1

Conference Report

10 June 2012 - FINAL

Prepared by Joshua Dankoff

2

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3 a. Background................................................................................................................................... 3 b. Conference Rationale and Design ......................................................................................... 3 c. Target Audience .......................................................................................................................... 5

2. Conference Themes, Presentations, and Discussions .......................................... 6 a. Plenary Session Highlights ...................................................................................................... 7

i. Opening and Key Note Speeches ...................................................................................................... 7 ii. Plenary Session Highlights ................................................................................................................ 7

b. Concurrent Session Highlights .............................................................................................. 8 i. Mapping ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 ii. Community Strengthening ................................................................................................................ 9 iii. Workforce Strengthening .............................................................................................................. 10 iv. Service Delivery ................................................................................................................................. 10

3. How the Conference influenced future systems work at the national and regional levels ......................................................................................................................... 11

a. Country-level ............................................................................................................................. 11 i. Networking/Relationship building .............................................................................................. 12 ii. Sharing conference information at the national level ......................................................... 12 iii. Committing to further action on systems strengthening ................................................. 13 iv. Leveraging of national resources ............................................................................................... 14

b. Regional/continental level .................................................................................................. 15 i. Governmental level feedback ......................................................................................................... 15 ii. Regional organizations .................................................................................................................... 16

4. Additional conference impacts ................................................................................. 16 a. Documenting growing evidence on CPSS in Sub-Saharan Africa ............................ 16 b. Creating new peer networks ............................................................................................... 17 c. Moving beyond mapping to the next phase of system strengthening................... 17 d. Advocacy ..................................................................................................................................... 17 e. Piloting technology ................................................................................................................. 18

i. Webinars ................................................................................................................................................. 18 ii. Launching of Wiki .............................................................................................................................. 18 i. Social media ........................................................................................................................................... 19

5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 21

6. Annex links ...................................................................................................................... 22 a. Original conference concept note ...................................................................................... 22 b. Detailed agenda ....................................................................................................................... 22 c. Attendance list .......................................................................................................................... 22 d. Technology report .................................................................................................................. 22

3

“Decades of development programming and related aid interventions have done little to decrease the substantial levels of violence, abuse, exploitation, and abandonment of children . . . The development of capacity in child protection—basing our efforts on a system approach that is holistic, comprehensive and multi-sectoral is a pressing priority.” -- Dr. Agnes Akosua Aidoo, Member, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, speaking at opening session of conference This initiative for dialogue and learning between different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa . . . will permit various actors to learn from each other and evolve effective child protection systems.1 -- Agnès Kabore Ouattara, Chair, African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child during conference keynote address

1. Introduction

a. Background A paradigm shift is underway within the child protection (CP) community in

Sub-Saharan Africa, and a conference held in Dakar, Senegal in May 2012 has furthered this shift and helped define the CP agenda moving forward. The Conference on Child Protection Systems Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa: Promising Practices Lessons Learned and the Way Forward was organized by eight leading child protection agencies and networks, specifically the African Child Policy Forum, Terre des Hommes, Plan International, REPSSI, RIATT-ESA, Save the Children, World Vision International, and UNICEF. These organizations, working collectively as the Interagency Working Group on Child Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa sought wide collaboration and input in the organizing and support of the conference. The conference took place from 7–9 May, and brought together over 300 participants.

This report aims to document conference highlights, as well as the unique

features of the conference. It will also discuss the impact of the conference on the CP systems building agenda.

b. Conference Rationale and Design The child protection community in Sub-Saharan Africa is in an intense

learning phase around systems strengthening, although most learning to date has been isolated and there has been limited documentation of experiences. Few opportunities exist for country-level experts to exchange experiences on important aspects of child protection systems strengthening (CPSS)2. Considering the significant progress made by a number of pioneering countries on the continent in 1 Original text: “Cette initiative de dialogue et d’apprentissage entre les différents pays [en Afrique sub-saharienne] . . . permettra aux différents acteurs de s’enrichir mutuellement et de faire évoluer efficacement leurs systèmes de protection.” 2 Two exceptions are USAID’s sponsored webinars on social welfare workforce strengthening and the Exchange Forum’s webinars in community based protection.

4

mapping, strategy development, human resource workforce strengthening, and piloting service delivery models, the time was right to bring national stakeholders together to share experiences, challenges and opportunities.

The conference was organized to reinforce, support and sustain national efforts to improve child protection systems’ impact on children in Sub-Saharan Africa through cross-country exchange, dialogue and learning on effective systems strengthening approaches and practices. There were five inter-related conference objectives:

- To take stock of current efforts and experiences to build stronger child protection systems in Sub-Saharan Africa;

- To share promising practices in strategy development, programming, monitoring and evaluation, and resourcing national child protection systems and to provide participants with the most up to date resources on systems building;

- To review, discuss and improve current system strengthening frameworks and emerging guidance;

- To provide opportunities for networking with an aim to build regional and country level partnerships committed to strengthening systems; and

- To explore the establishment of a regional mechanism(s) to foster on-going learning and exchange on systems work in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Dakar CPSS Conference must be seen as one part of a larger process of investments, conversations and conferences that are building momentum around child protection system strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa. Beginning in 2005, the UN Violence study called for a shift towards a systems approach resulting in new global agency policies and strategies (UNICEF, Save the Children, others), development of regional policy guidance, and an initial focus on rolling

out mapping of CP systems (over 24 countries have completed mapping by 2012). The CPSS conference builds on two landmark regional meetings: the Social Welfare Workforce Strengthening Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2010, and the Nairobi Expert Consultation on Child Protection held in September 2011. Further discussions have taken place on webinars organized by the Community Child Protection Exchange Forum (hereinafter “Exchange Forum”) to raise the visibility community based child protection mechanism as part of systems strengthening. The CPSS conference also contributes continental-specific information and knowledge toward the upcoming global India Child Protection Strengthening conference scheduled for 2013.

The Dakar CPSS Conference must be seen as one part of a larger process of investments, conversations and conferences that are building momentum around child protection system strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa.

5

For more background on the conference planning, see the concept note annexed to this report.

c. Target Audience The CPSS conference represented a convening of a wide array of leading actors associated with child protection in Sub-Saharan Africa. Attendance was by invitation only, and among the over 300 attendees included 26 full country delegations, 9 mini country delegations, representatives from continental bodies, donors, and resource people. The conference was designed to bring together pioneers in the field and promote group learning across key stakeholders at the country, regional, and continental levels. Country delegations were the key unit of decision making and learning, and made up roughly two-thirds of the entire conference attendance. Country delegations sat together at round tables in plenary, where they could easily discuss and work together during ‘country reflection’ periods and debrief after participating in separate working sessions. Due to the unique collection of participants, a more detailed description of the different groups of conference attendees is warranted:

26 full country delegations3 generally comprised of 8–10 delegates from interested government ministries, UNICEF and civil society. These countries were identified as pioneers in the systems strengthening field in Sub-Saharan Africa—selected because of formal stated commitments to and demonstrated investments in systems strengthening (i.e. mapping, strategy, etc.).

9 mini-country delegations4 generally comprised of 1–2 delegates from government, UNICEF, and NGOs and were selected based on an expressed interest to launch systems strengthening work, beginning with undertaking a mapping exercise.

Continental representatives from the SADC, the AU, the CRC Committee, and the ACRWC.

Donors, including representatives from private foundations (including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund) and bilateral donors (including CIDA and multiple agencies of the US government) at both the global and national level

3 Based on demonstrated engagement in child protection systems building, invitations went to the following 24 countries: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. These countries, plus Liberia and Somalia/Somaliland sent full delegations. 4 Specifically: Sao Tome Principe, Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, CAR, Gabon, South Sudan, and Swaziland.

Country delegations were the key unit of decision making and learning at the conference, and made up roughly two-thirds of the entire conference attendance.

6

More than 100 ‘resource people’ representing regional and headquarters offices of intergovernmental organizations, international and regional NGOs, and other consultants/professionals.

For a complete list of participants, please click here.

2. Conference Themes, Presentations, and Discussions The CPSS Conference agenda was built around an emerging understanding of

systems components and elements, as well as core themes such as entry points, alignment and political will. Held over the course of three days, the conference included a combination of 13 plenary sessions on a wide range of subjects, and 40 breakaway (concurrent) sessions focused on the following four subjects: Mapping, Community Strengthening, Workforce Strengthening, and Service Delivery. Each of these four concurrent subject themes was supported by an introductory plenary

session. With the Support of the Exchange Forum, a pre-conference webinar was organized to introduce system strengthening concepts and definitions, including recently developed national definitions from the continent. All powerpoint presentations and notes from individual sessions have been added to the conference wiki, and can be accessed at wiki.childprotectionforum.org. This report will not go into the details of each of the 53 sessions, but rather will share highlights from both plenary and breakaway sessions.

The Interagency Working Paper, a key conference outcome, was drafted to

document where we are now in child protection system building, identify promising practices, and foster dialogue among child protection professionals. The Working Paper is the core vehicle for capturing the technical content of the CPSS debate, and documenting the current status of systems strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa. By contrast, this report serves to document the actions and impacts coming out of the Dakar CPSS Conference. The Working Paper incorporated feedback from the Nairobi Expert Consultation on Child Protection and was shared with country delegations and experts prior to the Dakar Conference. Conference proceedings will be incorporated into the draft to reflect the most up to date research and experience from the field.

Click here to see the short agenda, and here to see the full agenda.

The conference included a combination of 13 plenary sessions on a wide range of subjects, and 40 breakaway (concurrent) sessions focused on the following four subjects: Mapping, Community Strengthening, Workforce Strengthening, and Service Delivery.

7

a. Plenary Session Highlights

i. Opening and Key Note Speeches The opening ceremony included words from Manuel Fontaine, Acting

Regional Director of UNICEF’s West and Central Africa Office; Agnès Kabore Ouattara, the Chair of the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC); and Her Excellence Madame Mariama Sarr, Senegal’s Ministère de la Femme, de l’Enfant, et de l’Entreprenariat Féminin. Dr. Agnes Akosua Aidoo, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and Dr. Olawale Maiyegun, Director for Social Affairs Department of the African Union Commission delivered keynote speeches. Mme Ouattara reflected on the importance of systems building in supporting community-based and equitable child protection interventions. Dr. Aidoo argued that CP systems need strong structures, capacities, resources, and data, and require investment in prevention, partnership / coordination, and innovation in order to achieve better results for children. Dr. Maiyegun focused on past AU actions in support of child protection, and the potential for greater action in the CPSS agenda.

ii. Plenary Session Highlights The plenary sessions allowed leading academics, policy-makers, and CP

practitioners to present the cutting edge of systems building thinking and research, and help advocate for increased attention and resources. (The four plenary sessions that introduced the concurrent sessions are discussed in the next section.)

Dr. Rebecca Davis, Director of the Center for International Social Work at

Rutgers University, USA, presented key findings from the Interagency Working Paper entitled “Strengthening Child Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Dr. Davis’ presentation defined the meaning of a systems strengthening approach to child protection, and highlighted the need to create an inclusive, cross-sectoral political space. Dr. Davis discussed what a system strengthening approach would look like in strategy and policy development, community protection mechanisms, service approaches, the workforce, M&E, budgeting/financing, and CP in Emergencies. The final version of the Working Paper is scheduled for public distribution by July 2012.

Cornelius Williams, UNICEF Child Protection Regional Advisor, Eastern and

Sothern Africa Regional Office, stressed that messaging at the community and national levels can help focus CP work and draw resources into system strengthening. He further advocated for the use of inclusive coalitions at the country level to refine and publicize key CP messages. Professor Jacqueline Oduol, Secretary, Children Affairs, from Kenya’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, then spoke about Kenya’s successes advocating for a CP systems strengthening agenda. The Williams and Oduol session, entitled Making the Case for National Child Protection Systems, was the first of three from the conference that

8

were recorded and presented as a live webinar with support from the Exchange Forum.

A session entitled “Systems Strengthening Strategy, Visioning, and Policy

Development: Promising Processes, National Priorities and Key Considerations” featured an introduction by Nankali Maksud of the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, and focused on positive developments in Malawi and Niger. Mr. Willard Manjolo described Malawi’s CP system in terms of a symbolic “house with six steps.” Mme Sidikou Moussa reflected on Niger’s work from mapping to writing a CP framework document that focuses on prevention, care, and system strengthening. Recognizing the consistent challenge of child participation, a plenary session focused on children as actors and partners in child protection systems. Dr. Agnes Akosua Aidoo presented the legal and policy frameworks for child participation focusing specifically on General Comment No. 12. Glynis Clacherty used the example of Tanzania to speak about the powerful protective effect that membership in a child-led organization can have for vulnerable children. Finally, Moussa Harouna of the African Movement for Working Children and Youth (MAEJT) provided a detailed account of MAEJT’s work in West Africa as a protective chain for the more than 118,000 child members, and highlighted the network’s protective work for children on the move within Benin.

On the final day of the conference, a

plenary session was devoted to examining how to better align traditional child protection agendas with the systems approach. This session featured experts discussing the alignment of child mobility, violence, and children affected by AIDS into CP systems work. Next, an interactive session on the challenges and

opportunities of strengthening the monitoring and evaluation systems provided a lengthy opportunity for question and answer time on developing M&E in a systems framework. Finally, donors and government representatives took the floor in a session entitled Budgeting and Resourcing Systems. Two government representatives discussed budgeting and creative financing mechanisms in Kenya and Mozambique, while two representatives from international funding sources discussed the role of private foundations and bilateral funding from the USG government.

b. Concurrent Session Highlights

i. Mapping Before moving into the first set of concurrent sessions, Brigette De Lay, from

UNICEF’s West and Central Africa Regional Office, presented a brief introduction to the mapping processes. Her session looked at factors to take into account before

All powerpoint presentations and notes from individual sessions have been added to the conference wiki, and can be accessed at: wiki.childprotectionforum.org.

9

planning a mapping, provided an overview of methodology and tools, and listed nine recommendations for successfully carrying out mapping exercises. After Ms. De Lay’s presentation, conference participants spread out to attend one of ten concurrent sessions each focusing on the mapping experiences of one country. This report will present highlights from only a selection of these and other concurrent sessions.

The Sierra Leone mapping session focused on efforts to undertake a general

system mapping, and provided extra detail specific to the child justice system. Key lessons include a noting of the significant disconnect between the formal and informal CP systems, and a desire to identify a manner to bring formal and informal systems together through integrating chiefdoms into the more formal court system. Sierra Leone’s government and non-government actors recognize that some people trust the traditional system more than the formal system, the latter of which is viewed as distant and costly.

The Uganda mapping session summarized the past sectoral mappings that

have been undertaken over the last three years, and discussed how these past findings and experiences will be incorporated into the national mapping planned for 2012. Key lessons include how the early and consistent buy-in from government leadership from the MGLSD contributed to positive mapping processes, and how the Programme Learning Group has ensured knowledge acquired through mapping is documented, shared widely, and used for improving service delivery for children.

The Somalia, Somaliland, & Puntland mapping session highlighted the

experience of a mapping process in an emergency setting. For notes and powerpoint presentations from other mapping sessions, click on the following country sessions: Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Burundi, Benin, Tanzania, and Senegal.

ii. Community Strengthening Professor Mike Wessells introduced the Community Strengthening sessions

with a plenary presentation entitled “What We Know Now about Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Systems: Lessons Learnt, Key Observations.” Professor Wessells discussed several effectiveness factors to community-based CP organizations, and presented examples from Sierra Leone of the potential for collaboration between formal and endogenous systems. He also highlighted some disconnects between formal and endogenous definitions of childhood, conceptions of child rights, and therefore how communities report and respond to cases of abuse.

Several breakaway sessions focused on case studies of community—based

mobilization and CP work. Again, country case studies of Sierra Leone, Uganda, South Africa, and Liberia each had their own session. Two organizations, World Vision and Tostan, presented their approach to community-based models, and one session focused on lessons to be drawn from the health sector. Another session

10

provided a space for open reflections on supporting protective endogenous community practices. Finally, one session focused on community-based CP in emergency situations, while another session focused specifically on partnership models between external agencies and community partners, and included lessons on how to move toward meaningful, sustainable engagement.

To highlight just two of the above-mentioned presentations, the Sierra Leone

session presented two research projects concerned with building linkages between community-based CP practices and the government system. A memorandum of understanding has been reached between formal and informal actors, wherein traditional chiefs commit to refer certain cases of abuse to the formal authorities, and the Family Support Units recognize the chiefs’ role in handling cases of abuse. The South Africa and Zambia session highlighted recent research into customary law and practices and child protection rights community-based child protection rights in those countries.

iii. Workforce Strengthening In recognition of the role of strengthening government social work and other

key actors in the child protection workforce community, the third set of 10 concurrent sessions focused on various aspects of workforce strengthening. After an introductory plenary session providing promising practices from the field of child protection workforce strengthening, three skills-focused concurrent sessions focused on how to conduct a human resource capacity gap analysis, another on how to develop tools, resources, and initiatives to improve job satisfaction and retention, and a third on the costing element of meeting human resource requirements. A social work-focused session focused on the role of professional associations in supporting the professional development of the social workers, while another session focused on developing core competencies for child friendly policing strategies. With a focus on innovative ways of educating the workforce, one session evaluated the Supported Open and Distance Learning Certificate Program for community workers, while another considered the newly established postgraduate diploma in child protection in emergencies.

One session looked to build upon the successes of social protection’s cash

transfer programs as both a prevention and response tool in the child protection context, while another session considered children’s capacities as agents in their own protection, and featured presentations from two Senegalese primary school students and a teacher, as well as experiences from Benin. Finally, a donor’s session provided a space for donors to discuss next steps in supporting CPSS work on the continent.

iv. Service Delivery In addition to the introductory plenary session on aligning traditional child

protection agendas with a systems approach, the conference featured 10 breakaway sessions under the module “service provision” that included violence, OVC, street

11

children, alternative care, justice, CPiE, and Child Helplines as entry-points for CP systems strengthening. While many of these sessions presented country-specific experiences, one session focused on the decentralized service delivery models put into practice in Burkina Faso and Nigeria, one session created space for reviewing and reflecting on social work practice models in Africa, and finally, a session considered the use of technology to enhance and improve service delivery.

To highlight two of the above sessions, the justice as an entry point session

featured Swaziland’s advancements in the child justice sector, and focused on the government’s child friendly services from the police, prosecution, to judiciary, and the complementary community structures. Most impressive was the fact that these services are 90% government funded, which helps ensure sustainability. The child protection in emergency session focused on the lessons from Somalia/ Puntland/ Somaliland as well as Côte d’Ivoire to show how responding to children in emergency situations can lead into CP system strengthening on the whole.

3. How the Conference influenced future systems work at the national and regional levels

a. Country-level The conference was designed to create both formal and informal spaces

wherein national delegates could discuss relevant lessons learnt from other countries, identify new gaps and opportunities for their work back home and identify next steps needed to reinforce their systems strengthening work post conference.

Each country delegation was

encouraged to use a wiki page to help document this learning and decision-making during the conference, and 20 country delegations utilized their country delegation-specific wiki page. The wiki pages provide a rich source of information in terms of how the conference participants reacted to and/or internalized information shared at the conference and show what country representatives identify as the important lessons learned from the conference.

Based upon a compilation and analysis of the self-reported notes on the

country wiki pages, some themes emerge in terms of follow-up steps to the conference that countries are considering implementing. The following chart summarizes, and the bullet point list provides a detailed look at the follow-up steps

Each country delegation was encouraged to use a wiki page to help document this learning and decision-making during the conference, and 20 country delegations utilized their country delegation-specific wiki page.

12

identified by 10 countries in the following four areas: Networking/Relationship building; Sharing conference information at the national level; Committing to further action on systems strengthening; and Leveraging of national resources.

Conference follow-up activities: Country-level

Networking/ Relationship-building

Sharing Conference information at national level

Further Action on CP Systems Strengthening

Leveraging National Resources

Angola X X Burkina Faso X X Cameroon X X Cape Verde X X Côte d’Ivoire X DRC X Liberia X Malawi X Mozambique X X Somaliland X X Tanzania X X X Uganda X X Zambia X Lusophone Countries

X

Francophone Government Delegations

X

i. Networking/Relationship building o Angola looks to formalize partnerships with Child Helpline and Repssi o Tanzania hopes to participate in post-conference webinars to share

their own progress on CPSS.

ii. Sharing conference information at the national level o Angola plans to present main recommendations at the plenary session

of the CNAC (National Child Council). o Burkina Faso plans to organize a workshop on the main conclusions

and recommendations from the conference. o Cameroon plans to pass on the report recommendations to all

ministries represented at the conference, and organize a follow-up workshop to share the knowledge gained from the conference.

o Cape Verde plans to transmit the knowledge acquired at the conference with colleagues who were not present.

13

o DRC will prepare a short ‘restitution’ paper to be shared with different protection actors.

o Mozambique hopes to organize a conference to share findings, experiences, and materials collected from the Dakar conference.

o Somaliland delegation will organise a meeting with agencies (NGOs) that have not participated in the conference to share with them the work done during the conference as well as the initial road map that has been drafted by the members of the Somaliland delegation during the conference.

o The United Republic of Tanzania delegation is to meet post the Dakar conference in order to consolidate all the learnings and conclude on the way forward.

o Uganda will organise a meeting with agencies ( NGOs) that have not participated in the Conference to share with them the work done during the Conference as well as the initial plan that has been drafted by the members of the Uganda delegation during the Conference

iii. Committing to further action on systems strengthening o Burkina Faso plans to develop a workplan and calendar to undertake

a CPS mapping, and mobilize funds for the mapping. o Cameroon plans to carry out a CPS mapping, and coordinate with the

Ministry of Planning concerning CP services. o Cape Verde plans to undertake a mapping of CP structures. o Malawi hopes to develop a plan of action for the CP technical working

group in line with the systems approach. o The Mozambique delegation plans to prepare a report to the Council

of Ministers with recommendations on the way forward in CP system building.

o Somaliland will work to develop national referral guidelines for child protection service providers.

o Tanzania plans to conduct a mapping of child protection system in Zanzibar and develop a model of a child protection systems budgeting.

o Tanzania also plans to develop M & E plan with both process and impact based indicators for the child protection system to help measure progress and the impact on children; Tanzania also hopes to conduct a costing exercise on the CP system.

o Tanzania plans to establish a mechanism for the child protection actors in the country to meet in order to share experience and provide update on progress of child protection system strengthening

At least nine countries made plans to share information learned at the Dakar CPSS conference, and at least nine countries made commitments for further CP systems strengthening.

14

initiatives. This can be done through the child protection working group but must also include a forum for Zanzibar to participate.

o Uganda plans to start the Child protection system mapping using the Maestral tool kit. Ensure that more information is collected about the community based child protection mechanisms. The mapping is plan to start before the end of May 2012 and to be finalised by November 2012 the latest.

o Zambia shared that the Government’s creation of the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs is “a structure that we can take advantage of in promoting and realizing a Zambia fit for children by reaching children through informal settings.”5 Further, when noting key lessons learned from other countries, Zambia noted that traditional authorities are “an important component for child protection at community level.”

Within the context of the government representative meetings, the

Portuguese government delegations expressed interest in organizing a 3-day conference for Portuguese speaking countries on systems strengthening with the following objectives:

a. Review and exchange on normative frameworks that promotes systemic approaches;

b. Review institutional set-ups that promote coordination; and c. Review M&E frameworks.

iv. Leveraging of national resources

The group of Francophone government delegates had a general recommendation to involve the Ministers of Finances and other governmental bodies that deal with budgeting in the instances dealing with children’s budgets in the child protection system strengthening process.

The Côte d’Ivoire delegation noted on its wiki page the importance of bringing in the Ministry in charge of finances as early as the mapping phase, as this will have a positive impact on resource analysis, and on future fund mobilization.

The Liberian delegation noted that joint advocacy by CP stakeholders for government’s commitment to the allocation of human and financial resources will be necessary to create political space for CPSS. Similar comments came from the Senegalese and Cameroonian delegations.

5 See Zambia Country Delegation Page http://wiki.childprotectionforum.org/Zambia (only visible for wiki members).

15

b. Regional/continental level

i. Governmental level feedback After hearing informal feedback, the conference organizers invited

government representatives from each country delegation to meet over lunch to discuss ideas for improving future conferences. Some of the more significant feedback includes advice to:

1) Provide the space for government representatives to dialogue alone so as to exchange experiences and talk about and how each country is addressing challenges.

2) Provide greater voice for government representatives as speakers in the conference, as well as community-based organizations. There was a call by a number of governments at the conference to raise the visibility of government as leaders of the systems agenda. The organizers recognize that more effort is needed to support government leadership and consultation on this point.

3) Increase time for discussion to exchange experiences by increasing the time for each session, and having a longer conference.

The government representatives also stated that the conference was an

excellent opportunity for government to explore social welfare and child protection concepts. That said, there was interest in having greater time allocated (a 1-2 day conference ideally) to bridging the gap between the formal and informal CP systems. Support from the government to take informal community based mechanisms and ensure linkages.

Government representatives saw the importance of continental and regional

bodies, and recommended advocacy efforts to get child protection onto the AU, SADC, PALOP, and CPLP agendas. Several countries recommended establishing a partnership with the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to implement the recommendations adopted in the framework of this conference. There was also recognition of the need to come up with common recommendations before approaching the AU. Following the theme of reflection on the conference organization, members of the Conference steering committee expressed that it would have been a good idea to:

a. Include government representation in the conference organizing; b. Provide sessions for constituencies to reflect on their different roles in

systems strengthening; and c. Include representatives from education and health sectors, as these

areas have a longer track record of system building.

16

ii. Regional organizations The 8–member Interagency Working Group on Child Protection in Africa is

currently developing a regional strategy to define priorities in support of CP systems in Africa. One of the goals of the conference was “to explore the establishment of a regional mechanism(s) to foster on-going learning and exchange on systems work in Sub-Saharan Africa.” While no such regional mechanism was established during the conference, the Working Group has expressed interest in continuing to dialogue on this front, and has discussed including government representation in the group.

4. Additional conference impacts The Dakar CPSS conference represents the first time that a specific systems

building conference has been held in Sub-Saharan Africa on this theme, and was unique in several important manners. The conference theme, the creation of south-to-south peer networks across three major languages, moving beyond mapping to the next stage of system strengthening, and the use of technology will all be highlighted in this section.

a. Documenting growing evidence on CPSS in Sub-Saharan Africa In 2009, only three years ago, relatively little evidence was available on CP

systems strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa. The field had been dominated up to that point by Northern/Western experiences. That said, since 2009, there have been significant efforts to roll out the systems approaches within the Sub-Saharan African context, with investment especially in mapping country-level formal and informal systems and HR gap analysis of the social welfare workforce. These mappings and assessments have served as a major source of evidence on the current state of CP systems, and have highlighted gaps and opportunities for systems strengthening work. Despite this growing evidence base, there has been a lack of access to new thinking and promising-practices coming from certain countries, and a gap in the consideration of how to apply/learn from new ideas and practices within specific country-level contexts.

Resource sharing was one strategy

utilized by conference organizers to encourage the sharing of knowledge and experiences. Many country delegations, NGOs, and groups shared print resources at the live resource fair on the afternoon of the second day of the conference, and delegates were invited to post resources on the ‘resource library’ page of the wiki. This library now serves as the single most-

The wiki resource library now serves as the single most-detailed resource on child protection systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and will continue to be used as a virtual repository of documents and resources to be shared around the globe.

17

detailed resource on child protection systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and will continue to be used as a virtual repository of documents and resources to be shared around the globe.

b. Creating new peer networks The Dakar CPSS conference prioritized the creation of new peer networks

among African government and civil society to support learning, exchange and creating a sense that these actors are part of a continental and global movement. The majority of invited participants were country-level professionals from government, the UN, and NGOs. The conference schedule included a resource fair, regular tea breaks and extended lunch sessions, during which multiple meetings and extensive cross-country dialogue took place. This provided opportunities for learning from other country level experts who had made presentations or asked questions as well as offer their experience to countries interested in learning more about a specific experience. Conference plenary sessions and selected breakaway sessions had simultaneous translation between English, French, and Portuguese, which enabled question and answer periods to occur across languages. The majority of informal networking took place between participants who spoke the same language. In sum, the conference structure and invitees successfully enabled new south-to-south collaboration within Africa.

c. Moving beyond mapping to the next phase of system strengthening

Mapping has generally been seen as the first step for countries wishing to initiate/transition to a systems approach to child protection. However, many countries struggle with defining systems strengthening strategies and post-mapping investments. The conference included presentations from countries more advanced in strategy development, supporting new service delivery models, and workforce strengthening to provide countries just beginning this process to learn from those who had already invested in the process. Several country delegations used the conference to reflect on their mapping process and define concrete follow-up steps.

d. Advocacy The CPSS conference utilized an advocacy approach to try to further support

the on-going Africanisation of the CP systems strengthening agenda. Key players were invited from the CRC Committee, the ACRWC Committee, the African Union, and SADC with a view toward mainstreaming the CP Systems Building in the continental agendas. In the move toward a post-Millennium Development Goals period, new priorities will be identified at the continental level; the conference agenda aimed to influence the CRC and ACRWC Committees and other continental bodies. The conference also resulted in an emerging coalition of donors on CPSS in

18

sub-Saharan Africa, which included a donor-only conference session, and a lunch meeting between donors and leading CP agencies.

e. Piloting technology The CPSS conference strategically utilized a wide variety of technology

platforms to foster exchange, to document conference learning, and to publicize systems building concepts. With the help of a technology consultant brought on for the conference, webinars, a wiki, and social media (including Twitter and Facebook) were all implemented as technology tools. These three platforms are now discussed in detail:

i. Webinars In partnership with the Exchange Forum, a 90-minute preconference

webinar in Portuguese, French, and English, was utilized to introduce CP systems concepts, as well as technology used at the conference. More than 130 people joined. Additionally, the Exchange Forum three conference plenary sessions—two in English and one in French—were recorded and streamed live as webinars for those who were not attending the conference. All webinar sessions are available to watch/listen after the conference on either the conference wiki, or at the Exchange Forum.

ii. Launching of Wiki The CPSS conference launched a wiki, or online collaborative workspace, for

the CP community to document learning and share key lessons with others. The stated objectives for the wiki were:

1. Create a collaborative, online space where various conference stakeholders can work together (a)synchronously before, during, and after the conference to jointly write documents, create plans, and share ideas.

2. Build an online space to house documents (e.g., PDFs, .docx, .xlsx) that stakeholders want to post and exchange with other attendees

3. Create an interactive and engaging online space where stakeholders can add their voices and perspectives through interactive widgets and pages.

With the assistance of the technology consultant, these objectives were successfully met during the conference. There were (as of 21 May 2012) 284 wiki members and between 5 and 17 May the site was visited by over 355 unique visitors, who viewed various pages on the wiki over 6,400 times. Since May 17th, the wiki has been visited by 275 unique visitors, who viewed various pages over 2,470 times.

The wiki exists as a long-term structure, with both potential and real continued engagement after conference.

19

The wiki is a powerful tool that allows any wiki member (including all

conference participants) to post or edit text, as well as upload documents. With certain pages accessible to the public (such as conference sessions), and other pages accessible only to members (such as country delegation pages), the wiki acts as the primary repository for conference session presentations and notes. Furthermore, each country delegation has its own page within the wiki to document responses to discussion questions, and facilitate discussion during and after the conference.

It is important to note that the wiki exists as a long-term structure, with both

potential and real continued engagement after conference. A reciprocal link also exists between the wiki and the Community Child Protection Exchange Forum to encourage interconnections between these two virtual communities. The wiki is a central tab on the Exchange Forum website and the URL of the wiki also mirrors that site (i.e., wiki.childprotectionforum.org). The wiki homepage also links back to the Exchange Forum so users can easily move between the two sites.

The wiki is still in use after the conference. To support the sustainability of the wiki beyond the conference certain page names have been updated to remove their conference association. For example, the “Resource Fair” page, which referred to a specific event at the conference, is now named “Resource Library,” to suggest a place for ongoing sharing and organization of child protection systems resources. Requests for membership have continued since the conference has ended. The wiki’s uptake during the conference was slow, and required individualized attention to access it. However, by the end of the conference, the majority of countries had accessed their pages, and some country delegations truly embraced the space (such as Malawi) as a useful online tool.

i. Social media

The CP Systems Strengthening Conference had an active social media

presence, including Twitter (image above) and Facebook (image below) accounts. The purpose of using social media during the conference was to:

1) Promote and market the conference and related goals (e.g., reinforcing, supporting and sustaining national efforts to improve child protection systems)

2) Connect with donors and stakeholders currently on social media to build a network of engaged followers who will support these causes and dialogue with us

20

3) Bring new users to Facebook and Twitter via the conference to provide them with another news source about child protection issues and platform to dialogue with others during and after the conference

4) Live-tweet and post ideas/updates during the conference for people who are following the conference from afar and to document conference dialogues and events

These social media platforms were successfully used before the conference to build up momentum about the event, during the conference to engaging with global followers and document the conference in real-time, and after the conference to sustain moment around these issues and promote news about child protection issues. The technology consultant also provided onsite assistance to conference attendees to learn how to access and upload documents to the wiki, and helped 11 conference participants join Twitter and Facebook.6 Social media use among government representatives in Africa for professional purposes remains low. As such, the uptake of social media platforms for re-tweeting and liking on Facebook among conference participants remained low. That said, the potential exists for social media to may play an increasingly important role in communications, advocacy, and fundraising. It is therefore important that child protection professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa become familiar with this technology.

6 Specifically: Enyo Gbedemah (ahlienyo), Cornelius Williams (Cornwilliams14), Trish Hiddleston (trishhiddleston), Philip Goldman (maestralintl), Daniel Trah Dibi (DanielTrahDibi), Kassi Roger (KassiRoger), Noreen Huni (NoreenHuni), Jeanne K Ndyetabura (@JNdyeta & Facebook), Nankali Maksud (NankaliM), Brigette De Lay (brigettedelay), Cristina del Valle (cristina_unicef).

21

5. Conclusion The last three years have seen significant energy and investment in Africa in

defining and rolling out the child protection systems strengthening concept. This has occurred at the inter-governmental, international NGO levels with growing cooperation and agreement from the governmental level. System mapping and assessments have taken place or are in process in 25 countries, HR gap analysis and/or strategy developments are in development in a number of countries, and countless other countries are piloting new service models. The child protection system strengthening agenda provides a compelling vision of a comprehensive, cost-effective, holistic system to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children. CPSS requires both inter-agency and inter-ministry partnerships at the country and regional levels, as well as sustained investment from government and external sources. The Dakar conference represented an important convening of country-level professionals and international experts from more than 35 countries. The conference enabled information sharing and facilitated the creation of the wiki as the most comprehensive user-created collection of CP system strengthening knowledge. The momentum around CPSS in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to build, but further attention and investment is necessary in order for this momentum to be sustained and accelerated.

The child protection system strengthening agenda provides a compelling vision of a comprehensive, cost-effective, holistic system to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children.

22

6. Annex links

a. Original conference concept note Click here for the original conference concept note, or copy and paste the following link into a web-browser: http://wiki.childprotectionforum.org/file/detail/Concept+Note+-+CP+Systems+Strengthening+Conference+SubS+Africa+%282012%29.pdf

b. Detailed agenda Click here for the detailed agenda, or copy and paste the following link into a web-browser: http://wiki.childprotectionforum.org/file/view/CP+Systems+Conference+-+Detailed+Agenda+-English.pdf

c. Attendance list Click here for the attendance list, or copy and paste the following link into a web-browser: http://wiki.childprotectionforum.org/file/detail/Attendance+List+For+Wiki.pdf

d. Technology report Click here for the report prepared by the technology consultant, or copy and paste the following link into a web-browser: http://margaretpowers.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/technology_report_cps12_conference_2012-05-29_final.pdf