Evaluation of Child Friendly Spaces - Uganda Field Study Summary Report

World Vision International and Columbia University are partners in carrying out a series of structured evaluations of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) over three years in various contexts. This partnership has subsequently expanded to include UNICEF, Save the Children UK, and other members of the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG). The goals are to document the protective and restorative effectiveness of CFSs, to identify good practice in their design and implementation, and to contribute to the development of better monitoring and evaluation tools for this type of programming. Little robust evidence exists related to outcomes and impacts of CFSs even though it is one of the most widely used interventions in humanitarian settings for child psychosocial support and protection (Ager et al., 2013; Global Protection Cluster, Global Education Cluster, INEE, & IASC, 2011).

The first of the structured evaluations was conducted in 2012 with Somali refugees in Buramino Refugee Camp near the Southeast border of Ethiopia. This represented the first attempt at incorporating rigorous sampling and design in a CFS evaluation. The findings suggested promotive effects of attending the programme in terms of literacy and numeracy acquisition and, amongst younger boys, reduced psychosocial difficulties. In the face of increasing hardship in the camp, there was evidence that attending CFSs supported a greater sense of protection and buffered against the increased stresses of caregivers.

Each study builds upon the next and through the series of planned studies in varying contexts it is anticipated that an evidence base will be established from which broader lessons can be drawn to improve programming. The second structured evaluation introduced the use of mobile phones in survey collection, providing a key innovation towards reducing error and expediting the collection and analysis process in emergency work. The study also piloted some measures to assess community awareness of resources relevant to the protection of children. The experience of implementing the evaluations, as well as developing and using the tools, is being documented in order to create an improved M&E toolkit for child psychosocial support and protection programming in emergencies.