The Child Protection Initiative (CPI) was established in response to a recommendation made at the December 2002 “Children and the City” Amman conference for ‘building the capacities of municipal authorities, and establishment of a regional fund to respond rapidly to the risks faced by vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the MENA region’. The CPI, which was launched in September 2003, is supported by the World Bank and the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), which is hosting its secretariat in Riyadh. After two years, the CPI is expected to become an independent regional entity with a reliable funding mechanism.
The CPI aims to upgrade the capacities of local authorities and municipalities to become more effective in improving the well being of children, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, and to enhance knowledge of effective policies and programs that address critical issues of children in the region. That aim is expected to be fulfilled through: (i) building a knowledge base on the main issues that face urban children in the MENA region, and deriving lessons and best practices from the research and programs that address vulnerable and disadvantaged children’s issues, whether within the region or elsewhere; (ii) capacity building of local authorities to enable them address such issues with efficiency and to benefit from and facilitate exchange of experiences and lessons, through a network of municipalities and local authorities. (iii) Assisting concerned institutions in their endeavor to mobilize resources and to establish a flexible funding mechanism, to be funded by donors, aiming to mitigate the adverse impacts and to enable dealing with risks that face children at the local level.
Based on secondary sources of data the CPI conducted assessments of the status quo of children and of the agencies responsible for their welfare and protection in 12 MENA cities: Riyadh, Amman, Khartoum, Alexandria, Sana’a, Beirut, Casablanca, Medina Munawara, Kuwait, Gaza, Tehran and Algiers. These studies vary in their degree of completion. Some are fairly advanced while others are still in the early phases. In almost all of them, however, the lack of sufficient and detailed data on urban children, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, emerged as a common phenomenon. This lack of data is a clear impediment to proper planning of effective interventions by concerned authorities and agencies. This conclusion was also reached during the brainstorming workshop conducted by the CPI in Cairo during 12-13th May 2004. That workshop recommended augmenting municipal knowledge bases on the status of children in MENA cities and stressed the need to raise the awareness of municipalities on their role in the fields of child protection and welfare.
Therefore, the CPI intends to organize a knowledge management workshop during 24th-25th November 2004 in Amman to address the issues of bridging the knowledge gaps on the status of urban children.
Objectives
The main objectives of this workshop are:
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Review what is already known about the status of urban children in the MENA region by reviewing the results of the 12 city assessments.
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Identify the pertinent knowledge gaps and problems associated with data management.
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Review practical tools and methods that could be utilized to bridge these gaps.
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Discuss elements of a strategy for municipal knowledge management.
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Identify the roles of potential partners in this strategy.
Format
After brief introductions, the workshop will review the main highlights of the 12 city assessments presented by the consultants that conducted the studies with comments from representatives of municipalities, childhood councils and other participants. This review will paint a picture about what is already known about the status of urban children and identify the knowledge gaps in this respect. This will be followed by discussion on the various knowledge management tools that could be utilized to fill these gaps – including, iner alia, sample surveys, PRA methods, DevInfo database, etc. highlighting their pros and cons. Group discussions will then discuss a strategy to address these gaps and the roles of potential partners in producing accurate and comprehensive data on urban children.
Participants
Participants in the workshop comprise representatives of MENA municipalities and childhood councils, experts and consultants, representatives of UNICEF, regional organizations – viz. Arab Council for Childhood and Development, League of Arab States, etc.
Tentative Program
Day One: Wednesday 24th November 2004
Session 1: Chair: TBD
9:00 – 9:15 Opening Speeches
9:15 – 9:30 Presentation 1: Amman
9:30 – 9:45 Comments by childhood council and municipality
9:45 – 10:00 Presentation 2: Gaza
10:00 – 10:15 Comments by childhood council and municipality
10:15– 10:30 Presentation 3: Beirut
10:30 – 10:45 Comments by childhood council and municipality
10:45 – 11:05 Discussion
11:05 – 11:35 Coffee Break
Session 2: Chair: TBD
11:35 – 11:50 Presentation 4: Riyadh
11:50 – 12:05 Comments by childhood council and municipality
12:05 – 12:20 Presentation 5: Kuwait
12:20 – 12:35 Comments by childhood council and municipality
12:35 – 12:50 Presentation 6: Medina Munawara
12:50 – 13:05 Comments by childhood council and municipality
13:05 – 13:25 Discussion
13:25 – 15:00 Lunch Break
Session 3: Chair: TBD
15:00 – 15:15 Presentation 7: Alexandria
15:15 – 15:30 Comments by childhood council and municipality
15:30 – 15:45 Presentation 8: Khartoum
15:45 – 16:00 Comments by childhood council and municipality
16:00 – 16:15 Presentation 9: Sana'a
16:15 – 16:30 Comments by childhood council and municipality
16:30– 16:50 Discussion
16:50– 17:05 Coffee Break
Session 4: Chair: TBD
17:05 – 17:20 Presentation 10: Tehran
17:20 – 17:35 Comments by childhood council and municipality
17:35 – 17:50 Presentation 11: Algeirs
17:50 – 18:05 Comments by childhood council and municipality
18:05– 18:20 Discussion
18:20– 18:30 Remark
Day Two: Thursday 25th November 2004
Session 5: Chair: TBD
9:00 – 9:15 Highlights of Day 1
9:15 – 9:45 Review of Data management issues and tools (UNICEF)
9:45 – 10:15 Review of Data management issues and tools (CPI)
10:15 – 11:00 Discussion and synthesis
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
Session 6: Chair: TBD
11:30 – 12:00 Elements of a Municipal Knowledge Management Strategy (CPI)
12:00 – 14:00 Focused Group Discussions
14:00 – 15:30 Lunch Break
15:30 – 16:00 Group Reports
16:00 – 16:45 Next Steps and Partner Roles
16:45 – 17:00 Closing