The Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), together with the Government of Rwanda, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and the Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN), is hosting Investing in the Early Years: A Global

This article explores how social welfare officers in Tanzania experience and manage the reintegration of institutionalised orphans back into family care. It examines the strategies they use, the challenges they face, and the broader systems needed to support sustainable, child-centered reintegration.

This webinar, held March 27, 2026 by the Care Leaders Council, provided an international exchange among people with lived experience in care, aimed at analyzing regulatory progress, best

My Life Storybook is a child-centered tool developed by children in collaboration with Child in Family Focus - Kenya (CFFK), the Kenya Ministry or Labour and Social Protection, and other relevant stakeholders to help children in care  document their history, reflect on their experiences, and strengthen their sense of identity and belonging. The tool is currently being used in CFFK's programs to support reintegration and family strengthening.

This study explored adapting the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) program in Zimbabwe to explicitly address both violence against children and violence against women by incorporating gender-transformative approaches and actively engaging fathers. Findings showed strong interest in the program, highlighting the need for relationship skill-building, economic support, and intentional father involvement to create safer, more resilient family environments.

This study examines child safeguarding practices in Catholic dioceses in Kenya, finding that although safeguarding policies and support systems exist, only a small proportion of church personnel have received formal training. The research highlights ongoing risks—including sexual abuse, child labour, neglect, and early marriage—and identifies resource constraints, cultural resistance, and institutional barriers as key challenges to effective safeguarding.

This paper introduces an Advocacy Reach Calculator developed by ChildFund International to estimate how many children and families benefit from child protection policy changes. It outlines the tool’s development and pilot testing in four countries, showing how it can support better monitoring, planning, and advocacy efforts.

This qualitative case study in Arua City, Uganda, explores how parenting practices contribute to the persistence of street children, drawing on interviews with 30 street-connected children as well as parents and community leaders. Findings show that poverty, neglect, abuse, weak supervision, and family breakdown—combined with push factors like hunger and domestic violence and pull factors such as peer networks and perceived economic opportunity—drive children to the streets, underscoring the need for strengthened family support, community protection systems, and parental economic empowerment.

This study explores why street children resist removal interventions and often return to the streets in Zambia, drawing on perspectives from children, caregivers, and guardians. It finds that factors such as poverty, family conflict, abuse, and inadequate conditions in care facilities drive both initial street involvement and reintegration failure, highlighting the need for more comprehensive and coordinated interventions.

This Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Plan outlines Zambia’s strategic approach to strengthening child protection through behaviourally informed programming and community engagement. Developed by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services with support from UNICEF and partners, the plan focuses on reducing violence against children, preventing child marriage, increasing birth registration, and promoting family-based care.