This report outlines the global context that the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) is operating within, with respect to child protection. The report highlights the programming that has been undertaken to date on child protection systems, outlines lessons learned from the support being provided by Maestral International to map and assess child protection systems in ESAR, and proposes the way forward for the region (that should inform global efforts on systems that are occurring outside of ESAR as well).