1st Edition
Child Protection in Development
Every day millions of children in developing countries face adversities of many kinds, yet there is a shortage of sound evidence concerning their plight and an urgent need to identify the most appropriate and effective policy responses from among the multiple approaches that exist. This collection of journal papers aims to engage with researchers and debates in the field so as to understand better some of the numerous risks confronted by children in developing countries. It highlights the complexity of protecting children in various forms of adversity, challenges conventional wisdom about what protects children, demonstrates why it is essential to consult with children to protect them successfully, and suggests that successful protection must be based on strong empirical understanding of the situation and the perspectives of children and communities involved.
The contributors are all experienced researchers and practitioners who have worked for many years with children in developing countries. The book offers suggestions for reform of current child protection policies, based on empirical findings around a range of child protection concerns, including children’s work, independent migration, family separation, early marriage, and military occupation. Together, the contributions provide a body of knowledge important to humanitarian and development policy and practice.
This book was published as a special issue of Development in Practice.
Preface Jo Boyden
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Development, children, and protection William Myers (Associate, University of California, Davis, USA) & Michael Bourdillon (Emeritus Professor , University of Zimbabwe)
Part I Things Fall Apart
2. Beyond war: ‘"Suffering" among displaced Congolese children in Dar es Salaam’ Gillian Mann (Department of Anthropology, LSE, UK/ Consultant)
3. Protecting children from trafficking in Benin: In need of politics and participation Neil Howard (DPhil Candidate, Department of International Development, University of Oxford, UK)
4. The spatialization of child protection: notes from the occupied Palestinian territory Jason Hart (Lecturer in International Development, University of Bath, UK)
5. Following the law, but losing the spirit of child protection in Kenya Elizabeth Cooper (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University,Vancouver, Canada)
Part II. The Importance of Context
6. Children’s migration for work in Bangladesh: The policy implications of intra-household relations Karin Heissler (Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF)
7. Child protection and ‘harmful traditional practices’: female early marriage and genital modification in Ethiopia Jo Boyden (Director, Young Lives), Alula Pankhurst (Country Director, Young Lives Ethiopia), & Yisak Tafere (Lead Qualitative Researcher, Young Lives Ethiopia)
8. Global priorities against local context: Protecting Bhutanese refugee children in Nepal Roz Evans (Co-founder, Refugee Youth Project) & Rachel Mayer
Part III. The Effects of Poverty
9. Rethinking orphanhood and vulnerability in Ethiopia Gina Crivello (Research Officer, Young Lives) & Nardos Chuta (Qualitative Research Assistant, Young Lives Ethiopia)
10. Children’s responses to risk in agricultural work in Andhra Pradesh, India Ginny Morrow (Senior Research Officer, Young Lives) & Uma Vennam (Lead Qualitative Researcher, Young Lives India)
11. "Risky Lives": Risk and protection for children growing-up in poverty Kirrily Pells (Policy Officer, Young Lives)
Part IV. Interventions
12. Action research exploring information communication technologies (ICT) and child protection in Thailand Philip Cook (Founder, International Institute for Child Rights and Development, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada) & Cheryl Heykoop (Project Officer, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada)
13. Child protection: A role for conditional cash transfer programmes? Natalia Streuli (Lead Qualitative Researcher, Young Lives Peru)
14. Listening to Iraqi refugee children in Jordan, but then what? Martha Nelems (Associate, The Columbia Group for Children in Adversity) & Vanessa Currie (Associate, The Columbia Group for Children in Adversity)
Part V. Reflections
15. How might we really protect children? William Myers & Michael Bourdillon
Biography
Michael Bourdillon is a professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zimbabwe and an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He has worked with street children in Harare, and with working children locally and internationally; and he has published extensively in this field.
William Myers is retired from the United Nations, where he addressed child work issues with UNICEF and the ILO. He is currently an associate in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis.