In 2020, Coram International conducted a formative evaluation of the Government of Ghana and UNICEF’s Child Protection Programme (2012-2019). The evaluation, stretching across two programme cycles, had an expansive geographical scope covering programming across Ghana at national and sub-national levels. The evaluation took an outcome-harvesting approach, collecting evidence of changes in the child protection system, which occurred over the course of the programming and working backwards to determine whether and how UNICEF’s programme contributed to those changes. This approach was complemented by a quasi-experimental approach to measure the impact of the social and behavioural change interventions, utilising difference-in-difference analysis to assess the extent to which changes could be attributed to UNICEF programming. The consultancy was undertaken in collaboration with a Ghanaian research institution engaged by Coram International to undertake the in-country data collection. The evaluation generated evidence in relation to 4 of the 6 evaluation criteria of OECD/DAC; relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability and UNICEF’s guiding principles of gender, human rights and equity. The evaluation aimed to support learning and decision-making to improve child protection outcomes for girls and boys in Ghana, to hold UNICEF accountable for its contributions to child protection outcomes, to clarify the changes in child protection in Ghana that have been brought about by UNICEF’s programming, and to determine whether the current programme has the right strategic focus to contribute to strengthening the child protection system moving forward.
In 2012 Coram International developed a two-week training course on child rights and child protection in armed conflict for KAIPTC, an international research and training centre that conducts professional training courses on conflict prevention, management and resolution. The materials were developed following a fact-finding mission to KAIPTC in Accra, Ghana and in collaboration with KAIPTC trainers and course developers. Participants in the courses include military personnel, International Peace Support Operations, police officers, African Union personnel and others. Coram International’s modules were grounded in international human rights law, humanitarian law and other international standards. The finalised training materials are highly participatory and draw heavily on participants’ experiences. They covered important underlying topics, such as, international human rights law, child protection, justice for children and the use of children as participants in conflict, and also advice on specific conflict related challenges, including; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, trafficking and sexual exploitation and abuse.