About us

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action ("The Alliance") envisions a world in which children are protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence in humanitarian settings. Its mission is to support the efforts of humanitarian actors to achieve high-quality and effective child protection interventions in both refugee and non-refugee humanitarian contexts.

As a global network of operational agencies, academic institutions, policymakers, donors and practitioners, the Alliance facilitates inter-agency technical collaboration on child protection in all humanitarian contexts. It sets standards and produces technical guidance for use by the various stakeholders. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) currently co-leads the Alliance with Plan International. 

The Alliance’s work falls into five categories:

• Standard setting and guidance development:
  The Alliance develops standards for child protection in humanitarian action and generates technical guidelines and associated materials for use by humanitarian actors. It also promotes the integration of humanitarian standards and norms into practice and encourages efforts to learn from their use and improve upon them. The Alliance is the custodian of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, which is considered a companion to the Sphere standards.
• Capacity building, learning and development:
  The Alliance develops technical capacity for child protection by identifying, expanding and strengthening the child protection in humanitarian action workforce; mapping capacity gaps; defining priorities and strategic direction in terms of capacity development; and providing learning opportunities, both face-to-face and remote.
• Evidence and knowledge generation:
  The Alliance invests in generating, processing and disseminating robust evidence on the effectiveness of programmes and strategies in protecting children in humanitarian settings.
• Advocacy:
  The Alliance engages in advocacy for child protection and its beneficiaries. This includes ensuring child protection needs are reflected in the global humanitarian architecture and associated processes.
• Convening:
  The Alliance convenes humanitarian child protection actors working at local, national, regional and global levels to promote knowledge-sharing and technical collaboration.

For more information, view our 2018-2020 Strategic Plan and 2018-2020 Work Plan.

Secretariat

The Alliance’s Secretariat supports fund-raising efforts, implementation of work plans, collaboration with other networks and sectors, pilot-testing tools and products and knowledge management. The Alliance Secretariat is also responsible for general convening, including the Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Annual Meeting.

Working Groups and Task Forces 

Working groups, task forces and technical focal points implement the Alliance workplan. They are led by members of the Alliance and supported by Alliance coordinators. The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action is composed of four working groups and six task forces. 

Working groups within the Alliance

• Advocacy Working Group (AWG)
• Assessment, Measurement and Evidence Working Group (AME WG)
• Child Protection Minimum Standards Working Group (CPMS WG)
• Learning and Development Working Group (L&D WG)

Task forces within the Alliance

• Case Management Task Force (CM TF)
• Child Labour Task Force (CL TF)
• Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG TF) 
• Community Level Child Protection Task Force (CCP TF)
• Family Strengthening Task Force (FS TF)
• Unaccompanied and Separated Children Task Force (UASC TF)

In addition to these working groups and task forces, technical focal points support specific areas of child protection in humanitarian action and help maintain linkages with other global bodies. The themes covered by these focal points (as of September 2021) are ‘Child Protection and COVID-19’, ‘Child Protection and Education in Emergencies', 'Prevention' and 'Cash and Child Protection'. 

The Alliance formed out of the UNICEF-led Child Protection Working Group (CPWG). For ten years, the CPWG united NGOs, UN agencies, academics and donors into the global-level forum for child protection collaboration and coordination in humanitarian settings. In 2016, the CPWG divided into The Alliance and the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AoR). The Alliance develops and promotes high-quality, effective standards and guidance for national and international actors working to protect children in humanitarian settings.  The AoR remains in the cluster system under UNICEF’s leadership and aims to ensure the coordination of those same efforts.

Members

2021 Alliance Core Members

• AJEDI-Ka
• BIFERD
• Childfund International
• CPC Learning Network
• Danish Refugee Council
• Hurras Network
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• International Rescue Committee
• Islamic Relief Worldwide
• Plan International
• Save the Children
• Terre des hommes
• UNHCR
• UNICEF
• War Child Holland
• War Child UK
• World Vision International
• Observer Status: Child Protection Area of Responsibility

2021 Alliance General Members

• A Chance in Life 
• Action Chretienne pour la Paix et le Development (ACPD)
• Action Contre la Faim
• Advocacy for Child Relief
• African Child Policy Forum
• Alpha and Omega Reconciliation and Peace Building (AREPEB)
• Article iii Group
• Association Communautaire pour la Promotion des Droits de l'Homme (ACPDH)
• Association for Community Development (ACD)
• Association for Women's Promotion and Endogenous Development
• AVSI
• Bangladesh Youth Model
• Bent AL-Rafedain Organization (BROB)
• Bethany Christian Services Global
• Bank Information Center (BIC)
• Bioforce Institute
• Bright Bangladesh Forum (http://brightbangladeshforum.org)
• Buds of Christ Charitable Trust
• Cambodia ACTS
• CAN Pakistan
• Catholic Relief Services
• Center for Community Health and Development (CHAD)
• Centre for Communities Education and Youth Development (CCEYD)
• Centre for Coordination of Voluntary Works and Research (CECOWOR)
• Cesvi
• Child Helpline
• Child Nepal
• Child Safe Horizons Ltd. (http://www.childsafehorizons.com)
• Child Watch
• ChildFund Philippines
• Childhood without AIDS
• Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP)
• Children of One World
• Concepts for Community Programmes
• Convention pour le Développement et le bien être Social
• EFADA
• Elimu Mwangaza
• Equipe Pastorale auprès des Enfants en Détresse (EPED-RDC)
• Future Hopes Integrated Development Organization (FHIDO)
• GAMMUN
• Global Partnership to End Violence against Children
• Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (GSSWA)
• Hope Aid
• Hope Springs Haven
• International Association of Schools of Social Work
• International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBCR)
• International Catholic Migration Commission
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) - Observer Status
• Intersos
• IsraAID
• King's College
• Kurdistan Save the Children Children's Fund
• LAISSEZ L'AFRIQUE VIVRE
• Life Makers Meeting Place Organization (LMMPO)
• Life Prospects Foundation-Yemen (LPF)
• Liveerpool John Moores University 
• Lutheran World Federation
• New Hope New Winners Foundation
• Nirengi Association
• Olympic Refuge Foundation
• Organization of Environment and Children Rights Preservation (OECRP)
• PACOPA : PARTENAIRES CONTRE LA PAUVRETE
• Parent-Child Intervention Centre
• Partnership Network for Prevention (VAC)
• Peace Action Society Organization For Somalia PASOS
• Peace One Day (POD MALI) (SGP support needed in future)
• Promotion of Education Link Organization (PELO)
• Proteknôn Foundation for Innovation and Learning (PFIL)
• RedR Australia 
• REPSSI Uganda
• RET
• Refugee Welfare Association Cameroon(REWAC)
• Right to Play International
• Sacred Sports Foundation Inc. (SSF)
• Safe for childhood and development organization
• Sanjh Preet Organization
• SAPI International-Savethepeople
• SEDHURO
• Society for the Protection and Assistance of Socially Desadvantaged Individuals (SPASDI)
• SONGSHOPTAQUE
• SOS Children´s Villages International
• Street Child
• Survivors Aid International Liberia (SAIL), Inc
• Swatantrata Abhiyan Nepal
• Tanzania Child and Youth Rescue Organisation - TCYRO
• The Alternative Bridge to Development (ab2cd, Inc.)
• The Engineering Association for Development & Environment (EADE)
• The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
• The Organization for Children Harmony (TOCH)
• Trailblazers Mentoring Foundation
• TRIANGLE GENERATION HUMANITAIRE (TGH)
• Tushinde Children's Trust
• Union for the Promotion, the Defense of Human rights and the Evironment (UPDDHE)
• United Citizens Child Support Organization Uganda (UCCSOU)
• Viva
• Voice of Children (VOC)
• Women Vision
• Yes Theatre for Communication among Youth
• Youth Alive Uganda
• Youth Association for Development (YAD)

Governance

The Alliance operates according to its governance document.