Child friendly spaces

Ager, Alastair; Metzler, Janna; Vojta, Marisa; Savage, Kevin

doi:10.1097/01.wtf.0000431120.01602.e2

Cited by 29 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Notwithstanding variation in implementation approach across contexts, the core aims of CFS programming are typically threefold [7, 13]. First, CFS serve as a mechanism for protecting children from abuse, exploitation and violence by providing a safe environment following displacement and/or local disruption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite widespread consensus on the intervention’s key objectives and subsequent global adoption of its use in emergency settings, little robust evidence exists related to programmatic outcomes and impacts [7, 8]. In a systematic review of published and grey literature, only ten studies were found meeting the inclusion criteria, with most displaying major design weaknesses that restricted the ability to robustly confirm positive change over time or attribute such change to programmatic efforts [7]. Recent broader review of the evidence base for humanitarian interventions addressing the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of displaced populations echoes these findings, emphasizing the need for more rigorous, mixed methods research on the effectiveness of widely-used, group-based psychosocial interventions, particularly those aimed at children and adolescents, such as CFS [14–17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Child friendly spaces impact across five humanitarian settings: a meta-analysis

et al. 2019

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Background Humanitarian crises present major threats to the wellbeing of children. These threats include risks of violence, abduction and abuse, emotional distress and the disruption of development. Humanitarian response efforts frequently address these threats through psychosocial programming. Systematic reviews have demonstrated the weak evidence-base regarding the impact of such interventions. This analysis assesses the impact of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), one such commonly implemented intervention after humanitarian emergencies. Methods We completed baseline and endline (three-six months post-baseline) assessments regarding protection concerns, psychosocial wellbeing, developmental assets and community resources for a total of 1010 children and 1312 carers in catchment areas for interventions with humanitarian populations in Ethiopia, Uganda, Iraq, Jordan, and Nepal. We estimated intervention effect-sizes with Cohen’s d for difference in mean difference scores between attenders and non-attenders – who proved comparable on baseline measures – by site. We then pooled findings for a meta-analysis summarizing overall impacts across domains. Results Amongst children aged 6–11, significant intervention impacts were observed through site-level analysis for protection concerns (Ethiopia, Cohen’s d = 0.48, 95% CI 0.08–0.88), psychosocial wellbeing (Ethiopia, d = 0.51, 95% CI 0.10–0.91; and Uganda, d = 0.21, 95% CI 0.02–0.40), and developmental assets (Uganda, d = 0.37, 95% CI 0.15–0.59; and Iraq, d = 0.86, 95% CI 0.18–1.54). Pooled analyses for this age group found impacts of intervention to be significant only for psychosocial wellbeing ( d = 0.18, 95% CI 0.03–0.33). Among children aged 12–17, site-level analysis indicated intervention impact for protection concerns in one site (Iraq, d = 0.58, 95% CI 0.07–1.09), with pooled analysis indicating no significant impacts. Conclusion CFS can provide – albeit inconsistently - a protective and promotive environment for younger children. CFS show no impact with older children and in connecting children and carers with wider community resources. A major reappraisal of programming approaches and quality assurance mechanisms is required. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6939-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Child friendly spaces impact across five humanitarian settings: a meta-analysis

et al. 2019

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“…The goals of such safe spaces, which can generally be constructed quickly in an emergency, are to provide children with a place to participate in activities and receive support to promote their overall well-being and resilience [21]. However, it remains unclear if safe space programming confers additional protection against the unique risks of violence that adolescent girls face [22, 23], particularly as most child friendly spaces do not have tailored programming by gender. Ultimately, while there are advances in IPV prevention strategies and child protection programming [19, 20], there is a glaring gap of rigorous evidence on how best to reduce violence against adolescent girls in emergencies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating opportunities through mentorship, parental involvement, and safe spaces (COMPASS) program: multi-country study protocol to protect girls from violence in humanitarian settings

Falb

Tanner²,

Ward

et al. 2016

BMC Public Health

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BackgroundViolence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings is of urgent concern given their additional vulnerabilities to violence and unique health and well-being needs that have largely been overlooked by the humanitarian community. In order to understand what works to prevent violence against adolescent girls, a multi-component curriculum-based safe spaces program (Creating Opportunities through Mentorship, Parental involvement and Safe Spaces – COMPASS) will be implemented and evaluated. The objectives of this multi-country study are to understand the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of COMPASS programming to prevent violence against adolescent girls in diverse humanitarian settings.Methods/designTwo wait-listed cluster-randomized controlled trials are being implemented in conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (N = 886 girls aged 10–14 years) and in refugee camps in western Ethiopia (N = 919 girls aged 13–19 years). The intervention consists of structured facilitated sessions delivered in safe spaces by young female mentors, caregiver discussion groups, capacity-building activities with service providers, and community engagement. In Ethiopia, the research centers on the overall impact of COMPASS compared to a wait-list group. In DRC, the research objective is to understand the incremental effectiveness of the caregiver component in addition to the other COMPASS activities as compared to a wait-list group. The primary outcome is change in sexual violence. Secondary outcomes include decreased physical and emotional abuse, reduced early marriage, improved gender norms, and positive interpersonal relationships, among others. Qualitative methodologies seek to understand girls’ perceptions of safety within their communities, key challenges they face, and to identify potential pathways of change.DiscussionThese trials will add much needed evidence for the humanitarian community to meet the unique needs of adolescent girls and to promote their safety and well-being, as well as contributing to how multi-component empowerment programming for adolescent girls could be adapted across humanitarian settings.Trial registrationClinical Trials NCT02384642 (Registered: 2/24/15) & NCT02506543 (Registered: 7/19/15).

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“…Child-friendly spaces, for example, despite their ubiquity have seen very little rigorous evaluation, and this may in part be due to poor conceptualisation of the goals and components of child-friendly spaces as an intervention. A systematic review of evaluations of this intervention concluded that ‘(I)t is clear that the composition of and emphasis on specific activities may differ dramatically by organisation, leading to confusion on program goals and objectives among program staff and community members’ (Ager & Metzler, 2012).…”

Section: Rationale For a Public Mental Health Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%