The tools in this section invite managers and other users to reflect critically on their agency’s approach to engaging with communities and to consider a more community-led approach.

This section also recognizes that many managers will have a host of practical questions about things such as qualities to look for in facilitators, the phases of engaging with communities, and the kinds of benchmarks one can use to tell whether one is on a productive track, among others.

Recognizing that there are no “final” or universal answers to these questions, the tools in this section seek to give illustrative examples that stir the imagination and invite one to think how it might go in a particular context.

Managers also may find it useful to have a more in-depth look at an example of community-led work, together with tools that were used to support it. For this reason, this section includes a case study from Sierra Leone and some of the tools used as part of the community-led work.

It is important to recognize, though, that there is no one-size-fits-all in regard to community-led approaches. The Sierra Leone example and tools are best seen as illustrations and should not be seen as prescriptions for how to do community-led work.

Enabling community-led work is not just a different approach to child protection but a transformational one. One of the best pathways toward change is collective reflection, which involves an honest stocktaking of our approach to engaging with communities, an admission of our current limitations as well as strengths. This tool presents questions to begin the process of agency reflection and change.

As part of developing this Guide and Toolkit, a community-led approach was trialed and studied in Sierra Leone. Read a summary of the case study and what it showed about community-led processes.

Inter-community collaboration offers numerous advantages, not least of which is the opportunity for co-learning by peers working in different contexts. As is true of most matters pertaining to community-led child protection, the context is critical, and communities themselves should be in the driver’s seat. This tool outlines the approach for inter-village collaboration that a group of communities in Sierra Leone developed.

See an indicative overview of the various phases of the community-led work, including sample benchmarks to indicate whether the process is on track.

Explore a helpful checklist for the qualities to look for in facilitators of a community-led approach.

See samples of possible criteria that could be set for when community-led actions are being discussed and agreed.

Facilitators benefit from having an experienced mentor, who serves as a role model, guide, sounding board, and support for their work. Read a sample set of roles and responsibilities for mentors.

Explore the ethical issues that may arise in community-led work using a hypothetical scenario and some key pointers.

See a sample work plan for facilitators to use during the planning phase with communities.

Look at a sample memorandum of understanding for brokering collaboration between communities and formal child protection systems.

See a sample outline of one community’s action plan, setting out roles and timelines.

See a sample of how a community review meeting might be structured, including objectives and an indicative agenda.

This Toolkit was developed by the Child Resilience Alliance (CRA), formerly known as the Columbia Group for Children in Adversity, with Mike Wessells serving as the lead author and coordinator.

The Toolkit and its companion Guide were developed for the Interagency Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Child Protection Systems. The Columbia Group for Children in Adversity, as a member of this Initiative and its technical arm, organized the community-led work in Sierra Leone and Kenya. The CRA expresses keen appreciation to Save the Children, particularly Sarah Lilley, Judy Roberts, and Bill Bell, for coordinating and supporting the Initiative.

The community-led approach developed in the Guide and Toolkit owe a significant debt to the inspiring work of David Lamin, who led and mentored the work in Sierra Leone. Thanks go also to Marie Manyeh (Mentor), Dora King (Lead National Researcher, Ethnographic Phase), Samba Charlie and Ernest Brimah (Facilitators), and also to the wider team that conducted the action research and the learning. This talented national team was supported by three international researchers—Drs. Lindsay Stark, Kathleen Kostelny, and Mike Wessells. Also in Sierra Leone, we give special thanks to UNICEF, Save the Children, Plan, World Vision, the national Child Protection Committee, and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs. The work in Sierra Leone was made possible by generous support from an anonymous donor, the Oak Foundation, UNICEF, the ESRC-DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research, Plan, Save the Children, and World Vision.

The approach presented here also reflects the learning from the Initiative’s work in Kenya, led by Dr. Kathleen Kostelny of the Columbia Group, Ken Ondoro (National Researcher), and Jotham Mchambo (Facilitator). We thank World Vision, the lead operational partner in Kenya, Save the Children Sweden, and the Department of Children’s Services for their kind support and spirit of co-learning. The work in Kenya was made possible by generous support from the Oak Foundation, USAID-PEPFAR, UNICEF, and an anonymous donor.

Parallel streams of work have informed this Toolkit. Particularly useful have been insights from interagency action research in India supported by the Oak Foundation. Thanks go also to Lucy Hillier, who coordinates the Child Protection Exchange and helped to develop the illustrations in the Toolkit, which reflect the artwork of Alastair Findlay. Special thanks for their systematic, helpful reviews of the Toolkit go especially to Mark Canavera, Kathleen Kostelny, Patrick Onyango, and Richard Wamimbi.

Our deep thanks go to the diverse communities who have taught us about community-led processes, exhibited tremendous resilience and creativity in challenging circumstances, and shown us the way toward a more grounded, sustainable approach to child protection.

Mike Wessells for the CRA