Agencies, Communities, and Children: A report of the interagency learning initiative Engaging Communities for Children’s Well-being

The aim of this report is to identify key issues as a step toward the development of a broad consensus on good practice in engaging with communities to promote children’s safety and well‐being. It is written with a focus on the role that agencies play in community engagement and does not pretend to reflect community perspectives. Eliciting community views on their experience with agencies is another and important next step that the Interagency Learning Initiative: Engaging with Communities for Child Well‐ being (ILI) is working towards, but it was not within the scope of the research that provides the basis for this report.  The report includes a typology of four basic approaches for engaging with communities and concludes with recommendations for a way forward to improve the consistency and effectiveness of community engagement for children’s well‐being. It is presented with the intention of raising key issues worthy of consideration and discussion by practitioners and donors.