Supporting Protection of Afghan Children in Emergency (SPACE) This proposed project is designed in response to humanitarian crises that harshly affected Afghan people including women and children, the complex humanitarian crisis has relentlessly exposed Afghan children to extreme forms of violence, discrimination, and exploitation. Children and their families have little knowledge and understanding of child rights and protection. The proposed project aims to address child protection concerns and needs of the children including adolescent girls and to improve their wellbeing, and build their resilience against life-threatening risks of violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect caused by conflict, disaster, economic hardship, displacement, and the COVID-19 pandemic, by increasing public awareness, establishing and strengthening community based protection approaches and provision of case management services including re-unification of the children with their families and communities in Shirzad, Achin, Momandara and Sarkhrood of Nangarhar, and Puli Alam and Mohmmad Agha districts of Logar provinces.

War Child Canada through the proposed grant will support 9,720 children and their caregivers by establishing Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and case management services. War Child Canada with support from local communities will establish and equip 36 CFSs with required supplies, informal learning and recreational materials and engage 2,000 children with the provision of mental health and psychosocial counseling, life skills and informal education and structured recreational activities by trained CFS Volunteer Facilitators. War Child Canada will establish new and engage existing community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs) and train the members (separately for women and men) on child rights and protection including PSEA strategies and tools. Following the orientation and trainings sessions, War Child Canada will support CBCPMs to effectively conduct active surveillance of child protection issues in the community and address those at the community level and refer cases to relevant service providers. CBCPM members and CFS volunteer facilitators will be engaged in community sensitization through parenting education and community dialogue.

With an aim to reduce separation of children and other vulnerabilities that lead to separation including child labour, trafficking, early and force marriages and increased exposure to exploitation and violence including gender-based violence. War Child Canada through trained child protection and case management staff and by using case management SOPs and tools will register and provide case management services to the children including family tracing, counselling with children and families, and reunification of unaccompanied and separated children. War Child Canada will identify minimum 120 unaccompanied, separated, and deported children and provide them with psychosocial counselling, family tracing including counselling to the family/ care givers and re-unify the children with families. families will be also provided with post re-unification support including follow up, continue provision of counselling and education on child rights and protection including effective parenting techniques. Part of the child protection case management process, War Child Canada will identify 600  most vulnerable families with children at risk of child labor and child survivors of SGBV including Sever Acute Malnutrition (SAM) children and provide families with an unconditional protection cash assistance of USD250 per family to meet their basic needs for food and non-food items, and services, or to get essential assets for the recovery of their livelihoods that help protecting their children from risks and maintain families dignity and improve their wellbeing.