 November 2023

Digital Learning Landscape in the western Balkans

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21 November 2023

Digital Learning Landscape in the western Balkans

This policy analysis examines regional and national policy and normative documents, and existing literature related to digital learning in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo1, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The report captures the state of the education recovery after the COVID-19 school closures and explores trends, promising practices, challenges, and gaps in digital learning systems and policies. The purpose of the report is to support government partners in the development of national digital learning policies, plans and roadmaps. The preliminary findings from this research have been instrumental in shaping the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Digital Learning Strategy for 2022-2025. 1 All references to Kosovo shall be understood in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Teachers for All: Côte d’Ivoire

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Teachers for All: Côte d’Ivoire

An equitable distribution of teachers is an essential criterion for ensuring that every child can develop his or her full learning potential, regardless of school or place of residence. In Côte d’Ivoire, significant progress has been made in terms of teacher recruitment to maintain manageable class sizes. However, teacher division has to be improved, as pupil-teacher ratios vary widely between and within schools. For this reason, the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA) recently initiated a reform package to improve the transparency and responsiveness of the teacher allocation process. This report describes the teaching landscape in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as the reforms undertaken by MENA, and suggests ways to improve the mapping of teachers according to school needs in order to promote access to quality education for all children.

Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL)

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Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL)

Effective school leaders are indispensable for driving school and student learning improvements. Inspired by emerging literature highlighting a positive correlation between female school leaders and learning outcomes and the underrepresentation of women in school leadership, the Women in Learning Leadership project in Chad adopts a gender lens to examine school leadership in the country. This research highlights the significant underrepresentation of women in the education sector in Chad. Only one out of five teachers (20 per cent) and 1 out of 20 school leaders – a mere 5 per cent – are women. The report (in French, with an English Executive Summary) presents the granular and sub-national distribution of women leaders and the multifaceted reasons for their underrepresentation in the Chadian education ecosystem. It also explores the differential education outcomes in schools led by female and male school leaders. The findings demonstrate that Chad remains a profoundly unequal society, and several barriers at different levels of the education system prevent women from rising into leadership positions. Recommendations targeting the identified barriers are highlighted to enhance female representation at the leadership levels.

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10 November 2023

Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries

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10 November 2023

Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries

Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries uses evidence to present a broad-ranging analysis of the child-related policies and activities undertaken by the 40 European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This working paper focuses on six policy fields: education, early childhood education and care (ECEC), parental leave, income support, food support and health-related provision. It concludes that: Child and family policy was active during the COVID-19 pandemic Developments tended to focus on protecting adults from risks rather than children Child-related measures took time to evolve and were, as a result, reactive in manner There was a wide variety of measures adopted across countries This working paper was partially funded by the University of Oxford and UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight.

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Accessible Digital Textbooks Jamaica

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Accessible Digital Textbooks Jamaica

In the Latin America and Caribbean region, more than 19 million children have a disability. In Jamaica, disability is a major factor of exclusion from the education system. The Accessible Digital Textbooks for All (ADT) initiative, implements accessible digital tools and content to make learning accessible to all students – with and without disabilities – in the same classroom. This report presents the research results of the ADT prototypes testing for children with and without disabilities in Jamaica. The report provides results across three areas: It analyses teachers’ and students’ familiarity with technology, including their experience utilizing technology to support education and learning. It investigates the pedagogical practices used for inclusive education and to integrate the ADT prototypes as tools to support inclusion and learning. It recommends ways to improve the prototypes and outlines elements needed for their further development, implementation and scale-up in the education system. This study is part of longer-term research that examines the implementation of accessible digital textbooks in multiple countries. Future research aims to explore the impact of the use of ADTs on both student learning and inclusion on a larger scale.

Off to Learn: Making offline digital learning work for vulnerable girls in Mauritania

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Off to Learn: Making offline digital learning work for vulnerable girls in Mauritania

In Mauritania, many learners struggle with French, one of the official languages of instruction at school. This language barrier hinders student progress with the curriculum, increasing the chances of leaving school. This risk disproportionately affects adolescent girls due to discriminatory social norms undermining their continued education, even in urban areas of the capital, Nouakchott. To address these challenges, UNICEF Mauritania, in collaboration with the Akelius Foundation and national partners, has initiated a blended course to improve French proficiency for girls in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Nouakchott. The blended course, which takes place at a community-based facility during afternoons, integrates regular teaching with the offline use of the Akelius Digital Learning app. This research brief presents evidence on how the blended course supported vulnerable girls’ learning and other socio-emotional skills. It highlights lessons learnt for practitioners in implementing digital learning in resource-constrained environments, including the reliance on offline solutions and the co-design of digital content with the teachers.

12 October 2023

A global review of selected digital inclusion policies

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12 October 2023

A global review of selected digital inclusion policies

Around the world, policies on digital inclusion have achieved results: Many more children are connected and have digital skills than in the past. However, vast inequalities still exist in levels of internet access, digital skills and patterns of use – particularly for girls from disadvantaged communities. To rectify these inequities, a holistic approach to digital policies is essential. Using the UNICEF Child-centred Digital Equality Framework, A Global Review of Selected Digital Inclusion Policies reviewed 126 digital inclusion policies and related public communiqués. The goal was to assess whether these policies aimed to increase digital inclusion for children, dealt with inequalities in children’s lives, and showed readiness for emerging technologies and how they might impact children. While we found room for improvement, the analysis revealed many promising – and sometimes unique – practices. In the review we highlight these and identify policy gaps that need to be addressed to achieve greater digital equality for children. This global review outlines key requirements for holistic policy approaches to digital inclusion including: Focus on children as a key user group Apply digital inclusion and think of equality holistically Address inequalities by focusing on specific needs Follow an intersectional approach to supporting girls’ digital inclusion and equality Drive broad-based digital literacy Focus on outcomes, not only inputs Aim to be future ready Embody a coordinated approach Be based on true multi-stakeholderism Learn more: Explore the UNICEF Child-centred Digital Equality Framework used in this global policy review

05 October 2023

What Works to Reduce Violence against Children and Women

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05 October 2023

What Works to Reduce Violence against Children and Women

This evidence-to-policy brief is based on a rapid evidence assessment of the effectiveness of social and behaviour change (SBC)-informed interventions to reduce both violence against children and intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is intended as a user-friendly overview for anyone with an interest in learning about the broad possibilities of addressing violence provided by SBC-informed parenting initiatives. The assessment aims to: Appraise the available evidence on the effectiveness of SBC-informed interventions that target parents and caregivers in reducing violence against children in the home Assess the impact of parenting interventions on reducing co-occurring intimate partner violence Identify the theories underpinning SBC-informed interventions and the settings in which SBC interventions work and for whom Evaluate the costs and cost-effectiveness of SBC-informed parenting interventions Identify relevant contextual factors, including population groups, intervention characteristics and the implementation considerations required for successfully delivering SBC-informed parenting interventions. The findings indicate that: There is a robust evidence base demonstrating that parenting programmes informed by SBC can be effective in reducing violence perpetrated against children by parents in LMICs, provided the programmes are implemented by trained facilitators Co-occurrence of intimate partner violence can also be reduced through SBC-informed parenting programmes Local resources and personnel can help keep programme costs low SBC-informed parenting programmes may be transferable to different contexts, populations and settings in LMICs. Some studies suggested programmes were successfully implemented in humanitarian settings and for parents of children of various ages. Implementation in new settings, however, should be accompanied by quality monitoring and evaluation.

01 October 2023

What Works to Improve Outcomes for Children?

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01 October 2023

What Works to Improve Outcomes for Children?

Cash transfers are a type of social protection measure that help to reduce the effects of poverty through the regular delivery of cash to households or individuals. Cash-transfer programmes have shown positive effects on outcomes such as food security, household consumption and education. However, findings from cash transfer programmes have been inconsistent on other important well-being outcomes. To improve the effectiveness of social protection in addressing the multiple drivers of these outcomes, cash transfers are sometimes complemented with additional elements, such as in-kind resources, behavioural change interventions and links to other social services, often referred to as ‘cash plus’. SBC components of cash-plus interventions aim to address the drivers of behaviours that affect children’s well-being. This may be achieved by supporting individuals or communities to change their behaviours or by using policies and services to address the social and environmental barriers that prevent communities from adopting or sustaining behavioural changes.This brief presents findings from a rapid evidence assessment on cash programmes with a Social Behaviour Change (SBC) component. The aims of this evidence assessment were:To collect evidence on the effectiveness of cash transfers combined with social and behaviour change (SBC) components to improve outcomes for children.To review evidence to identify which types of SBC are effective in improving outcomes.To identify the contextual factors that are necessary to successfully deliver cash-plus interventions with SBC components

30 September 2023

What Works in Pre-Primary Education Provision

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30 September 2023

What Works in Pre-Primary Education Provision

The ‘What Works in Pre-Primary Education Provision’ report is based on an evidence review of 56 studies from 29 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It synthesizes the available evidence on pre-primary education interventions or programmes that aimed to improve access, in addition to learning and development outcomes for children aged three up to the start of primary school in LMICs. Moderating factors affecting the successful implementation of these programmes are also identified. Key recommendations to improve programme design and implementation at scale are provided across five areas: planning and budgeting, curriculum, workforce development, family and community engagement, and quality assurance. By addressing these recommendations, education stakeholders can strengthen pre-primary education provision and maximize its benefits for all children.