Protecting Children in Humanitarian Settings

Globally, an unprecedented 131 million people are affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. Children, who constitute just under half of the affected population, are particularly vulnerable in these situations, which present grave risks to their physical health and psychological wellbeing.

This course examines how children’s social environments at different levels, such as the family, community and societal levels, influence children’s adversity, development and resilience. Course participants will engage in critical thought about current international child protection practice and how to strengthen it. The course will invite participants to identify opportunities for using the learning from science and practice, to enrich current child protection approaches in humanitarian settings.

This course is aimed at child protection practitioners who work internationally in humanitarian settings and is also designed for those who want to learn more about, or start working in, the sector. The course is not intended to provide a comprehensive introduction to child protection programming in humanitarian settings. Instead, it focuses on select areas that are ripe for enrichment.

1. Welcome to the Course

   • Getting to Know Each Other
   • How to Take This Course
   • (Optional) Introduction to Humanitarian Child Protection
   • Child Development, Adversity, and Resilience
   • Child Development
   • Childhood Adversity
   • Resilience in Children
   • Relating the Science to Child Protection
   • Unlocking the Protective Potential of Social Environments
   • Supporting Children's Agency
   • Working with Children in Different Cultural Contexts
   • Children's Agency and Participation
   • Fostering Child Agency
   • Do No Harm
   • Enabling Families as Protective Environments
   • Families in Different Cultural Contexts
   • Impact of Humanitarian Crises on Families
   • Interventions to Support Families During and After Crises
   • ‘Do No Harm’ Issues
   • Enabling Communities as Protective Environments
   • Communities As Resources and Risks for Children
   • Ways of Engaging with Communities
   • How Community Approaches Can Support Child Protection in Education
   • Enabling Protective Social Norms and Policies
   • Social Norms
   • Approaches to Social Norms Change
   • Children's Policies
   • Approaches to Changing Policy
   • Enriching and Transforming Practice
   • Bringing Together the Science of Childhood Adversity and Child Protection Practice
   • Identifying Barriers to Transformation
   • Identifying Opportunities for Transformation