An Ethnographic Study of Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms and their Linkage with the National Child Protection System of Sierra Leone

The ethnographic research presented in this report is part of an inter-agency, grounded learning initiative undertaken in response to the desk review. It aims to strengthen child protection practice in the global child protection sector through research in three countries in West Africa (Sierra Leone), East and Southern Africa (Kenya), and Southeast Asia, respectively. The key components of the learning initiative in each country are to (1) document existing CBCPMs in multiple areas and their linkages with the national child protection system, (2) define population based outcomes and measures for gauging the effectiveness of the national child protection system, (3) systematically test the effectiveness of community owned interventions to strengthen the linkages between CBCPMs and the national child protection system, (4) feed the findings back to communities, governments, and agency partners in each country as a means of stimulating reflection and action on strengthening CBCPMs, and (5) use what is learned to strengthen child protection practice at national, regional, and global levels.