Features
The number of children in residential care and the number of such institutions are growing in Indonesia. Particularly following the tsunami, high levels of aid were directed towards child care institutions rather than targeted directly to support families. Families thus result to placing children in institutions to secure basic necessities. DEPSOS, Save the Children and UNICEF recognized the need to work urgently towards a better understanding of the situation of children in residential care nationwide. Someone that Matters documents qualitative research into childcare institutions across 6 provinces of Indonesia.
Perspectives for Social Protection in West and Central Africa discusses the five sets of structural factors necessary to strengthen social protection in the region. These factors concern the poverty, supply-side weaknesses in social services, fiscal space and governance constraints. The paper explores of the concept of ‘child sensitive social protection’, highlighting the challenge of developing integrated approaches combining social transfers, social welfare services and an adequate policy and legal framework.