APPLIED RESEARCH

Care and Protection of Children in Crisis Affected Countries

To strengthen consensus on possible care and protection interventions for children in countries affected by crisis, the Program on Forced Migration and Health within Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health led a three-year initiative that focuses on early reintegration and post crisis recovery programs for at-risk and displaced children. USAID's Displaced Children and Orphans Fund funded the program. The central goal of the program was to improve the care and protection of children affected by armed conflict and natural disasters. The project included an extensive literature review and structured consultation with expert practitioners to establish key areas where a stronger evidence-base is required. A structured Delphi analysis provided a robust review of perceived global best practice. The project piloted new assessment methodologies allowing critical child-care and protection needs to be identified and used in field settings to strengthen the evidence-base for effective child-care and protection programs. Working with practitioners and policymakers, the Program formulated recommendations for the design, evaluation, and implementation of child-focused programs and works to mainstream findings into US, UN and wider humanitarian policy agendas. The synthesis report summarizes the progress of the CPC Initiative towards improved care and protection of children in emergencies. This includes progress in the conceptualization of protection needs and response; progress in developing methods for assessing protection needs and the impact of programming; and, crucially, progress in identifying emerging best practice in key areas of protection programming.
The Care and Protection of Children Initiative Spring 2008 and the Fall 2008 newsletter are available.

Faculty: Neil Boothby, Alastair Ager, Mike Wessells

Mapping Child Protection Surveillance Systems in Indonesia

This summer, Neil Boothby, Lindsay Stark and a team from Columbia University and the University of Indonesia worked with UNICEF and partners within the Government of Indonesia to map the current child protection surveillance system in Indonesia and to develop a set of recommendations for a new framework which will ultimately improve data monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. While prevalence and evaluation data are currently very limited, the team determined that there is fairly good case management data, and actors are beginning to develop common databases on key protection issues. There is, however, high potential to develop a rigorous village level surveillance system in Indonesia. Villages are highly structured--with a village head as well as village sub-heads and neighborhood heads exist in all communities and are responsible for a range of administrative, social and economic issues. The team is working on a plan and an agreement with the government, to ensure these community leaders collect data about five child protection concerns on a regular basis. Part of the new surveillance system will involve the use of SMS or text messaging to record and transmit child protection data and alerts, thereby creating both a more time and efficient data exchange chain. The team has also reached an agreement with UNICEF, the Ministry of Planning, and the University of Indonesia to work together to develop government capacity to undertake prevalence studies and program evaluations over the next three years.

Faculty: Neil Boothby

Averting Maternal Death and Disability

The Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) Program is a global program of research, advocacy, and technical support dedicated to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.  AMDD works to expand equitable access to emergency obstetric care (EmOC) and these efforts support wider health systems strengthening goals.  Since 1999, AMDD has worked closely with international agencies, NGOs, and governments in more than 50 countries to enable them to deliver critical maternal and newborn services equitably and at scale. 

Faculty: Lynn Freedman, Helen de Pinho, Koye Oyerinde.

Longitudinal Research on Stress in Humanitarian Aid Workers

The rise in low-intensity conflicts in the 1990's found humanitarian aid workers frequently in the line of fire that affected the functioning and productivity of agency programs. Only a longitudinal approach can establish predictive relationships between personal, organizational and duty-related stressors, and mental health and organizational productivity. Alastair Ager (who serves on the Board of the Antares Foundation, the implementing partner for this research) is collaborating with colleagues from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Amsterdam, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pepperdine University, Tulane University School of Public Health and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in this ground-breaking study. The study goal is to provide in-depth and scientifically valid information regarding mental health status of humanitarian workers working under stress and in hardship. Specific objectives are: to identify aspects of work associated with elevated risk of poor mental health and burnout in aid workers; to identify the risk and resilience factors moderating the impact of such stressors on or staff functioning; and to provide recommendations for selection, training, and management of aid workers, and effective intervention for stressed individuals.

Faculty: Alastair Ager

Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE)

The Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative is catalysing change in how reproductive health is addressed by all sectors involved in emergency response, from field services to advocacy, from local aid providers to global relief movements. Developed by Columbia University's Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health in the Mailman School of Public Health and Marie Stopes International (MSI), the RAISE Initiative aims to address the full range of reproductive health needs for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) by building partnerships with humanitarian and development agencies, governments, United Nations (UN) bodies, advocacy agencies and academic institutions. Through the expertise of our staff and leading research institutions; the power of cooperative partnerships with leading agencies and across multiple sectors; and the development of consistent, clearly established objectives for reproductive health, the RAISE initiative is well positioned to address the pressing reproductive health needs of populations affected by emergencies. The RAISE Initiative represents a strengthened commitment to the provision of fully integrated and comprehensive reproductive health services for all.

Faculty: Therese McGinn