UNICEF Child protection 2018-2021 UNICEF Child protection 2018-2021 Unicef har ett globalt mandat att försvara barns rättigheter, tillgodose deras grundläggande behov och öka deras möjligheter att nå sin fulla potential. Organisationen vägleds av FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter och arbetar med att stärka medlemsstaternas förmåga att uppfylla sina förpliktelser gentemot barn, såsom de fastställs i konventionen.

Insatsen avser ett globalt icke-öronmärkt tematiskt stöd till UNICEFs arbete under 2018-2021 om 175 000 000 SEK inom målområde 3. ”Varje barn skyddas från våld och exploatering”, i enlighet med UNICEFs strategiska plan 2018-2021.

UNICEFs strategiska plan för perioden 2018–2021 tar sin utgångspunkt i FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter, Agenda 2030 och andra internationella konventioner såsom FN:s kvinnokonvention. I planen fastställs UNICEFs övergripande mål att bidra till uppfyllandet av alla barns rättigheter, samt att nå de mest marginaliserade och utsatta först, i enlighet med principerna som fastlagts i Agenda 2030. Detta mål ska uppnås genom följande fem målområden:

1.Varje barn överlever och utvecklas; 
2.Varje barn får lära sig;  
3.Varje barn skyddas från våld och exploatering; 
4.Varje barn lever i en säker och ren miljö;  
5.Varje barn har en jämlik chans i livet.

De fem målområdena delas i sin tur upp i flera underliggande resultatområden och åtföljs av ett separat resultatramverk. De två tvärgående prioriteringarna jämställdhet och humanitär aktion är integrerade under samtliga målområden. Målområde 3 i UNICEFs strategiska plan 2018-2021 syftar till att säkerställa att "flickor och pojkar, särskilt de mest utsatta och de som drabbas av humanitära situationer, skyddas från alla former av våld, utnyttjande, övergrepp och sedvänjor och beteenden som är skadliga för barn " genom att:

-förebygga och agera mot våld mot barn

-påskynda begränsningen av sedvänjor och beteenden som är skadliga för barn som kvinnlig könsstympning och barnäktenskap.

-Förbättra barns tillgång till rättvisa (access to justice).

UNICEF kommer att arbeta med andra FN-organ och partner, för att verka för att barns skydd mot våld och exploatering stärks globalt, med fokus på att minska våldet, eliminera skadliga sedvänjor och beteende mot flickor, minska övergrepp och öka barns tillgång till rättvisa (access to justice). UNICEF kommer att fokusera på  specifika skyddsåtgärder för flickor och pojkar utifrån barnets bästa och att stärka skyddssystem genom nödvändiga investeringar i nationella barnskyddssystem, samhällsdialog och beteendeförändringar. UNICEF kommer särskilt att stödja regeringar för att stärka och utöka nationella socialtjänsters verksamhetsvillkor och hur de arbetar med barn. UNICEF planerar att samarbeta med lokalsamhällen för att öka deras förmåga att skydda barn. Med utgångspunkt i principen om statlig ansvarsskyldighet kommer UNICEF att stödja kapacitetsutvecklingsprogram för rättsliga och administrativa organ samt system för civilregistrering. Målet är att se till att barn som är brottsoffer, vittnen eller förövare och som söker rättvisa och / eller deltar i brottmål, civilrättsliga och administrativa rättviseprocesser behandlas i enlighet med internationella normer. UNICEF kommer också att verka för policy och lagstiftningsförändringar och stödja kapacitetsutveckling av nationella människorättsinstitutioner för att förbättra tillgången till barnanpassade rättsåtgärder.

I humanitära situationer kommer UNICEF att stödja lokalt förankrade metoder för tillhandahållande av psykosocialt stöd till flickor, pojkar och kvinnor som upplever könsrelaterat våld, bland annat genom att erbjuda trygga miljöer. UNICEF kommer också att arbeta för att förhindra familjeseparation och stödja familjeåterförening av ensamkommande och separerade barn, sträva efter att förhindra rekrytering av barn, stödja frisläppande och återintegrering av flickor och pojkar som deltagit i väpnade styrkor och grupper och fortsätta att stödja program för förebyggande och hjälp till barn som skadats av landminor och explosiva vapen. UNICEF kommer att verka för könsrelaterat skydd för barn utsatta för grova kränkningar i situationer med väpnad konflikt och stärkta stödinsatser till överlevande. The overarching goal of UNICEF´s new Strategic Plan, 2018–2021 is to drive results for the most disadvantaged children and young people. Supported by 8 change strategies and tied to 25 results areas, the Strategic Plan establishes 5 goal areas. This decision considers a global non-earmarked thematic contribution to Goal Area 3, “Every child is protected from violence and exploitation” for the full-time period of the new strategic plan 2018-2021 and with annual payments for 2018-2021. Goal Area 3 of UNICEF’s 2018–2021 Strategic Plan seeks to ensure that ‘Girls and boys, especially the most vulnerable and those affected by humanitarian situations, are protected from all forms of violence, exploitation, abuse and harmful practice’ by:• preventing and responding to violence against children;• accelerating the reduction of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage;• enhancing children’s access to justice.Working with other United Nations entities and partners, UNICEF will seek to protect children from violence and exploitation, focusing on reducing violence, eliminating harmful practices against girls, reducing exploitation and enhancing children’s access to justice. UNICEF will focus on the specific protection needs of girls and boys and their best interests, and on strengthening the protective environment through critical investments in national systems, community dialogue and behaviour change. In particular, UNICEF will support Governments to strengthen and expand their social services infrastructure and case management systems, and will work with communities to increase their capacity to protect children. Building on the principle of state accountability, UNICEF will support capacity development programmes for justice and administrative bodies as well as civil registration systems. The objective is to make sure that child victims, witnesses or perpetrators seeking to access justice, and/or participating in criminal, civil and administrative justice processes, are treated in accordance with international standards. UNICEF will also advocate for policy and legislative changes, and will support capacity development of national human rights institutions to facilitate access to child-friendly remedies.In humanitarian situations, UNICEF will support community-based approaches to the provision of psychosocial support to girls, boys and women experiencing GBV, including by providing safe spaces. UNICEF will also work to prevent family separation and support reunification of unaccompanied and separated children, strive to prevent child recruitment, support the release and reintegration of girls and boys associated with armed forces and groups, and continue to support programmes for prevention and provision of survivor assistance to children affected by landmines and explosive arms. UNICEF will seek gender-responsive protection for children exposed to grave violations in situations of armed conflict, and scale up support services to survivors. Approaches to results-based management will integrate analysis of risks to children and women related to disaster, conflict, climate change and other shocks, and strengthen coherence and complementarity between development and humanitarian programming. UNICEF will continue to advocate with all parties to a conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and human rights standards and support the monitoring and provision of timely and appropriate advocacy and programme responses to, child rights violations.UNICEF will support policy, capacity development and systems strengthening at national and subnational levels to improve the delivery of essential services to the most disadvantaged children, including coordination and rapid scale up of life-saving and protection services in humanitarian situations, and strengthening social protection systems to be ready to scale up cash transfers in emergencies. Goal Area 3: Every child is protected from violence and exploitation
The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021 (SP) details UNICEF’s future direction and strategic priorities over the coming four years. The SP provides a vehicle to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and responds to its call to ‘leave no one behind’. It seeks to protect children from violence and exploitation, with a specific focus across development and humanitarian contexts on reducing violence in all its forms, eliminating harmful practices, and enhancing children’s access to justice.
The Strategic Plan describes the results to be achieved by UNICEF and key partners by 2021 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the WHAT). It also describes the change strategies necessary for the achievement of results (the HOW) and the internal factors that support the change strategies and the achievement of results (the ENABLERS).
The Strategic Plan builds on key lessons from the previous Strategic Plan. For the first time, it includes a common chapter that specifies how UNICEF will to work together with other United Nations funds and programmes, in particular the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Theory of Change Statement for Goal Area 3 is: If countries have strengthened child protection systems for prevention and response services to address violence against children, and if they have strengthened prevention and protection services to address harmful practices (FGM/C and child marriage), and if they have improved systems to protect children that come in contact with the law and to treat them in accordance with international standards: Then girls and boys will be better protected from violence and exploitation.
UNICEF has identified three outputs, anchored in a rights-based approach to programming, to contribute towards the achievement of Goal Area 3 outcome: Girls and boys, especially the most vulnerable and those affected by humanitarian situations, are protected from all forms of violence, exploitation, abuse and harmful practices. These are:
Output statement 3.a: Countries have strengthened child protection systems for prevention and response services to address violence against children
Output statement 3.b: Countries have strengthened prevention and protection services to address harmful practices (FGM/C and child marriage)
Output statement 3.c: Countries have improved systems to protect children that come in contact with the law (as victims, witnesses, alleged offenders or as parties in administrative proceedings that affect them) and to treat them in accordance with international standards.
For all of the outputs a dedicated ToC has been or is in the process of being developed.
UNICEF’s Strategic Plan (SP) 2018–2021 contains 31 outcome and output indicators that refer to Goal Area 3 (Every child is protected from violence and exploitation). Of these indicators, 58% track UNICEF’s work within the Result Area on violence against children, 16% within the Result Area on harmful practices and 26% within the Result Area on improve access to justice.
The results framework of the SP 2018-2021 states the commitments UNICEF has made to the board in terms of disaggregation. In the SP, UNICEF committed itself to track and report on indicator data disaggregated by sex, age, geography, disability and humanitarian situations. This is the minimum standard of disaggregation in UNICEF.
The goal specific theory of change is described in detail in(UNICEF/2017/EB/11),
To illustrate some of the activities within Goal Area 3 below some examples of UNICEF’s support on justice/law enforcement services
UNICEF assists governments to ensure that ‘social work reaches out’ to the justice system to: a) assist police/prosecution/judge to protect child victims when giving statements and testimonies; b) provide an opinion on a juvenile offender and his/her suitability for diversion/alternative sanction; and c) ensure that judges take into account the child’s opinion when making custody and care decisions. UNICEF advocates with the government because judges are not accustomed to listening to practitioners who are not lawyers within the civil service system. UNICEF helps governments plan funding for these staff members and helps set up certification systems for judges and prosecutors that abides them to include social workers in the judicial process. UNICEF demonstrates the important work of social workers, with the aim of advocating for investments in this sector. UNICEF helps government and populations understand how important this work is in ensuring that the rights of the child are respected (right to safety, right to participation, right to being heard, right to family).
To illustrate the result tracking methodology, below an example of an outcome indicator within “Access to justice” and what it measures:
Outcome indicator 3.6.a: Percentage (%) of girls and boys that are in contact with the justice and administrative bodies who a) benefit from interventions to improve children’s access to justice, such as specialized legal aid for children, through UNICEF-supported programmes
This indicator tracks the measure changes in the proportion of children in contact with the justice system who receive specialized support. It is formulated as the number of children below age 18 in contact with the justice system during the past calendar year who received specialized support, expressed as a percentage of all children below age 18.
Children in contact with justice and administrative bodies are children involved in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings, directly or through their legal representatives. It refers to boys and girls who have benefited – directly or indirectly – through UNICEF programmes in countries where UNICEF works towards improving children’s access to justice.
Justice systems play a key role in addressing child rights violations including violence against girls and boys, and preventing its re-occurrence. In many countries, administrative bodies decide to not apply child-sensitive measures in civil and administrative proceedings. Girls and boys may also come into contact with justice systems in relation to their perceived or actual association with armed parties to conflict. Children’s participation in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings are central to bringing perpetrators to justice and redressing violations of their rights, but their re-victimization during the procedures must be avoided. Protection of children from violence often involves custody and care decisions where courts and administrative bodies play a key role and children’s participation in proceedings affecting them is an essential consideration.
The countries considered for this indicator at the time of setting the baselines and targets were 63 countries. The 2016 baseline for this indicator is 31%. This is based on 876,698 children per year that were in contact with the justice and administrative bodies in these 63 countries (based on the 2017 SP Baseline Survey question 2), with 275,243 of these received UNICEF-supported interventions to improve their access to justice.
Based on a gradually increasing rate of change, by the end of 2021, 48% of girls and boys that are in contact with the justice and administrative bodies will receive interventions through UNICEF-supported programmes on justice for children reform.
It is expected that the annual change is gradually increasing every year from 31% in 2016 to 32% in 2017 (an annual increase of 3%) 34% in 2018 (increase of 6%), 37% in 2019 (increase of 9%), 41% in 2020 (increase of 12%) and 48% in 2021 (annual increase of 15%). The assumption for the increasing rate of change is that there will be focused attention on and investment in developing global goods and tools, including a global access to justice Theory of Change and programme guidance, research and data strengthening activities.