The Best Interests of the Child in Intercountry Adoption

This publication seeks to develop a research agenda on family support and parenting support globally. An integrated and life-course approach to children is taken, considering their situation and a range of outcomes for them at different stages of their growth and development. Part 2 consists of nine country case studies.

As the effects of climate change become more visible and extreme, they are likely to affect adversely the lives of children and adolescents all over the world. A commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will benefit all of us - but specially children. Improving the lives of marginalized communities in developing countries means embarking on and funding low carbon development. In this book some 40 experts speak out for and with children on how to protect their future.

This report explores the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) can contribute to efforts towards meeting child-focused development goals. It serves as a key contribution on which to build informed dialogue and decision making, developed jointly between research, policy and practice.

Negli ultimi vent'anni, Internet è diventata parte integrante della nostra vita. Abbiamo abbracciato con entusiasmo il suo potenziale in termini di comunicazione, intrattenimento e ricerca di informazioni. Per molti bambini di oggi, Internet, telefoni cellulari e tecnologie affini costituiscono una presenza familiare e costante: si muovono agevolmente tra ambiente online e offline, tanto che ai loro occhi la distinzione risulta sempre più irrilevante.

Emerging evidence suggests that social protection programmes can have a positive role in delaying marriage for girls. But the pathways and design features by which programmes may influence child marriage outcomes remain unknown. This mixed-methods study explores whether and how the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia, given its national reach and potential to address poverty, can also affect child marriage practice. It draws on descriptive quantitative and qualitative data from an ongoing impact evaluation of the Integrated Safety Net Program (ISNP) pilot in the Amhara region. It finds that PSNP, through an economic channel, is effective in reducing financial pressures on families to marry off girls and in improving girls’ education opportunities. Income-strengthening measures must, however, be accompanied by complementary efforts – including girls’ empowerment, awareness-raising and legal measures – to transform deep-rooted social and gender norms and attitudes that perpetuate the harmful practice of child marriage.

Emerging evidence suggests that social protection programmes can have a positive role in delaying marriage for girls. But the pathways and design features by which programmes may influence child marriage outcomes remain unknown. This mixed-methods study explores whether and how the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia, given its national reach and potential to address poverty, can also affect child marriage practice. It draws on descriptive quantitative and qualitative data from an ongoing impact evaluation of the Integrated Safety Net Program (ISNP) pilot in the Amhara region. It finds that PSNP, through an economic channel, is effective in reducing financial pressures on families to marry off girls and in improving girls’ education opportunities. Income-strengthening measures must, however, be accompanied by complementary efforts – including girls’ empowerment, awareness-raising and legal measures – to transform deep-rooted social and gender norms and attitudes that perpetuate the harmful practice of child marriage.

The production of evidence on interventions for reducing violence against children (VAC) has steadily increased over the years. Yet, gaps exist that need to be addressed when it comes to research investment priorities and future studies. An Evidence Gap Map provides an overview of available evidence on the topic and eight briefs summarize the findings. This brief focuses on ‘Income and economic strengthening' interventions to reduce violence against children in low- and middle-income countries. All technical details can be reviewed in the main report.

Encryption encodes information so that it can only be read by certain people. ‘End-to-end’ is a robust form of encryption where only the users communicating can read the information. In other words, third parties – such as service providers – cannot decrypt the information. It matters for children because while it protects their data and right to privacy and freedom of expression, it also impedes efforts to monitor and remove child sexual abuse materials and to identify offenders attempting to exploit children online.