1

Foundation module 3Programme design

2

Section 1

Understand childhoods and child protection issues

Section 2

Know the law and child rights

Section 3

Child rights situation analysis

Section 4

Planning and implementation

Section 5

Monitoring and evaluating efforts to achieve change

3

The ARC programme cycle

4

Section 1Understand childhoods and child protection issues

Key learning points

●The starting point for any intervention is an understanding of childhood and

the diverse needs experienced by children at different stages of their

development.

●Emergencies expose children to risks that may threaten their development.

●The notion of individual and community resilience, and the aim of

strengthening protective and risk factors provide a basis for programming.

5

Section 2

Know the law and child rights

Key learning points

●The goals of child rights-based programming are set by the standards and

principles found in human rights instruments.

●An understanding of children’s rights is a key step prior to planning

programme interventions.

6

7

Guiding principles

The right to be heard

CRC Article 12

Establishes children’s right to have their views heard when decisions are being

made that may affect them. Children also have rights to information, to

association, to freedom of expression. This places an obligation on those who

work with children’s issues both to identify ways in which children’s views can

be sought, but also a requirement to bring about a mindset whereby children’s

views are listened to and heard. The right provides a specific set of

communication challenges centred around children’s evolving capacities.

The ARC module on Understanding childhoods provides more information on

evolving capacities.

8

The right to enjoy rights without discrimination

CRC Article 2

Creates obligations to put into place the means by which children are protected

from discrimination. For a humanitarian agency this obligation becomes an

operational factor in assessment and analysis, where disaggregated data should

be sought to identify groups of children who may be being denied a right. It will

be a feature in implementation, when acts of discrimination – for example, for

reasons of gender, disability, caste, ethnicity – may be issues to guard against in

operational practice.

9

The right to have their best interests considered and afforded a

primary consideration in any decision making that might affect them

CRC Article 3

Creates an obligation to put into place good process. Those who are involved in

decisions that affect children need to be guided by a good knowledge of

children’s rights, and ensure that on balance decisions made are in children’s

best interests, thus minimising actions that will reduce enjoyment of their rights,

and maximising actions that will increase them. This right also implies

obligations to make sure that children experience all necessary protections,

having implications for the internal functioning of agencies as well as their staff.

10

The right, not just to life, but to the means to survive and develop to

their full potential and as peaceful, tolerant members of society, and

for this to be resourced to the maximum extent possible.

CRC Article 6

Places children’s rights at the level of highest priority, demanding of society

resources to the maximum extent available. It also requires us to think of

children holistically, recognising the full scope of the child’s right to

development to their full potential physically, mentally, psychologically, and

culturally. The imperative is on humanitarian workers not to be blinkered to a

sectoral responsibility but to remain alert to other children’s rights that may be

violated. Work with child protection will inevitably overlap with other rights,

these should all be on the table and under scrutiny, and if necessary prompt

other actions. Not to do so is a violation of children’s rights to have the inter-

dependence of their rights respected.

11

Section 3

Child rights situation analysis

Key learning points

●A child rights situation analysis (CRSA) is an essential component in the

process of programme design. It has two main components:

- Assessment What is the problem?

- Analysis Why the problem?

●Both components of a CRSA should always be the standard for which to aim,

but this takes time and resources which may not be immediately available. In

emergency situations, therefore, initial decisions must be taken as to what

level of assessment is in children’s best interests.

●CRSAs are interventions in themselves as they directly affect the lives of the

people concerned. It is therefore necessary to reflect on the potentially

negative impacts that assessments may have on individual or groups of

children and discuss how to avoid or minimise them. Fieldworkers should be

guided by principles set out in this section.

12

Causal analysis

13

Responsibility mapping

Obligations and claims patterns at different levels

From The human rights approach to programming, what have we learnt? Fabio Sabatini 2002

14

Higher-level goals

15

16

Section 4

Planning and implementation

Programme choices

Key learning points

●Programme goals must be linked to human rights standards.

●Programming should be seen as a contribution to changes in children’s lives.

Achievement of actual changes in children’s lives will be subject to many

factors and potentially involve interrelated rights.

●It is of paramount importance that decisions about implementation strategies

are shared and coordinated with other agencies operating in the area.

17

Implementation strategies

Key learning points

●A clear understanding of the historical context and the potential for realising

rights should influence programme choices.

●Implementation strategies should address a range of resources constraints,

motivation, leadership, the working environment, and systems.

●Three types of strategy are potentially needed to improve the realisation

of a right.

- Filling gaps in provision and direct actions on violations of children’s

rights.

- Strengthening the capacity of duty bearers to meet their obligations.

- Strengthening the understanding and capacity of children, their carers’

and civil society to claim rights and to hold each other to account.

(Continued)

18

●The changes necessary to achieve the realisation of rights frequently require

shifts in policy, in prioritisation, in leadership, in social norms. Advocacy may

be necessary to achieve progress in some of these areas.

●Child rights monitoring at the international level may be one way to hold duty

bearers accountable for children’s rights.

19

20

UNICEF Framework from programme policy and procedures manual, 2007

UNICEF framework

21

Adapted from Joachim Theiss

22

From Getting it right for children: a practitioners’ guide to child rights progamming. Save the children, 2007

23

Section 5

Monitoring and evaluating efforts to achieve change

Key learning points

●A rights-based approach to monitoring and evaluation has implications for

both how monitoring (rights-based monitoring process) and evaluation are

undertaken and what is monitored and evaluated.

●Monitoring and evaluation should be participatory, culturally appropriate and

ethical, and should monitor fulfilment of rights as well as needs.

●For a humanitarian response, any monitoring and evaluation should look at

the output and outcome level as a minimum. Monitoring impact is unlikely to

be appropriate or practical for a short term emergency response, but should

be considered in longer term or chronic situations.

(Continued)

24

●Successful and useful monitoring and evaluation requires a number of steps

to set up a system. These include developing indicators, collecting data,

analysing data and using data to improve programming. It is essential to

highlight who is responsible for all steps in the process and to ensure that this

is well managed.

●Data collected at the intervention level may be used to feed into national

level and international level monitoring and reporting.

25

Adapted from Joachim Theiss