Household Economic Strengthening

Poverty is a leading cause of child separation. Families may be torn apart by the stresses of trying to provide for their basic needs, and children may be abandoned or exploited for financial purposes. Household economic strengthening aims to reduce a family’s vulnerability to poverty, increase economic independence, and improve people’s ability to provide for their children.

Economic strengthening alone will not prevent separation or protect children, and should form part of a comprehensive support package, including psychosocial work, community mobilisation, education, health, and family support. Household economic strengthening should also complement the wider government social assistance programmes, welfare sector initiatives, and child care policies. Beneficiaries should include those families which are destitute, poor, or vulnerable to poverty, including child headed households.

Economic empowerment is not possible without the active participation of the community in ensuring that those most in need are identified and that families are willing to commit to projects. Any initiative must have sustainability at its core; there must be a market demand for products and services, and activities should build on the existing strengths and resources of the community.

Household economic strengthening includes activities which help a family restore, improve and maintain their income, and build savings and assets. Projects may consist of relief assistance, grants and loans for income generating activities, technical and skills training, registered credit and savings associations, and legal advice on inheritance and property rights. Ideally such guidance and resources should come from specialised local organisations that can facilitate market research, identify those in need and the type of assistance required, and provide sustainable long-term support to beneficiaries.

The literature contained in this section offers recommendations and examples of household economic strengthening projects which support the protection of children.

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Assessment of the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty programme in Karaga district, Ghana

Mohammed Sulemana, Bukari Francis Issahaku Malongza and Mohammed Abdulai - Development in Practice, 04 Sep 2018

This article assesses the contribution of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in reducing rural poverty in the Karaga district of Northern Ghana, using a mixed research design to compare the livelihoods of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.

Can limited-term cash transfers confer (lasting) child protection benefits?

L. Laumann, E. Namey, D. Onena, C. Akech, M. Ndagire, W. Okello, E. Atwiine, W. Wamatsembe, S. Zissette - ASPIRES, 03 Sep 2018

This presentation highlights the preliminary findings from the ASPIRES Family Care Projects as regards the impacts of cash transfers on child protection benefits.

Assessing the effects of a combined economic and social intervention in Uganda on child protection and economic outcomes

E. Namey, S. Zissette, D. Onena, W. Okello, L. Laumann - ASPIRES, 03 Sep 2018

This presentation, delivered at the ISPCAN Conference in September 2018, highlights the preliminary findings from the ASPIRES Family Care Projects as regards the effects of a combined economic and social intervention on child protection and economic outcomes.

Harsh Parenting and Violence Against Children: A Trial with Ultrapoor Families in Francophone West Africa

Leyla Ismayilova & Leyla Karimli - Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology , 15 Aug 2018

This study tests the effects of economic intervention—alone and in combination with a family-focused component—on parenting outcomes and children’s reports of violence in rural Burkina Faso.

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Endline Report: Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families (ESFAM) Project

ChildFund International and FHI 360, 01 Aug 2018

This final report describes the Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families (ESFAM) project and presents findings from an evaluation of the program, including its implementation and outcomes as well as its impacts.

Myth-Busting? Confronting Six Common Perceptions about Unconditional Cash Transfers as a Poverty Reduction Strategy in Africa

Sudhanshu Handa, Silvio Daidone, Amber Peterman, Benjamin Davis, Audrey Pereira, Tia Palermo, and Jennifer Yablonski - The World Bank Research Observer, 01 Aug 2018

This paper summarizes evidence on six perceptions associated with cash transfer programming, using eight rigorous evaluations conducted on large-scale government unconditional cash transfers in sub-Saharan Africa under the Transfer Project.

ASPIRES Family Care Process Assessment: Cash Transfers for Family-Child Reintegration and Prevention of Separation

Whitney Moret and Mike Ferguson - USAID, FHI 360, and ASPIRES, 01 Jul 2018

This evaluation examined the designs and implementation processes of the cash transfer components of ChildFund’s Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children in Family Care (ESFAM) and AVSI Foundation’s Family Resilience (FARE) projects in Uganda and identified practical lessons for implementers.

ASPIRES Family Care Process Assessment: Savings Groups for Family-Child Reintegration and Prevention of Separation

Whitney Moret and Mike Ferguson - USAID, FHI 360, and ASPIRES, 01 Jul 2018

This evaluation examined the designs and implementation processes of the saving group components of ChildFund’s Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children in Family Care (ESFAM) and AVSI Foundation’s Family Resilience (FARE) projects in Uganda and identified practical lessons for implementers.

Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families (ESFAM): Matched Savings Accounts – A Learning Brief

ChildFund International and FHI 360, 01 Jun 2018

This Learning Brief draws on information collected via focus group discussions, individual interviews, and project data to describe ESFAM’s experience with and learning from its MSA intervention, which aimed to encourage families to save for educational expenses, so that they would not have to send their children to residential care institutions for school.

Economic Strengthening to Keep and Reintegrate Children into Families: Children and Youth Savings Groups – A Learning Brief

ChildFund International and FHI 360, 01 Jun 2018

This Learning Brief draws on project documents,focus group discussions and individual interviews to document ChildFund International’s experience with Children and Youth Savings Groups for highly vulnerable children in Uganda’s Kamuli, Luwero and Gulu Districts through the Economic Strengthening for Families (ESFAM) Project.