News & Commentary

(4 November 2016) On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative, the World Health Organization is convening the second meeting of the WHO Guideline Development Group – Nutrition Actions 2016-2018 in Florence, Italy, 7 – 11 November 2016. The WHO Guideline Development Group, together with other WHO expert advisory panels and a multi-disciplinary team of experts from all parts of the world will formulate final draft recommendations on new born and infant nutrition, taking into account existing evidence as well as diverse values and preferences, costs and feasibility.(4 November 2016) The Innocenti Centre is an appropriate venue for the review of the guidelines based on new evidence, and for an update on the WHO recommendations on breastfeeding in maternity facilities.The Ospedale Degli Innocenti, which today houses UNICEF Innocenti and the Istituto Degli Innocenti, is the spot where, almost 600 years ago, child care – and breastfeeding practice itself – for the most vulnerable children, became a civic priority for the community of Florence. In 1990 UNICEF and WHO adopted in Florence the Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding to ensure that all facilities with maternity services fully implemented the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding to support and encourage breastfeeding for new born infants.The Ten Steps first appeared in a joint statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF in 1989 on Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding: the Special Role of Maternity Services. The Steps as well as the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes became the foundation for the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in 1991.In 2009 BFHI was updated to take into account the experiences from the first 15 years of implementation and the guidance on infant feeding among mothers infected with HIV.This year, for five days, the Innocenti Centre will be again at the heart of the discussion to finalize the global guidelines for protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in maternity facilities and to scope the vitamin A supplementation guidelines. 

(2 November 2016) Today UNICEF Innocenti and the London School of Economics launch the Global Kids Online (GKO) research partnership at the Child Lives in the Digital Age seminar at UNICEF headquarters.

(2 November 2016) The role of Islamic theology in shaping child protection practice was recently discussed in an internal  UNICEF Innocenti seminar led by Patrick O’Leary, professor at the Griffith University in Brisbane and currently Senior Fellow at UNICEF InnocentiPatrick O’Leary, an internationally recognized researcher with experience in the field of child protection, gender based violence and the long-term impact of child sexual abuse, is currently studying child protection in Islamic contexts. His work challenges traditional ideas on the contributions that Islamic tradition has made in determining child protection frameworks, approaches and practices. According to O’Leary’s seminar remarks (see embedded slides below), child protection is an integral concept in Islamic thought, and Islamic teachings on raising children have shaped child care in Muslim communities for centuries. However, limited integration of Islamic knowledge in most current child protection practice jeopardizes awareness about why some interventions may be ineffective. Likewise, lack of mutual understanding may also prevent religious communities and leaders from being aware of the causes of abuse and formal legal provisions on child protection. O’Leary’s Innocenti seminar focused on convergent and divergent positions between the Western rights-based perspective and Islamic teaching regarding child protection policy and practice. Underlining the aspects on which Islamic jurisprudence aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - even in advance on Western law in some cases – O’Leary shared: “The idea that children have rights in Western society is very recent and appeared only in the twentieth century. Much older under Islamic law than under international law”.In addition to convergent concepts, O’Leary also highlighted areas where differences exist.  Acknowledging that in some cases differences were rooted in the epistemological divide, including the principle of individual as subject of rights (in Western jurisprudence) versus the primacy of the collective or best interests of the community (Shariah law). O’Leary stressed the need for more dialogue among cultures and faiths on the protection of children. He argues this is critical to the work of international child rights agencies, and that the development of relevant research and knowledge is essential to understanding of appropriate practices within Muslim families, particularly in child protection systems. He also emphasized how the convergence between Islamic values and Western child protection models could have a double positive role. Increased awareness could counteract the spread of Islamophobia while challenging monolithic Western models, particularly when some potentially beneficial Islamic childcare practices may be considered incompatible, or even dangerous, from a Western rights-based perspective.Child Protection with Muslim Families from UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti

(2 November 2016) A majority of children say they learn something new online at least every week, but large numbers still face risks online, according to the Global Kids Online Research Synthesis Report 2015 – 2016 produced by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and the London School of Economics and Political Science. The Global Kids Online project, launched today at the Children’s Lives in the Digital Age seminar held at UNICEF Headquarters in New York, aims to build a global network of researchers investigating the risks and opportunities of child internet use. The Global Kids Online website makes high quality, flexible research tools freely available worldwide. Pilot studies utilizing the new toolkit among children aged 9 – 17 in Argentina, the Philippines, Serbia and South Africa have been published in the new report. The indicative findings show that children are gaining a range of online opportunities including learning, health information, social connections and new digital skills. However, the more time children spend online, the more risks they face. The findings also suggest that many parents lack the digital skills to support their children online. On average, 8 in 10 children surveyed in the report accessed the internet on smartphones. This supports their independent access to the internet, again bringing opportunities and risks.Speaking at the New York launch event Professor Sonia Livingstone from LSE observed: “As the internet reaches more children in more countries, it is vital to extend the evidence base to guide policy makers as they balance children’s rights to participation, provision and protection online.”A substantial minority of children have also had contact with unknown persons online. Most children do not go on to meet with such persons face to face, and they often have some prior connection with the person, however, more education around the issue is needed, the study shows. In some countries, up to two thirds of children have seen sexual content online and others reported harmful or hurtful experiences online. The main causes of harmful or hurtful experiences according to the children were internet scams, pop ups or harassment. The number of children reporting upsetting experiences online ranged from a fifth in South Africa to three quarters in Argentina. When children experienced something troubling online between a third and two thirds of them most often turned to their friends for support. Only five to ten per cent sought help from a teacher, and even fewer sought help from other professionals.“When we discuss policy related to child internet use, it is essential that children’s voices and opinions are taken into account,” said Sarah Cook, Director of UNICEF Innocenti. “Research with children allows us to create a more realistic portrait of the significant opportunities as well as the safety concerns for children online. Hearing children’s aspirations and concerns is vital for translating this knowledge into messages for policy makers.”Other findings reveal how a majority of children value the internet as a learning tool, yet, they rarely are able to use it at school or to receive guidance from their teachers on how to use the internet. Parents want to help their children but don’t feel they know enough about how to use the internet to guide them.Jasmina Byrne, child protection specialist at UNICEF Innocenti shared why it was important to take into account children’s digital experiences.“At the global level, evidence and research on child internet use can help build a consensus among international actors on international standards, agreements, protocols and investments in order to make the internet a safer and better place for children.”For more information, visit www.globalkidsonline.net 

(21 October 2016) “Life has become so difficult; things are not easy because it’s hard to get a job, or even having something to do, with my standard 7 level of education,” a 19 year old youth recently recounted to researchers in Tanzania’s Kisarawe district. “I also need a house, good clothes, enough food for my family. This is what worries me; I am concerned about my wellbeing and my family’s wellbeing.” Three out of every four youth living in households eligible for Tanzania’s Productive Social Safety Net programme, a government social protection strategy implemented by the Tanzania Social Action Fund, did not have their basic material needs met prior to enrolment in the programme. The new findings were reported at a Dar es Salaam event presided over by senior Tanzanian Government officials along with international partners and researchers. The new study, led by UNICEF Innocenti, in collaboration with REPOA, a Tanzanian policy research centre, will help to establish baseline evidence which, together with new data collected among the same households in 2017, will be used to measure impacts of the new cash transfer programme on youth well-being. Other findings emerging from the study show that, in recipient households, 48 per cent of 14–17 year olds were not enrolled in school, and the rate of youth with symptoms of depression was as high 52 per cent before the start of the programme. Seventy one per cent of youth aged 18–28 experienced feelings of depression. HIV risk behaviours are also prevalent, as are experiences of emotional, physical and sexual violence among females. “The findings come at a critical time,” says UNICEF Representative in Tanzania, Maniza Zaman. “Over the next 10–15 years, Tanzania’s largest ever youth population will enter their economically productive years. Yet youth in Tanzania face many barriers to reaching their potential. Some are unable to complete their education, and many youth, girls in particular, are at risk of early marriage and pregnancy, violence, and HIV. Youth also often lack economic opportunities. “The PSSN could reduce the risks faced by youth, by reducing poverty and food insecurity.” Results presented this week demonstrate the vulnerabilities experienced by the poorest households about to receive benefits under the new programme. Next year researchers will go back to beneficiaries to determine what impact the programme has had on their lives.Evaluation of the Productive Social Safety Net programme in Tanzania is being carried out under the Transfer Project. 

(11 October 2016) Bullying – online or in person – is a serious global problem affecting high percentages of children. It undermines child physical and emotional health, well-being and school achievement. The repercussions of bullying, for both victim and perpetrator, can continue into adulthood exacting high social and economic costs for countries. This month important international steps are being taken to recognize the urgency and increase understanding of the scope of bullying worldwide.UN bullying reportOn 12 October, Protecting Children from Bullying, a new report produced by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, will be presented to the General Assembly. The report represents an important step in formal international consideration of the widespread child rights problem of bullying. The SRSG report reviews global measures to respond to bullying and recommends priority actions to ensure children’s protection from bullying and cyberbullying. A central theme of the report is the urgent need for high quality evidence to support improved policy and practice.  UNICEF Innocenti is currently developing a global database on bullying among 11- to 15-year-olds to support establishment of a reliable global indicator. The database is derived from six major international surveys covering 145 countries and will enable analysis of the prevalence of bullying by age and gender. “In order to accelerate progress in protecting children from bullying it is essential to understand the extent of bullying across countries,” said Dominic Richardson, UNICEF Innocenti’s education specialist. “This database marks an important first step in bringing it all together.” On 14 October the Special Representative's Office is set to further release an in-depth report Ending the Torment: Tackling Bullying from the Schoolyard to Cyberspace. New longitudinal data from developing countriesResearchers at Innocenti have also collaborated with Young Lives, an international longitudinal study on childhood poverty, to produce a new discussion paper Experiences of Peer Bullying among Adolescents and Associated Effects on Young Adult Outcomes. The new study is based on the experiences of 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam over a 15-year period. It shows how being bullied at the age of 15 is associated with negative effects on resiliency, self-esteem and interpersonal relationships later in life.The new Innocenti paper represents an important contribution to research on bullying in low- and middle-income countries. The bulk of data on bullying currently available is based on studies in high-income countries. The most commonly reported forms of bullying found in the Young Lives sample were humiliation, social exclusion and verbal taunting. Gender was found to be an important factor with boys at significantly greater risk of physical and verbal bullying, while girls experienced more indirect and relational bullying. Children from poor families and out-of-school children were consistently found to experience higher rates of bullying.“Longitudinal studies are our best tool to understand how we are affected by the constant change that defines children's lives,” said Mary Catherine Maternowska, lead researcher on violence affecting children at Innocenti. “We can go beyond a ‘snapshot’ view to see how experiences in childhood may affect later outcomes. This expands our understanding of both resilience and vulnerability; it is the power of Young Lives’ approach.”As a contribution towards UNICEF Innocenti’s Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children, the discussion paper looks at how structural factors interact to affect everyday violence, including bullying, in different contexts - children’s homes, schools and communities - informing national policies for violence prevention. The study also illuminates the gender dimension of bullying, examining the ways boys and girls are affected by different types of bullying at different ages, taking into account norms regarding socially acceptable behaviours for boys and girls. The paper concludes that the wider social context of bullying can be a critical yet often missing element of prevention efforts, highlighting how bullying often occurs in complex settings where other forms of violence are also present. Peer bullying has often lagged behind other forms of violence affecting children in global child protection advocacy, leading to the risk of underestimating the long-term impact on the lives of victims and perpetrators. UN General Assembly resolution 69/158 on bullying, together with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, with specific targets on the protection of children from violence, abuse and exploitation, may comprise an important new foundation for progress in protecting children from bullying. With new evidence confirming the global scope, as well as the emergence of new forms - such as cyberbullying and discriminatory bullying targeting minority and immigrant children - there is urgent need for better data collection, increased resource allocation and development of effective prevention models, including for low- and middle-income countries. 

Increased attention to bullying and cyberbullying and its impact on children has prompted international efforts to improve actions to prevent and address this phenomenon in the protection of children. In an intensive two day consultation in Florence leading researchers, policy makers and education experts from 19 countries discussed bullying and its impact on children, which will inform the preparation of the upcoming United Nations Secretary-General’s report on bullying to the General Assembly. Bullying is a worldwide problem. Data from 106 countries on the proportion of 13 – 15 year olds who say they have been bullied recently ranges from 7% in Tajikistan to 74% in Samoa. According to this data Pakistan, Indonesia and Peru had bullying rates between 41 – 50% while Canada, France and Russia had bullying rates between 31 – 40%. Themes of the expert consultation covered review of the latest available data, awareness raising, public policies, legislation, child protection systems and the role of education in protecting children from bullying. The expert consultation was organized by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, with the support of UNICEF Innocenti.“The protection of children from bullying and cyberbullying is an ethical and normative imperative,” said Marta Santos-Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. “Despite important developments in different parts of the world, this phenomenon is amongst children’s top concerns.” A 2014 UN General Assembly resolution Protecting children from bullying, specifies the Secretary-General’s report should emphasize “causes and effects, as well as good practices and guidance for bullying prevention and response.” A forthcoming working paper on validating a global indicator of bullying in schools using data from 145 countries was presented by Innocenti education specialist Dominic Richardson. “One of the major challenges in establishing a global indicator is the wide variety of terminology and definitions of bullying between regions and even between countries,” said Richardson. “Data on bullying in schools is gathered in all regions of the world and so it is possible to develop a global bullying database to guide policy and monitor progress.” Kirrily Pells (UCL) presented emerging findings from the University of Oxford’s Young Lives longitudinal study of childhood poverty, on the long term impact of bullying on children in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. According to Pells, “Bullying at age 15 is associated with a range of negative effects on self-efficacy, self-esteem, peer and parental relations at age 19, suggesting potential long-term consequences.”A major focus of discussion in the meeting was the rise of cyberbullying and the nexus between bullying in children’s online and offline worlds. According to data gathered in the 2014 EU Kids Online survey 23% of children in Europe experienced some form of bullying and 12% experienced cyberbullying. According to Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics, one in three internet users are now children. She emphasized the need to develop regulations and policies on cyberbullying that avoid punitive measures and find the balance between encouraging the benefits of online participation with the protection of children from risks. A consistent theme throughout the two day consultation was the need to ensure conceptual clarity when describing bullying, to enable progress in its prevention, monitoring and elimination. The challenges and opportunities in crafting evidence-based legislation and institutional frameworks to protect children from bullying were discussed on the second day of the consultation. Legislation should clearly convey how to ensure the protection of all children and fight impunity, while providing the foundation for a culture of respect for children’s rights. George Moschos, the Deputy Ombudsman for Child Rights in Greece shared experiences based on his office’s review of 6,000 cases of child rights violations and 700 discussions with children. According to Moschos: “Children say that violence is a normal part of their lives and that adults are disinterested in what is happening. They tend to ‘punish and finish.’ We need to avoid the easy recourse to punitive responses and train teachers and parents to listen, mediate and stay involved in children’s lives. We also need to lay stress on democratic governance of schools and human rights education, promoting children’s mutual respect.” Schools are seen as a major setting where the various phenomena of bullying are played out as well as the primary arena for effective efforts to prevent it. Two rigorously evaluated and fully elaborated programmatic approaches to school bullying were discussed in-depth during the consultation: the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme developed in Norway and the KiVa Anti-bullying Programme developed and promoted in Finland.Both programmes have benefitted from extensive data gathering and impact evaluation evidence collected over many years of programme implementation among very large numbers of children in school settings. Common findings highlight the importance of training and involving all school actors, whole school bullying prevention learning and making active, supportive and predictable adult intervention the norm.  Finally, appropriate responses to the significantly higher incidence of victimization based on sexual orientation and gender identity were examined. Accounts of severe victimization, extreme loneliness and almost non-existent support infrastructure for these children were shared. Evidence provided by Christophe Cornu of UNESCO from a number of recent studies indicated significantly higher rates of bullying endured by LGBT youth. The information and outcomes of the Florence consultation will inform the upcoming Secretary-General’s report on protecting children from bullying. The report will be submitted to the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly later in 2016.  (16 May 2016)

An innovative new research partnership is set to greatly expand the amount of in-depth, cross national data available on the opportunities and risks of child internet use across the globe. The Global Kids Online project, a multi-country initiative led by UNICEF Innocenti and the London School of Economics, aims to create an international network of researchers and experts through provision of a research toolkit available online. The toolkit is designed to generate robust research to better understand children’s diverse digital experiences in various countries and contexts. The initial phase of the project consists of rigorous, multi method studies on how children access and use the internet in Serbia, South Africa, Argentina and the Philippines.Speaking at the launch of the South African Global Kids Online pilot study in Pretoria, Daniel Kardefelt-Winther, UNICEF Innocenti research coordinator said: “With 1 in 3 internet users being a child, it’s crucial that we establish an evidence base of what children do online and what impact the internet has on their lives. Global Kids Online does precisely this, with a focus on the developing world where child internet users in many countries outnumber adult users.”  “The uniqueness of this research is in the fact that we asked questions both of parents and their children. This is powerful because we can match parent and child data and see how parents’ knowledge of the internet influences the child’s digital skills. “We can also look at what parents’ attitudes to the internet are and see how this influences children’s opportunities to access. We can investigate whether parents’ knowledge of the internet influences what children do online and what risks they encounter.”The findings from the South Africa Kids Online study indicate that one in three children have been exposed to hate speech and inappropriate content online. One in five children has also met face to face with a person they had first met with online although most respondents reported feeling fine about the meeting as most of them were of similar ages.  Other South Africa findings reveal how most children value the internet for learning purposes, but rarely use the internet at school or receive guidance from their teachers on how to use the internet. Parents want to help their children but don’t feel they know enough about how to use the internet to guide them.Anthony Nolan, UNICEF South Africa Chief of Child Protection shared why it was important to understand children’s digital experiences. “Children and young people are leading the digital uptake in developing countries, but this also means that they are more likely to be exposed to negative online experiences,” he said.“UNICEF believes that by understanding how children and young people are behaving in the digital space, they can be empowered to be responsible users.”The South African Kids Online pilot study was conducted by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention. The study will feed into the Global Kids Online research findings which will be published in a synthesis report by UNICEF Innocenti later this year.  The South African Kids Online study interviewed 962 children, aged 9 to 17 years old, in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng regions about their internet use. Over 550 parents were interviewed in order to find out how they used the internet themselves and how they mediated their children’s internet use.For more information on Global Kids Online visit here. To download the South African Kids Online pilot study, visit here. To learn more about UNICEF Innocenti’s work on child rights in the digital age visit here. (4 October 2016)

UNICEF and the National Statistical Service of Armenia have released the country’s first comprehensive national study on multidimensional child poverty: Child Poverty in Armenia: National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis. The report offers a comprehensive picture of child poverty in a national context, by looking at multidimensional and monetary poverty and providing estimates on the degree to which the two measures overlap. The research is the first of its kind in the Caucasus region and is based on UNICEF Innocenti’s Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA) methodology. According to the study, 64 per cent of children in Armenia are deprived in two or more dimensions. Nationwide, only 12 per cent of children are not deprived in any dimension. This is true, however, for only three per cent of children in rural areas and18 per cent of children in urban areas. Most children are deprived in the dimensions of utilities, housing and leisure; while the majority of younger children (0-5) are mostly deprived in nutrition.“Child poverty is about more than just money – it’s multidimensional. For children, poverty means being deprived in crucial aspects of their lives, such as nutrition, education, leisure or housing. These deprivations go beyond monetary aspects, not only affecting the quality of their life at present, but also their ability to grow to their full potential in the future,” said UNICEF Representative in Armenia, Tanja Radocaj.There are severe rural/urban divides found in two dimensions. In the utilities dimension: 87 per cent of children in rural areas are deprived in utilities, which is a combination of poor access to water and heating. In the information dimension: 57 per cent of rural children are deprived of access to information, while this is true for only one third of children in urban settings. No significant gender differences were observed in the distribution of deprivation across the dimensions.“This is the first report of its kind in Armenia that depicts the situation of multidimensional poverty, including its overlap with monetary poverty, among children at a national level. With this analysis we can now address a key target of the Sustainable Development Goal 1 and monitor our progress toward meeting this goal,” said the President of the National Statistical Service, Stepan Mnatsakanyan.When deprivation is juxtaposed with poverty, almost one in three children are both poor and deprived. Twenty eight per cent of children are deprived in two or more dimensions, while also living in monetary-poor households. These children represent the most vulnerable section of society and should be prioritized by social policies. Thirty six per cent of children are deprived, but do not live in a poor household. These children need direct intervention to tackle their deprivations and are at a greater risk of being missed by policies that only address monetary poverty.The analysis carries important implications for policy making and makes the case to improve social protection measures, in order to ensure children are protected from risks, while also expanding access to the social services they greatly need. Whether examining poverty from monetary or non-monetary sides, data demonstrates that children are more likely to live in poverty than other groups. Ending child poverty is a pressing challenge in many countries around the world. (27 September 2016)

Experts in research, data and monitoring descended on Florence this month to discuss their increasingly important role in addressing the latest challenges facing children’s rights.More than 80 UNICEF staff from over 40 countries attended the annual DREAM (Data, Research, Evaluation and Monitoring) meeting June 6-10 on how to generate better and more useful evidence for children’s rights and how to ensure that evidence is taken up and has an impact at the level of policy. “UNICEF is taking its evidence role very seriously, refocusing and emphasising how to provide quality evidence for and about children so that it can be used by governments and other important stakeholders,” said Nikola Balvin, a knowledge management specialist at UNICEF’s Office of Research – Innocenti. “We do that mainly in low and middle income countries but we recognise that as part of the universal agenda of the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) era, we also need to advocate for the rights of children in high income countries.”A key theme in the meeting was how evidence based research could help inform government policy. UNICEF Innocenti’s chief knowledge management specialist, Kerry Albright argued the case for better evidence informed policymaking decisions. “We need to be realistic that no matter how good the quality of evidence, it is just one of a myriad of factors that are likely to impact upon decision-making.  “That is not to say that we should not try.  We still need to start with good quality evidence; the dangers of communicating bad science are far worse, but to understand the likely limitations of the use of evidence in decision-making when combined with multiple other factors including political realities, expertise, values etc.”She added: “Why is evidence-informed policymaking so important?  Because whilst not perfect, the alternative is far worse: policymaking based on personal opinion and beliefs.  This is absolutely not to say that experience and judgement do not count, but that each of us is susceptible to our own personal biases and beliefs and we need to get away from ‘the cult of the expert’.  It is only by looking at an entire body of evidence, drawing upon formal documented evidence, evidence from citizens and evidence from practice and policy implementation that we can get a more holistic picture.”Other themes at the meeting tackled new tools and methods for measuring child poverty and the role of data in monitoring the SDG’s.An awards ceremony was also held during the meeting at which the best of UNICEF research generated during 2016 was recognised. The three top distinction awards went to a project in Indonesia which helped raise awareness around menstrual hygiene management, a research project centred on child marriage in Zambia and children’s perceptions of hospital paediatric care in West Africa.   Now in its fourth year, the annual DREAM meeting brings together top specialists from all regions of the globe working for UNICEF in data and analytics, research and monitoring and evaluation. (14 June 2016)

The Istituto degli Innocenti and UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, on 22 July, formally renewed their cooperation, signing an agreement to work together for another four year period (1 January 2017 – 31 December 2020). The new agreement defines the range of activities that the two institutions will collaborate on over the coming years in order to promote recognition and observance of children's rights on the national and international levels, including joint management of the public Innocenti library.Among many features in the new agreement, a highlight is finalization of terms and conditions for the use of new office premises made available by Regione Toscana and Istituto degli Innocenti for UNICEF Innocenti. The new facilities were agreed upon in a 27 March 2012 Memorandum of Understanding. The facilities, currently under renovation, will become available for use in May 2017 and will allow UNICEF Innocenti to expand its functions both as a global research centre on children and as a convening centre. Over the next few years the Istituto and UNICEF will also collaborate to integrate within the new Museum Degli Innocenti (MUDI), exhibitions that feature displays on global children’s issues and the contributions of UNICEF to research at Innocenti. Cooperation between UNICEF and the Government of Italy at Innocenti began in 1988 when they launched an effort to establish a “new global ethic for children” in Florence. Eventually UNICEF established its international research function at the nearly 600-year-old Ospedale, an institution that can be viewed as one of the earliest efforts by secular authorities to elevate the concerns of vulnerable children to the level of civic priority. (22 July 2016)

Cash transfers have expanded dramatically in the last two decades, becoming key tools for social protection and economic empowerment in developing countries. Until now the rise of cash has been fueled by evidence drawn mostly from conditional cash models in Latin America. In the new book, From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfers and Impact Evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa, leading researchers provide compelling new evidence about the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfers—direct and predictable transfers without strings attached to specific behavioral changes—in Africa. The book documents the impressive rise of social protection initiatives in the region over the last decade and highlights experiences of implementing cash transfer programmes in eight sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). “Cash transfers are not only a social intervention but they also contribute to transforming livelihoods and make local economies more dynamic,” says FAO’s Ben Davis, Strategic Programme Leader, Rural Poverty Reduction. “By providing poor households with cash, these programmes also stimulate local demand for goods and services, generating multiplier effects and bolstering local economies.” From Evidence to Action, a joint UNICEF-FAO partnership on impact evaluation of national cash transfer programmes, showcases new, rigorous and timely evidence demonstrating the far-reaching impacts of unconditional cash transfers on the well-being of African children, families and communities. A significant portion of the evidence presented in the volume is based on field research conducted by UNICEF Innocenti.“This book is about how to use the evidence generated by impact evaluations to inform and improve policy and programme design, implementation and scale up, in order to increase the positive impact on people’s lives in sub-Saharan Africa,” FAO’s Senior Social Protection Officer Natalia Winder-Rossi explains.Evidence points to significant impact of unconditional cash transfers on school enrollment, health, food security, and agricultural investment, without necessarily leading to undesirable behaviors such as dependency – a prevailing concern among policy makers. Over the last decade, collaboration among national policy makers, development partners and researchers has led to the expansion of cash transfer programmes and social protection policies across the sub-Saharan Africa region. Most importantly, it has supported the idea that giving cash to the poorest and most vulnerable children, families and communities is a worthwhile investment in their nations' own future.Scheduled From Evidence to Action book launch events will be held in:New York, September 22: Editors will present insights and findings at the 8th SPIAC-B Meeting Johannesburg, November 15: Government Representatives and UN Programme Staff will take part in a Mail & Guardian “Critical Thinking Forum”.On social media, follow all the book events and discussions at: #Ev2ActThe Transfer Project is a group of researchers and practitioners from UNICEF, FAO, University of North Carolina and Save the Children UK collaborating to provide rigorous evidence on the impact of large-scale national cash transfer programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfers and Impact Evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa is edited by: Benjamin Davis, Sudhanshu Handa, Nicola Hypher, Natalia Winder Rossi, Paul Winters, and Jennifer Yablonski. Oxford University Press.The book can be ordered online through Oxford University Press or Amazon(21 September 2016)