Target area:	Technical Support
Sub-target area:	Technical support
Target countries:	Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia
Duration:	20/12/2021-31/03/2022
Partners:	ARCO
Budget line:	Terre des hommes Hungary, ADA

Project description

WUS Austria will act as lead evaluator to conduct a study on Child Protection Hub project’s impact between 2015-2022 in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania and Serbia, to develop the overall data collection and analysis methodology (with data collection tools) and prepare a regional summary report.

This study will:

1) measure the impact of ChildHub as a Community of Practice on the quality of the work of professionals who work with children in the eight project countries and who have benefitted from ChildHub activities during Phase 1 and 2 (i.e., over the six years since ChildHub exists);

2) explore what impact ChildHub has had on the child protection system in the eight project countries through its capacity-building efforts, including its impact on policies, structures, processes, capacities and accountability mechanisms.

The specific objectives of the impact study are:

▪ Organizational knowledge and learning: The impact study will help to understand if and how capacity-building and skills development activities and access to and participation in Communities of Practice influence the work of professionals who work with children including their professional knowledge, attitudes and practices. Also, it will help to understand how this work influences the functioning and strengthening of child protection systems in the specific countries.

▪ Steering and ownership: The learning and evidence collected by the impact study will inform the work of ChildHub in potential future phases and the design of specific capacity-building programmes and schemes. It will also inform and enhance ChildHub’s – and the project partner organizations’ – advocacy efforts targeting policy- and decision-makers regarding the linkages between professional learning, development and networking opportunities and the quality of protection work with children and state of child protection system in country.

▪ Accountability and credibility: The impact study will help to ensure that ChildHub is accountable, first and foremost to children who are to ultimately benefit from the capacity-building efforts provided to professionals. In addition, it will ensure ChildHub’s accountability towards the direct beneficiary professionals as well as all other stakeholders, donors and the project team itself, assessing and communicating what impact the six-year work has had or may not have had on the quality of professionals’ work and the child protection system in the eight countries.