Regional Alliance Projects

Making the Case for Going to Scale with Parenting Programmes in the UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Region

P4EC Consultancy group led a team of parenting programme experts and an economist to develop the advocacy case for taking parenting programmes to scale in the MENA region. The advocacy case builds on existing experience in the region and the global evidence on the costs and returns of parenting programmes for reducing violence against children and improving outcomes for children and young people.

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Short-Term International Institutional Consultancy on Strengthening the Capacity of Social Services Centers and Family Support Teams under the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services and Other National Organizations, Turkey

UNICEF Turkey already has a wide range of materials available on both child protection, outreach and case management so the task was intended to build on these materials, align them with the changing needs of the client populations of the SSC and ASDEP teams and adapt them to create the content of a training programme package required for building skills and knowledge of the workforce.

The child protection, outreach work and case management training is inclusive of all children and aims to address and integrate the specific needs of children with a disability, children with mental health conditions, and minorities.

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Support to the Joint Programme on improving the system of social protection through the introduction of inclusive quality community-based social services in Turkmenistan

The purpose of this partnership is to bring together the experience and expertise of the Regional Alliance “Partnership for Every Child” and UNICEF to ensure continuous and high-quality technical support to the Joint Programme (JP) between the Government of Turkmenistan and UN, which targets to make a transformative change in the current system of social service delivery in Turkmenistan, to reach out to the most deprived and vulnerable population and to address their specific needs. The JP, funded by the SDG Fund, will design a new model of inclusive community-based services for children at risk of separation from parents, children without parental care, children with disabilities, youth at risk, women facing gender-based violence, people with disabilities and older persons in need of support with basic everyday care. The three expected outputs of the JP are:

• Output 1: An inclusive community-based social service model is developed, with its key elements prototyped to address multiple vulnerabilities of the most in need and ready for scaling up
• Output 2: Legislative and regulatory framework will be reinforced and institutional mechanisms established to facilitate the introduction of the new community-based social service delivery system
• Output 3: The country’s social work and social service workforce capacity strengthened

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Development of training package for strengthening core competencies of social protection workforce in Kazakhstan

UNICEF Kazakhstan works together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP) to further implement its flagship targeted social assistance programme by introducing a ‘cash plus’ model where social assistance staff are trained in basic social work competencies to act as ‘family advisors’ and support social inclusion, access to benefits and services. The ‘cash plus’ model aims to address poverty and social exclusion in a multidimensional way and to impact on child poverty and other child-related outcomes. A key element of this strategy is to strengthen the role of and build the capacity of social work assistants to engage with families and community members.

This project aims to develop a five-day package of training, and to train a group of Master Trainers to deliver it, that will equip social assistants in family advisor roles with the competencies (skills, knowledge and behaviours) to engage in outreach work with families and in community engagement. The training package must be based on international understanding and standards of core competencies in social work, especially casework, interpersonal communication and community engagement, but be suitably contextualised for application in the Kazakhstan TSA programme in both urban and rural areas.

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«Technical support to UNICEF Europe and Central Asia regional office (ECARO) for a Regional Conference on Social Service Workforce/Social work»

Tasks:

• work with different programme sections of UNICEF ECARO and UNICEF country offices to decide on methodology for collecting documentation on social work/social services (SW/SS) workforce practices;
• based on the agreed methodology, document promising practices and models of social work/social services workforce roles and functions within different sectors (health, education, social welfare/protection, child protection, ECD, C4D, justice, etc.) in different countries in ECA region in close collaboration with governments, academia and civil society;
• construct a draft metric for measuring investment and progress in the social work and social service workforce (e.g., number of social workers across different sectors, training scale and level.; this matrix will be used for the participating governments to develop their Investment Management Systems (IMS) on the ways/approaches for social service workforce enhancement; details of the matrix will be discussed and agreed upon during inception meeting;
• provide technical support in preparation for a high-level conference ensuring that the countries where documentation and discussions have taken place are well positioned to present their efforts in a coherent way;

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https://www.unicef.org/eca/press-releases/romanian-ministry-labor-and-social-justice-and-unicef-organize-high-level-regional

Every Child has a right to a family – Support for de-institutionalization in Tunisia

Tasks:

The development of a National deinstitutionalization strategy and the establishment of a concrete action plan to enhance the strengths of the existing child protection system and development of a wide range of services to meet the basic needs of children without family care or are at risk of loss parental care in accordance with the “Guidelines for the alternative care of children” of the UN.

Development of recommendations to improve the quality of family prevention and support services, including services for children born out of wedlock, children with disabilities and other children at risk of separation from their parents, as well as the cost of various family support options and alternative forms of child care.

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International Institutional Consultancy for preparation of the Social Service Standards and Curriculum for teaching social work professionals in Turkmenistan

Tasks:

To support the Government of Turkmenistan in the development and practical implementation of inclusive (integrated) quality community-based services for vulnerable children and families by 2020, including the development of Standards of Social Services and the development of a training program for future professional social workers.

As a result of the project: Report “Action Plan for the development of social services and human resources for social work for 2018-2028» have been prepared.

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«Child-friendly social environment” – the development of alternative social services within the framework of transformation of the system of care for children». Kazakhstan

Tasks:

1. To assess the situation of de-institutionalization and development of existing preventive social services for family support, alternative family arrangement of children and development planning;

2. To Develop and test a training program for child protection specialists.

Draft minimum standards and procedures for the provision of special social services for the child and the family and a draft CPF Regulation have been prepared.

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Childonomics – Measuring the long term social and economic value of investing in children

The Childonomics research project has developed an instrument that can help decision-makers, child care specialists, social workers, researchers, child rights advocates and other interested parties reflect on the long-term social and economic return of investing in children and families within a given national or sub-national context.

The Childonomics is a methodology for assessing the value of different types of services by enabling consideration of costs of different services and approaches to supporting children and families in vulnerable situations – or at risk of entering into vulnerable situations – and the kinds of outcomes which interaction with those services might be expected to achieve for the child and family as well as for the community and society as a whole.

The project and methodology uses a rights-based foundation and an outcomes focus as a basis for understanding the investment in children and families that is required to ensure the well-being of children, with a particular emphasis on supporting children, families, and communities in order to prevent and reduce any form of developmental delay, harm and, especially, the unnecessary separation of children from their parents or families.

The methodology proposes an approach to economic modelling that can be used in a number of ways to inform decision-making, advocacy, research and practice development.

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Family Care for Children with Disabilities: Practical Guidance for Frontline Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Tasks: To develop guidance for frontline social workers, case managers and service managers on working with children with disabilities in a family setting. Field test the guidance in two countries and incorporate feedback and inputs from a steering committee of experts.

The Guidance was developed collaboratively. The process included consultations with people who work directly and indirectly with children, including children with disabilities, all over the world. It included in-depth review during a workshop with government and non-government social service workers, as well as consultations with children with disabilities and their families in Ukraine. The Guidance is intendedfor use in different countries and cultures; the approaches and concepts described and the words used in the text are asup-to-date and generally accepted as is possible.This Guidance is a resource for people who work withchildren and families using a case management approach inmiddle-income and low-income countries.Basic case management approaches should be the same forall children but there are additional and specific issues and approaches that specialists should know about when you workwith children with disabilities. This Guidance provides answers to these issues.

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«Technical support to improve design of targeted cash transfer program to be more responsive to the needs of families with children in Kazakhstan»

Tasks:To assist whether the newly reformed Targeted Social Assistance programme (currently being piloted) helps to alleviate immediate poverty by using an adequate targeting mechanism, and whether the new framework supports access to the integrated Social Services for families with children

The social protection sector in Kazakhstan has undergone significant transformation in recent years.As part of these reform processes a Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) programme was introduced in 2010-2011. A study by UNICEF in 2014 found a large proportion (over 90%) of exclusion errors (i.e. eligible households that were not receiving benefits) and fragmented coverage of key vulnerable groups.

ecommendations were developed to improve the efficiency of social benefits and payments in Kazakhstan. The revised TSA In 2016 programme is being piloted in selected districts during 2016 including some districts in Kyzylorda and Mangystau.

Effective social transfer targeting and improved access to effective and appropriate social services through integrated service delivery- are crucial for addressing the multiple and often inter-related vulnerabilities experienced by children and their families.The findings and recommendations produced by this project should help to ensure that the proposed TSA means-tested programme has better coverage and it is more responsive to the needs of families with children. The consultant team also provided practical and hands-on technical assistance to local stakeholders including training and supported the design and development of operational systems and protocols to improve service delivery.

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Documenting East Kazakhstan Oblast experience in establishing family support services. Kazakhstan

Tasks: To document the effectiveness of the models developed in Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey and their relevance in meeting the needs of children and families and ensuring lasting impact on the realization of children’s rights; To identify gaps in – and carry out a costing of – existing services and to develop a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of the family support services established in East Kazakhstan and other family support models in Kazakhstan and internationally.

Implementation included: initial visit to Astana and East Kazakhstan for consultation; field work to collect primary data including through focus groups, key informant interviews, survey or services to document costs, service delivery data and describe methods, service specifications and ways of working – Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk; statistical data analysis and summarizing of main findings

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Ensuring inclusiveness and Service Delivery for Persons with Disabilities in Mongolia

Tasks: To support the Government of Mongolia in addressing a major social and rights issue by ensuring inclusiveness and delivery of services for persons with disabilities.

The overall aim of the project is to ensure access by people with disabilities to employment to increase their autonomy and contribution to the economy and society in general. This is a stage on the journey towards a fully equitable society. It will address the most urgent impediments to inclusion for the biggest number of most marginalised and vulnerable children and people with disabilities. It will set the standard for a national approach and act as a platform for more incremental actions over time, as more resources become available.

Improved service delivery is in part be facilitated by specialist teams including social workers, physiotherapists, speech therapists and occupational therapists, operating from new Development and Rehabilitation Centers. These are located in 6 aimags (Arkhangai, Darkhan-uul, Dornod, Dundgovi, Khovd, and Khuvsgul) and at the National Rehabilitation Center and National Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Ulaanbaatar. The project is strongly aligned with the Asian Development Bank Social Protection Strategy and the Social Protection Operational Plan 2014–2020. The project supports the implementation of the 2030 Vision for Sustainable Development in Mongolia

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Technical assistance to the Government of Turkmenistan in assessing the existing social protection services and recommendations on expansion of the services for boys and girls and their families

To review the existing social protection Services as well as other relevant statutory bodies and based on the sound gender sensitive evidence produce review of the situation with strong equity focused recommendations.

More precisely the major arear of the work were concentrated on the review the regional social protection centers and assessment of possible expansion of their work with more focus on family support services and review of the linkages social protection system and the Regional level commissions charged with child protection and support functions.

The main activities included: A desk review of previous studies and reports in the social protection sphere in Turkmenistan; development of the methodology for this assessment, collection both quantitative and qualitative data in order to help triangulate data from key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Some key informant interviews were held with several respondents at a time and some focus group discussions took the form of group consultations or workshops rather than pure focus group discussions. Data was gathered in Ashgabat, Ahal velayat and Turkmenabat/Lebap Velayat by the consultant.

The final study aimed to capture the perspectives of a range of actors in the social protection system including parents, specialists and decision-makers at national, regional and local levels and to gather data that could help to uncover the patterns of demand and supply for social services and inform the possible development of child and family oriented social services.

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Technical assistance on commissioning of the Survey and situation analysis of the boys and girls with disabilities in Turkmenistan

Tasks: To implement a disability survey which enable the collection and establishment of a sound baseline increasing the evidence for policymaking, knowledge and awareness about the situation and rights of children with disabilities.

The specific objectives of the survey are:

• To understand who are the children with disabilities;
• To uncover the situation of children with disabilities in institution (age, gender, geographic location);
• To understand the accessibility and availability of the Social Services for children with disabilities.

The final report presents the findings from the survey which included:

• 301 interviews with parents or carers of children with disabilities – 151 children in residential care and 150 children in the care of their own families;
• 11 interviews with directors of residential boarding schools for children with disabilities;
• 3 focus group discussions with parents of children with disabilities in Ashgabat, Turkmenabat and Ahal (total number of participants – 25); 2 focus group discussions with parents of children without disabilities in Ashgabat and Ahal (8 participants) and one interview with the mother of a child without disability in Turkmenabat;
• Request for disaggregated administrative system and demographic data on children and young people with disabilities submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry and the State Statistics Committee.

An extensive desk review also informed the methodology for the survey and the findings in the final report including: – International good practice on conducting surveys relating to disability and child disability, National legislation, policy and institutional arrangements for children with disabilities in Turkmenistan, Relevant studies and research reports from Turkmenistan.

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Technical assistance to study the mail reason for abandonment and relinquishment of children 0-3 years old in Turkmenistan

Tasks: To gather a better picture on a number, place of birth, nationality of children under three who are abandoned / relinquished in Turkmenistan and a) live in residential care; b) in any form of care (to have sample of cases to look at in order to establish the causes / main reasons.

Other tasks included: to analyze the main reason for abandonment / relinquishment of children 0-3 years old in Turkmenistan and examine the role of family, social and community factors leading to the abandonment of children; to review the process of how these children are taken into care and explore availability of social work and support services to work with the mother / family in difficult situation.

The main activities included: an extensive study of the situation in the four infant homes in Turkmenistan. The study gathered and analyzed secondary data at national, regional/infant home and individual levels and gathered primary data through interviews with 84 staff and 38 parents in maternity hospitals and infant homes. The study summarizes views of maternity hospital and infant home staff on how prevention of relinquishment can be strengthened and the experiences of a group of mothers of young children with disabilities at the birth of the baby and subsequently in terms of caring for their child in the community without recourse to the infant home.

The final report included key recommendations to emerge from the study are: the need to expand and change the functions of the infant homes; strengthening reproductive health services in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies; taking active and structured measures to prevent relinquishment in the maternity hospitals; strengthening links between Guardianship and Trusteeship organs, health, education and social services; creating new social services to support children and families in difficult life situations as an alternative to placement into infant homes; developing and implementing a Disability Policy; monitoring key indicators in prevention and alternatives to infant home care; training and re-training staff.

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