Resources Database

Some COVID-19 prevention measures have abruptly cut children off from positive and supportive relationships they rely on when in distress, including at school, in the extended family, and in the community. Children’s rights to safety and protection as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action are threatened.

The Reflective Field Guide aims to contribute to fostering more authentic community engagement in humanitarian child protection action. It encourages honest reflection and discussion about current programming, what strong community participation could look like, and what child protection practitioners can do to facilitate higher levels of community-driven programing.

This document is intended to provide guidance on how to support the social service workforce and empower them to safely serve children, families, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Child welfare work is hard so it is necessary to implement a protective cares framework for taking care of self and others.

Multiple factors stand behind low global priority for children’s care, including the limited power of affected children and families, the issue’s multi-sectoral nature and competition for attention with other social welfare issues. This paper reviews those issues as it relates to prioritization of de-institutionalization overall to make recommendations for future progress. A brief has been developed to highlight top-level findings.

High risk cases might require home visits or individual follow up in-person and most vulnerable children and families during the outbreak will require social support implying personal interactions. In some cases, it might be possible to do so rremotely, but in other situations, such measures might be impossible.

Child Protection Case Management is part of the essential services that cannot be stopped suddenly but that requires gradual adaptation to the new emergency. This document builds on existing response action from several countries and case management task force agencies. It provides guidance to adapt Child Protection Case Management interventions to the new COVID 19 pandemic and better understand the important role of Child Protection actors in the emergency.

A coordinated approach is critical to ensure a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach that ensures children are protected in all areas of their lives.

This document offers guidance and recommendations for care in residential settings, including staff considerations for home visits and other interactions with residents.

WHO and public health authorities around the world are acting to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. However, this time of crisis is generating stress in the population. These mental health considerations were developed by the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Use as messages targeting different groups to support for mental and psychosocial well-being during COVID-19 outbreak.

This guidance note focuses on how to explain concepts around how to take safety precautions to protect others and yourself. The information in this guidance is to be utilized whilst doing case management follow-up in person or remotely.

This document is intended to support case workers through Child Protection (CP) Case Management processes during the COVID-19 outbreak response in Lebanon. CP case management is normally a long-term process which can take several months depending on the unique needs of the child, their coping mechanisms and support system. In emergencies, numerous challenges can be faced by CP case workers to provide face-to-face emotional support, in children and their families accessing services in a timely manner.

This guidance provides a short overview of the CP risks associated with disease outbreak. It also provides practical steps and actions for child protection case management actors to follow in order to prepare for the impacts of disease outbreak and the subsequent impact to access to children and their caregivers in and outside of IDP and refugee camps, based on the scenario that access may become limited by measures taken to prevent and control the spread of infectious disease.

This technical guidance aims to support Child Protection agencies providing case management services in the humanitarian response in Somalia to be prepared and to adapt their interventions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The document outlines five priority areas for case management agencies will need to focus on during this time: awareness, referral pathways, case management of cases, family separation and alternative care, and capacity building/training of workers.

The role of volunteers in emergencies is increasingly complex. In the emergency environment, staff and volunteers are exposed to trauma, loss and devastation, injury and even death.

It is of course difficult to prepare for every type of event and to include every single volunteer. But it is possible to be prepared, both for supporting the well-being of staff and volunteers, as well as for the many other aspects of disaster response.

This guidance note is a quick reference tool for providing effective care and support to volunteers during the different phases of a COVID-19 response. To effectively care for and support volunteers involved in a COVID-19 response, robust volunteer care systems are needed to enhance their safety and psychosocial well-being.

The Hong Kong Red Cross developed messages of psychosocial support for families, friends and colleagues of those in quarantine or self-isolation.

Available in additional languages on the IFRC website.

Psychological first aid (PFA) is a method of helping people in distress so they feel calm and supported to cope better with their challenges. It is a way of assisting someone to manage their situation and make informed decisions. The basis of psychological first aid is caring about the person in distress and showing empathy. It involves paying attention to reactions, active listening and, if needed, practical assistance, such as problem solving, help to access basic needs or referring to further options for assistance.

The Alliance produced this technical note on the protection of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this brief is to support child protection practitioners to better respond to the child protection risks during a COVID-19 pandemic. Part 1 presents the potential child protection risks COVID-19 can pose to children.

This resource includes key considerations for service providers and others in ensuring health, protections and accessibility to needed services during COVID-19.