This special issue represents an effort to review the economic dimensions of child protection and well-being. The articles listed below are included in this special issue.
Economic Dimensions of Child Protection and Well-Being
This editorial piece, co-authored by Fred Ssewamala, Lindsay Stark, Josh Chaffin, Mark Canavera and Debbie Landis, introduces the journal’s special issue on the economic dimensions of child protection and well-being. Read the article here.
Social Transfers and Child Protection in the South
This article by Armando Barrientos, Jasmina Byrne, Paola Peña and Juan Miguel Villa examines the effects of social transfers in low and middle-income countries on child protection outcomes, including the reduction of violence, exploitation and abuse of children, family separation and improved birth registration. Read the article here.
Can Village Savings and Loan Groups be a Potential Tool in the Malnutrition Fight? Mixed Method Findings from Mozambique
This article by Aurélie Brunie, Laura Fumagalli, Thomas Martin, Samuel Field and Diana Rutherford examines the impact of participation in village savings and loan groups, alone and in combination with a rotating labor scheme called Ajuda Mútua, on household and child nutritional outcomes in Nampula Province in Mozambique. It combines findings from an impact evaluation and a qualitative exploration of the dynamics underlying nutritional outcomes. Read the article here.
Tackling Children’s Economic and Psychosocial Vulnerabilities Synergistically: How Well is the Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme Serving Gazan Children?
This article by Bassam Abu-Hamad, Nicola Jones and Paola Pereznieto draws on mixed methods primary research undertaken in Gaza in 2013 to explore the linkages between cash transfers and effects on children’s right to protection from exploitation, abuse and neglect. It focuses on the effects of cash transfers on caregiver resources and time use, parental interactions with children and children’s psychosocial wellbeing at household, school and community levels. It also reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of service providers working on social protection and child protection in order to identify how better to tackle child protection deficits through the government’s broader economic-strengthening efforts. Read the article here.
Reforming Child Institutional Care in the Post-Soviet Bloc: The Potential Role of Family-Based Empowerment Strategies
This article by Leyla Ismayilova, Fred Ssewamala and Aytakin Huseynli provides a review of current deinstitutionalization efforts in the region, identifies potential challenges, describes the need for economic empowerment interventions and outlines directions for future research. Read the articles here.
Livelihoods, Economic Strengthening, Child Protection and Well-Being in Western Uganda
This article by Benjamin Katz, Josh Chaffin, Inbal Alon and Alastair Ager reports findings from a cross-sectional analysis measuring the relationship between household livelihoods and children’s well-being and protection in two districts of western Uganda. Read the article here.
The Impact of FDI on Child Labor: Insights from an Empirical Analysis of Sectoral FDI Data and Case Studies
This article by Nadia Doytch, Nina Thelen and Ronald U. Mendoza focuses on child labor and it undertakes a cross-country empirical analysis of this issue, using data on 100 countries spanning the period 1990–2009. Read the article here.
Can Economic Assets Increase Girls’ Risk of Sexual Harassment? Evaluation Results from a Social, Health and Economic Asset-Building Intervention for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls in Uganda
This article by Karen Austrian and Eunice Muthengi examines the effect of a multi-dimensional intervention on social, health and economic assets, as well as experiences of sexual harassment, among vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19 living in the low income areas of Kampala, Uganda. Read the article here.
Savings Groups as a Socioeconomic Strategy to Improve Protection of Moderately and Critically Vulnerable Children in Uganda
This article by Massimo Lowicki-Zucca, Patrick Walugembe, Innocent Ogaba and Saul Langol discusses socioeconomic strategies for vulnerability reduction and protection of children. The project targets 25,000 moderately and critically vulnerable households in Uganda and addresses them through a multisectoral intervention package encompassing socio-economic, food security, protection and family strengthening. Read the article here.
Reprint of “Family Economic Strengthening and Parenting Stress among Caregivers of AIDS-Orphaned Children: Results from a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial in Uganda”
This article by Proscovia Nabunya, Fred M. Ssewamala and Vilma Ilic examines the impact of a family economic strengthening intervention on parenting stress among caregivers of AIDS-orphaned children in Uganda. Read the article here.
