A Matter of Life and Death: Child protection programming’s essential role in ensuring child wellbeing and survival during and after emergencies

The majority of those affected by humanitarian emergencies are children. In times of crisis, children face increased risk of all forms of violence and exploitation. Emergencies both exacerbate pre-existing protection concerns and create new ones.

Child protection in emergencies is defined as the prevention of and response to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence against children in times of emergency caused by natural or manmade disasters, conflicts, or other crises. It involves specific activities by child protection actors, whether national or community-based, and/or by humanitarian staff and others supporting local capacities.

The CPWG commissioned this research in order to address the consistent deprioritization of child protection in humanitarian action, reported every year by child protection coordination groups and evidenced by statistics on funding and the findings of other research efforts in the humanitarian sector.

The purpose of this research was to answer the question: does child protection in humanitarian action save lives? The answer is a resounding yes. The report collects data from both qualitative as well as quantitative sources to support the findings.