The aim of this note is to outline some ways of engaging with community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs), especially within the education sector, which apply in both urban and rural protracted refugee settings. This note is based on the findings of two studies of CBCPMs and their linkages to the education sector in two protracted refugee settings: one conducted amongst urban refugee communities in Kampala, Uganda, and the other in two refugee camps in Rwanda.
The purpose of these studies was to learn about community-based child protection processes and mechanisms in refugee communities. In particular, the studies explored what CBCPMs existed, how they were used, and whether and how the CBCPMs linked with elements of the formal, government led aspects of the national child protection system. The studies had a special focus on the role of the education sector in the protection of refugee children.