Contents
Contents
1.0 Methodological Overview
LEVEL OF PROBLEM......
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES......
PROTECTION......
PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACT......
RECOVERY AND REINTEGRATION......
Data Collection Tools......
2.0 Ethical Guidelines
2.1 Informed consent......
2.2 Beneficence......
2.3 Equity and Non-discrimination
2.4 Respect of Children and their Views......
2.5 Protection of Children’s Best Interests......
2.6 Privacy and Confidentiality......
2.7 Respect cultural traditions......
2.8 Ownership
2.9 Protection against Exploitation......
3.0 Questionnaire
3.1 Child Participation......
3.2 Protocol......
3.3 Questionnaire for Parents of Children Affected by Armed Conflict......
Section 1: Demographic Data
Section 2: displacement
Persons Currently Displaced
Section 3: Shelter
Section 4: Livelihood
Section 5: Education
Section 6: Access to Healthcare/Sanitation
Section 7: Access to Food and Water
Section 8: Special Protection Issues
Section 9: Normalcy
4.0 In-Depth Interviews
4.1 Child Participation
4.2 Protocol
4.3 In-Depth Interview Guide
4.3.1 Question Guide for Children who are Not Displaced
I. Personal Information......
II. The child......
III. The community......
IV. Important events (Impact of the conflict)......
V. Agencies and organizations that offered assistance?......
VI. Hopes and dreams of the children......
VII. Recommendations for policy makers, government, insurgent groups (non-state actors), and non-government agencies on improving services for them and the condition of the community/lived environment
4.3.2 Interview Guide for Displaced Children......
I. Personal Information......
II. The child......
III. The community......
IV. Important events......
V. Agencies and organizations that offered assistance?......
VI. Hopes and dreams of the children......
VII. Recommendations......
4.4 Processing the Interview......
I. Personal Information of the Child......
II. Family......
III. Pre-Conflict/Original Community......
IV. Experience of displacement......
V. Displacement Site/New community......
VI. Status of original home......
VII. Agencies or persons who offered help......
VIII. Recommendations......
5.0 Focus Group Discussion Guide
5.1 Participants......
5.2 Child Participation......
5.3 Protocol......
Activity 1: Unfreezer/Icebreaker......
Activity 2: “I am”......
Activity 3: Orientation......
Activity 4: My community......
Activity 5: Closing Session......
FGD Report Guide
6.0 Key Informant Interview Guide
6.1 Child Participation......
6.2 Protocol......
6.3 Subject and Question Guide......
Protection Question Guide:
I. Torture/ Sexual Exploitation......
II. The Cases of Destruction of Property and Forced Relocation
III. Refugees/ IDPs
IV. Landmines and unexploded bombs
V. Unaccompanied and Separated Children......
VI. Child Soldiers......
6.4 Data Processing and Recording......
7.0 Observation Guide
7.1 Child Participation:......
7.2 Protocol:......
Resources Consulted
1.0 Methodological Overview
Since the end of the conflict in Indochina, Southeast Asia has not been known internationally as a region of conflict and instability. Localized low intensity conflicts have nevertheless been running for decades, in some cases for over a half-century. In other places, conflict has erupted in the context of political transition. Even though these conflicts affect the lives of children in numerous ways, little has been done to document the impact.
In mid-2002, UNICEF’s East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF-EAPRO) and partners from the region sought to address this information gap by initiating a research project in three conflict-affected areas – Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Thai-Myanmar border.
That project proposal set out three principal objectives:
- To examine the impact that armed conflict has had on children
Information on the impact of armed conflict on children in Southeast Asia has been fairly limited. To enhance the knowledge base relating to children affected by armed conflict one of the core objectives of the study will be to examine the impact conflicts have had on children, their families, and their communities.
To accomplish this goal, the team must decide how to measure or describe impact. Impact must demonstrate a change in one condition to another – what was life like before the conflict started and what is it like now? The problem is that in many cases, no one was recording what normal village life was like before the conflict began. Each team will therefore need to try to establish “baseline” data through two main approaches. For some, secondary data sources, such as government statistics, will be available. Other researchers will need to rely on descriptions of village life from the memory of the villagers themselves. This “retroactive” approach to data is obviously imperfect, but may be the only available option when tackling the issues in remote areas such as the Thai-Myanmar border area.
Some of the areas of study have been affected by conflict for decades. Parts of the Thai-Myanmar border area and Aceh in Indonesia have suffered over a half-century of intermittent instability. Armed conflict, in these areas, is the “norm” rather than the exception. These areas do experience significant spikes in the intensity of conflict. Research teams with the cooperation of affected villagers, therefore, will define the period of study, most likely from the last significant spike.
A second part of this objective is the development of indicators. Not only does the study aim to show how conflict has affected children, but it will also strive to develop a set of indicators through which the status of children could be monitored over time.
- To identify and define child protection strategies for this specific type of conflict
In the conflicts in this region children, both boys and girls, have not been adequately protected under international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee laws. Preliminary study indicates that the focus should include specific issues relating to child soldiers; vulnerability as a result of displacement; psycho-social impact, including gender-based violence and sexual exploitation; and unaccompanied and separated children. In addition, it is unclear to what extent current child protection policies and guidelines developed elsewhere are applicable to the South East Asian context.
Many political actors in the region, for a wide variety of reasons, are reluctant to recognize that there are currently armed conflicts in their countries. Thus, there has been little debate on a political level in this region regarding children affected by these conflicts. At the same time most studies, debates and discussions at the international level have primarily focused on high-profile and high-intensity international or internal armed conflicts (Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone). This study aims to balance the distorted picture by focusing on the kinds of conflicts that are prevalent in the South East Asian context, and assessing the impact they have on boys and girls in such areas.
As the problem of children affected by armed conflict is given insufficient attention, little is being done to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations to identify key issues and design appropriate programs. At the same time, there is limited knowledge at both the country and regional levels as to what capacity in fact exists, and what capacity needs to be built. This dimension of protecting the rights of children affected by armed conflict must first be understood – that is, in what way civil society organizations can contribute effectively to the protection of children affected by armed conflict – and then addressed, in order to contribute in a sustainable fashion.
The information and analysis produced by this project, therefore, will be used to recommend and advocate for region-specific policies and programs that would serve to protect children in times of war.
- To secure the active participation of children and youth in the project
It is a well-recognized human rights and humanitarian principle that the inclusion of local stakeholders in the planning and implementation of research, relief, and development projects adds value to those programs. A World Fit for Children, the plan of action released at the 2002 United Nations Special Session on Children, placed this principle within its list of ten priorities, calling on all members of society to “listen to children and ensure their participation.”Though many projects address the needs or analyze the impact of conflict on boys and girls, boys and girls have rarely had an opportunity to participate meaningfully in those very same projects.
Boys and girls, however, can offer valuable insight into the problems that they face. As was demonstrated by the high level of youth participation at the September 2000 International Conference on War-Affected Children in Winnipeg, Canada, given enough information and time to plan boys and girls can contribute substantively to international programs. The project, therefore, will not be solely about conclusions and recommendations, but will be equally about process – how participation of boys and girls can be integrated into the various levels of research.
First Regional Planning Meeting
With these three main objectives in mind, the research team and other project advisors met in Thailand for the first regional planning meeting to develop a set of appropriate research tools.
In September 2002, researchers from the Center for Population and Policy Studies of Gadja Madha University in Indonesia, the Psycho-Social Trauma and Human Rights Program of the University of Philippines, the Asian Research Center for Migration of Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies in Thailand, the Centre for Refugee Studies of York University in Canada, and Child Workers of Asia, a non-governmental organization based in Bangkok, Thailand along with specialists from UNICEF regional and country offices and other organizations joined with young people from each of the conflict areas to discuss and plan for the research project.
The regional planning meeting, as the first stage of the research project, sought to accomplish three main tasks. The first, to give the research partners a basic understanding of how armed conflict affects children. The partners come from a variety of backgrounds and expertise. The first objective was to help fill in some of the gaps between the groups. The second objective was to discuss the methodology, particularly what participation would mean in the context of this project and what types of instruments have been used in past projects that dealt with children affected by armed conflict. Lastly, the teams needed to plan the research project and select the field research tools.
The following table represents the issues and questions the teams wanted to cover.
LEVEL OF PROBLEM
Focus: What is the situation (before and now) and why; proportion, range and number of children affected; specific hardships; trendsWho are they?
- Number of children
- Number of child soldiers
- Number of separated children
- Number of unaccompanied children
- Number of displaced children
- Age and gender
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Specific context & issues (before versus now)
- Why conflict, why displaced, why recruited, why separated, etc?
- Specific hardships
- Trends analysis
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
Focus: What has changed due to the conflict?Availability of services, access issues, appropriateness as perceived by parents and children, and coping strategies
Health
Existing health facilities (Primary, Secondary)
Access (can they afford it, are they allowed to use it), including traditional and self-help measures
Presence within the village
Capacity to provide services (P, S)
Number of health facilities burned and damaged (S ?)
IMR (S)
Child mortality/morbidity U5 and U 18 (S)
What diseases are prevalent?
The cause of child mortality/morbidity Malnutrition level (P)
Immunization level (P)
Vitamin A distribution, <5 (P, S)
Access to safe water (P, S)
Access to sanitary toilet facilities (P, S)
Breastfeeding practice (P)
Injury/wound – specific to child soldier (P) / Education
Presence of school in village/camp (P, S)
School participation rate/number of students (S)
Cohort survival rate (S)
Number of classes/teachers
Supplies/condition of the facilities
Alternative education
School enrolment and frequency of attending
Result of comparative exam
Drop out rate and why (P, S)
Perception of school/ education/ subject/ curriculum/content (P)
Presence of early childhood education (P)
Location of the school (P, S)
Food concerns
Source and level of family income (P)
Presence of markets (P, S)
Source of food/food aid (P, S)
Adequacy and quality of food (P, S)
Loss in terms of food availability
Eating habits, quantity and frequency per day
Land ownership before and after conflict/ displacement / Shelter & clothing
What they had before and what they have now
Extent of loss and why
Availability of assistance with shelter, essential household items and clothing
PROTECTION
GeneralLegal framework
Documentation of the child – birth and death
Protection for girls and gender issues
Influence of armed groups
CAAC
Are there reports of
- Torture
- Sexual exploitation
- Destruction of property
- Forced relocation
- Landmines (mapping, marked, awareness)
- Targeting of civilians
- Forced relocation
- Documentation process - birth registration?
- Existing mechanisms to protect children
- Mechanisms to protect girls and women
- Camp security – do armed groups have access to camps?
- IDPs live in safe environment
- Is there a reception process for new arrivals
- Refugee relationship with local community
- Detention of refugee children
- Freedom of movement in country
- Existence of safe repatriation
SEPARATED/UNACCOMPANIED
Is there:
- A mechanism to protect
- A tracing program
- Family reunification services
- Safe and protective alternative care facilities (temporary and long term)
- Laws on captured child soldiers
- Mechanism to protect children from recruitment & consequences
- How are children being used?
- What happens to demobilized child soldiers?
- Community attitudes toward child soldiers?
- Perception among children?
PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACT
Focus:Social NOT clinical
Individual, family, community perceptions
Include cognitive, affective, behavioral issues
Signs of stress as well as coping mechanisms (healthy and harmful)
Recognize pre-conflict situation and political issues
Physical
- Headaches, backaches, stomachaches
- Sleeping and eating problems – weight loss
- Fatigue
- Illness
- Palpitations
- Fear
- Loneliness
- Sadness and pain
- Frustration – anger
- Anxiety
Social
- Domestic violence
- Marital problems
- Blaming
- Generation gaps
- Values
- Rituals
- Belief systems and practices
- Traditions and practices
Spiritual
- Religion
- Rituals
- Morals
Intensity (grave, serious/severe/mild),
Frequency (how many times, how often),
Duration (time/rate, how long)
Volume, (how much, how little)
RECOVERY AND REINTEGRATION
Focus:Local, traditional and self help responses, as well as, agency supported;
Perceptions of support needs and effectiveness of existing efforts
General
- What do children want?
- Positive role children can play?
- How are children participating in recovery and reintegration?
- What response exists for recovery assistance?
- What measures are being taken to establish normalcy?
- How to better support (re)integration
- Support from others
- Institutions active in recovery and reintegration
- Short-medium-long term initiatives
Specific
Child soldiers - how to make demobilization appealing; number of children demobilized
Separated/unaccompanied – number of children reunified
Displaced/IDP- number of child returnees
Data Collection Tools
The research team selected five main qualitative research tools: semi-structured questionnaire, in depth interviews, a psycho-social workbook, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and non-participatory observation. This selection of tools will allow the team to check information collected with one tool with that collected by another, thereby strengthening the validity of the findings.
Children and young people will participate in the administration of some tools while they will be respondents and informants for others.
Method / Basic Needs / Protection / Biopsycho-social / Recovery and ReintegrationDesk Review / X / X / X / X
Key Informant / X / X / X
Focus Group Disc. W/ Children / X / X / X
Observation / X / X / X / X
Sampling / X / X
In-depth Interviews / X
Case Studies / X
In a regional follow-up meeting held from March 19-21, 2003, at the University of the Philippines campus, the team narrowed the set of primary research tools to three: a questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. The information gathered with these three core tools would then be supported, verified and supplemented by key informant interviews and observation. Details of each tool are provided below in Sections 3 – 7.
2.0 Ethical Guidelines
2.1 Informed consent
Consent from a parent or adult guardian to approach a child should be secured before any discussion begins with the child. Researchers should explain to the parent or adult guardian who they are, what the project is about, what information is being sought, what methods will be used, how the information collected will be used, and possible consequences of the research. The adult must be allowed to ask any question he or she may have.
The child must then be given the same information in age-appropriate language to determine if he or she is willing to participate.
Where appropriate, the researcher should then describe the project to the community or community leaders to ensure cooperation, though for security reasons, the researcher may not wish to disclose the full range of topics that will be investigated.
The researcher must stress to all parties, particularly to the child, that declining to participate in the study is an option at any point of the data collection and will have no negative repercussions. This is an especially important point in situations of dependency, such as where displaced persons rely on relief aid for their survival. Mechanisms, such as non-verbal signals, should be established prior to any group work or interviews through which the respondent can opt out graciously.
If data collected during the study will be shared with other researchers in the future or will be used in other projects, its potential uses should be discussed with the participant in order to secure consent.
When seeking the participation of a child, explain the project to the child’s parent(s) or adult guardian and secure verbal permission to speak with the child.
Explain the project to the participant in a way he/she will understand.