Evaluation of Child Friendly Spaces

Child friendly spaces (CFS) have become a widely used approach to protect and provide psychosocial support to children in emergencies. However, little evidence documents their outcomes and impacts. There is widespread commitment among humanitarian agencies to strengthen the evidence base of programming. Recognizing this, the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) of the Global Protection Cluster and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings have identified research in this area as a high priority.

In response to the commitment to strengthen the evidence base for humanitarian practice and the prioritisation of CFS as a key area for research, World Vision and Columbia University, working with Save the Children, UNICEF and others, engaged in a three-year collaborative project to document the outcomes and impacts of CFS and develop capacity for rigorous evaluation. These agencies regularly implement CFS as part of their emergency responses and agreed through this collaboration to support studies of their CFS
in various crises when they occurred. Between January 2012 and September 2014, six studies were completed in five countries in Africa and the Middle East.

This report summarises the key learning from these studies and further documents lessons from the research process. An accompanying document provides tools and guidance developed through the course of the collaboration that are relevant to both impact evaluations and strong monitoring systems.