Strengthening Child Protection in German International Development Cooperation

Following a tender published by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in Berlin, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) together with its lead partner, the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI), have been awarded a contract for a major research study in the context of international development cooperation. More specifically, it reviews the relevance of child protection (based on child rights standards) in the framework of German development programmes and projects, and shall give recommendations for further enhancement of this area.

This includes addressing questions such as:

• To what extent are current German development measures related to child protection, and what are existing strategies and priorities?
• What are the strategies employed by relevant bi- and multilateral donors in the international level in this regard?
• What are the most important sectors, mechanisms and decision-making processes in partner countries in order to comprehensively realize child protection?
• Which are the most successful methodologies and good practices so far in implementing child protection in German development cooperation?

Every child has the right to be adequately protected from violence, abuse and neglect. The study (available in German only) investigates specific risks of violence against children and exploitation of children in the context of global trends. Three global trends and their specific challenges concerning child protection have been identified: (1) rapid urbanisation and urban violence, (2) migration movements and (3) natural disasters and climate change.

Based on the challenges, the study developed recommendations in order to strengthen child protection in development cooperation. The study frames its recommendations in four areas:

• Strengthening the conceptual and institutional basis for the protection of children in development cooperation: defining and establishing child protection as a stand-alone field of action and adopting an internal child protection policy
• Further mainstreaming child rights as part of the human rights mainstreaming process: Integrating aspects of child protection into existing instruments and trainings
• Implementing child rights, with a particular focus on protection rights, at the country level: establishing national child protection systems, and ratifying and implementing the Third Optional Protocol to the CRC
• Taking a thematically and geographic focus on development projects tackling child protection issues: cooperating transnationally and linking up child protection systems and institutions across borders.