This paper highlights Save the Children’s focus on ensuring that the post-2015 framework accounts for the needs and rights of all children. The paper presents some of the current questions and options being debated, reflects on the organisation’s experience with the MDGs and then outlines six essential criteria for any new development framework. This criteria includes attention to equity, participation, protection, accountability and sustainability, as well as clear roles and responsibilities for all actors, including the private sector
This report looks at how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can help school systems in developing countries become more inclusive. It shares experience of developing tools and approaches that have improved education for the most excluded children in society. Taking examples from 13 countries around the world it describes case study programmes that: target specific groups of vulnerable children; build inclusive school communities; promote change throughout an education system; and address financial barriers to inclusive education. This report will be of interest to policy-makers, managers and advisers in government, donors and NGOs, and to education students
This report explores the potential impact of climate change and natural disasters on children’s health, nutrition, protection and education. The report also raises concerns about how vulnerable households will cope and adapt to these changes, and what this might mean for children’s survival. It focuses on improving disaster risk reduction, including the use of child-centred approaches, and improving humanitarian response
This report challenges the common understanding that child migration entails trafficking and refugee movement and is based on a number of key studies undertaken in the southern Africa region
This is the report of a study comparing unconditional cash transfers to vulnerable groups in 15 countries in east and southern Africa, with in-depth analysis of four counties - Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zambia. Because cash transfers are new to this region, the aim is to draw lessons for policy from a comparative review. The report finds that knowledge gaps impede the development of meaningful policy. This work would be useful for anyone with an interest in vulnerable groups, development and the socio-economic factors
"This report summarises findings from recent research by Save the Children UK in southern Africa. The research was undertaken in order to identify policy and advocacy issues that, once addressed, would increase the flow of resources to community-based organisations in ways that ensure that vulnerable children benefit. This report considers what the most efficient and effective mechanisms are that can be implemented at a scale to provide such support"
Taking Better Care looks at the situation facing orphaned and vulnerable children in the Rakai District in Uganda and at the legacy of Save the Children's Child Social Care Project (CSCP) there. The report examines the impact of the CSCP, implemented between 1991 and 1996, and at trends in Rakai since the CSCP ended, as well as outlining the lessons learned and providing recommendations for future action. It concludes that in order to support orphans and vulnerable children in a long-term, sustainable way, child-care models now need to incorporate a maximum of state support and civil society mobilisation, combined with more traditional family support
This report explores the connections between tackling AIDS and tackling poverty and draws attention to the fact that millions of children affected by HIV and AIDS are in need of care and protection. There is an equally important and parallel agenda of expanding support for the millions of people needing access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. ARV treatment represents a crucial gateway to supporting millions of children yet it is rarely attempted. The report aims to examine the implications of expanded access to HIV/AIDS treatment, as exemplified by the 3 x 5 initiative, for prevention of HIV in children and young people and expanding support and care for orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Achieving the 3 by 5 goal set by WHO would mean that millions fewer children would lose their parents. Community based, NGO and governmental work could be pre-emptive in supporting children who do become orphaned rather than responding to mitigate impact. There are examples of programme good practice which illustrate the feasibility of developing effective treatment and care programmes and key findings and recommendations are made in the concluding section
This paper describes the early work of the Young Lives project and how the research is changing the way various factors behind child poverty are understood. "Measures of poverty are rarely applied in a child-centric fashion and have solely focused on income. Increasingly, however, poverty is being recognised as encompassing low achievement in education and health, vulnerability and exposure to risk. Both subjective and objective measures of well-being need to be used to create a multi-dimensional picture of childhood poverty"
A useful handbook looking at the basics of monitoring and evaluation through the examples of SCF projects internationally. Deals with all stages of planning monitoring and evaluation for project design and in particular participatory methods, which it identifies as most appropriate to interventions with young people