Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) are guidelines developed to support humanitarian actors in delivering Child protection services during emergencies. First introduced by the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) under the Global Protection Cluster, the CPMS aims to ensure the safety, well-being, and rights of children during humanitarian crises.

The CPMS provides a framework for establishing common principles among child protection actors, improving the coordination and quality of interventions, and ensuring accountability. The standards are grounded in international legal frameworks, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and are closely linked with other humanitarian standards, such as the Sphere Handbook and the Core Humanitarian Standard.

The key areas covered by the CPMS include survival and development, non-discrimination, children's participation, and the best interests of the child. Additionally, the CPMS emphasizes the importance of preventing harm, ensuring impartial assistance, and strengthening child protection systems. The 2019 edition further expands on best practices, accountability to children, and integrating cross-sectoral efforts to ensure comprehensive child protection responses in crisis situations.

Principles of CPMS

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) are founded on ten core principles designed to guide humanitarian actors in ensuring the protection and well-being of children during emergencies. These principles align with international legal frameworks such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Sphere Standards. Below is a summary of the principles:

1. Survival and Development: Humanitarian efforts should focus on the survival and holistic development of children, including their physical, psychological, emotional, and social needs.
2. Non-discrimination and Inclusion: Humanitarian responses must proactively identify and address all forms of discrimination, ensuring the inclusion of every child, regardless of background or status.
3. Children's Participation: Children should be given opportunities to actively participate in decisions affecting them, especially in emergency preparedness and response.
4. Best Interests of the Child: All actions concerning children should prioritize their best interests, ensuring their safety and protection.
5. Safety, Dignity, and Rights: Interventions should be delivered in ways that respect children's dignity and rights while avoiding further harm or exposure to risks.
6. Impartial Assistance: Humanitarian workers must provide aid based on need, without discrimination, and ensure equitable access to all services.
7. Recovery from Harm: Efforts should focus on helping children and their families recover from the effects of violence, deprivation, and trauma.
8. Reclaiming Rights: Actors should help children assert their rights, ensuring that humanitarian efforts align with international child protection laws.
9. Strengthening Child Protection Systems: Humanitarian responses should reinforce existing child protection systems to better adapt to evolving situations.
10. Building Children's Resilience: Efforts should support the resilience of children and communities, building on strengths to mitigate future risks.

Four pillars

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) are organized into four key pillars to ensure comprehensive child protection. The standards cover essential elements of child protection systems, programmatic interventions, and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Pillar 1: Standards to Ensure a Quality Child Protection Response

Pillar 1 of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) focuses on the foundational elements required to ensure high-quality child protection programming during emergencies. It provides the framework for organizing and implementing effective child protection services that are well-coordinated, ethically managed, and responsive to the needs of children in crisis settings. The standards under Pillar 1 guide humanitarian actors in planning, executing, and evaluating child protection interventions with a focus on building a robust and ethical system.

Components of Pillar 1:

• Standard 1 - Coordination: Effective collaboration among child protection actors and humanitarian agencies.
• Standard 2 - Human Resources: Ensuring skilled and trained personnel are available to deliver child protection services.
• Standard 3 - Communication and Advocacy: Promoting child protection issues and advocating for children's rights, while ensuring ethical communication.
• Standard 4 - Programme Cycle Management: Managing child protection programs through a structured approach that includes planning, implementation, and monitoring.
• Standard 5 - Information Management: Collecting and managing child protection data ethically, ensuring privacy and confidentiality.
• Standard 6 - Child Protection Monitoring: Systematically monitoring risks to children to inform and adapt protective interventions.

Pillar 2: Standards to Address Child Protection Needs

Pillar 2 of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) focuses on addressing specific child protection risks faced by children in humanitarian crises. This pillar includes standards designed to prevent, mitigate, and respond to dangers that put children at risk, ensuring that interventions are tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of children in emergency situations. The standards prioritize the physical and emotional well-being of children, aiming to prevent harm and provide essential services to protect them from violence, exploitation, and abuse.

Components of Pillar 2:

• Standard 7 - Dangers and Injuries: Protecting children from physical and environmental hazards and providing necessary support.
• Standard 8 - Physical and Emotional Maltreatment: Preventing abuse, neglect, and violence, and ensuring children have access to appropriate care.
• Standard 9 - Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV): Protecting children from SGBV and providing survivor-centered care and services.
• Standard 10 - Mental Health and Psychosocial Distress: Supporting children's mental health and well-being through community-based psychosocial interventions.
• Standard 11 - Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups: Preventing the recruitment of children, facilitating their release, and supporting reintegration.
• Standard 12 - Child Labor: Addressing and preventing child labor, particularly its worst forms, and providing appropriate support services.
• Standard 13 - Unaccompanied and Separated Children: Reuniting children with their families and ensuring appropriate care and protection for those who are unaccompanied or separated.
• Standard 14 - Justice for Children: This component ensures that children in contact with justice systems during crises are treated in a child-friendly manner, in accordance with international standards and laws.

Pillar 3: Standards to Develop Adequate Child Protection Strategies

Pillar 3 of the Child Protection Minimum Standards (CPMS) outlines strategies designed to address and mitigate child protection risks during humanitarian action. These strategies are based on the socio-ecological model and focus on strengthening protective environments for children, families, and communities. By adopting a holistic approach, these standards are tailored to the specific vulnerabilities that arise during emergencies. Key strategies in Pillar 3 aim to ensure children's rights are respected while offering practical support to caregivers, communities, and service providers.

Components of Pillar 3:

• Standard 14 - Applying a Socio-Ecological Approach: This strategy focuses on engaging children, families, and communities in the protection process, ensuring the broader environment is supportive of child well-being.
• Standard 15 - Case Management: A systematic approach to identifying and supporting children at risk through individualized case management, direct support, and referrals to ensure comprehensive care.

• Standard 16 - Community-Based Mechanisms: Empowering communities to take responsibility for the protection and well-being of children, promoting preventative measures and early interventions.
• Standard 17 - Child-Friendly Spaces: Establishing safe spaces for children to engage in activities that promote learning, resilience, and protection, while also providing opportunities for children to report risks or seek help.
• Standard 18 - Protection of Excluded Children: Addressing the specific needs of children who are marginalized or excluded due to disability, discrimination, or other vulnerabilities, ensuring they receive appropriate care and support.

Pillar 4: Standards to Mainstream Child Protection in Other Humanitarian Sectors

Pillar 4 of the Child Protection Minimum Standards (CPMS) focuses on integrating child protection across various humanitarian sectors to ensure that all children's needs are addressed holistically. By working across sectors, child protection becomes a central part of the overall humanitarian response, preventing children from falling through the gaps in aid services. Pillar 4 includes standards designed to mainstream child protection into other essential areas of humanitarian work, promoting cross-sectoral collaboration and joint programming.

The components of Pillar 4 are:

• Standard 19 - Economic Recovery and Child Protection: Ensures economic initiatives protect children by addressing poverty-related risks like child labor or exploitation.
• Standard 20 - Education and Child Protection: Focuses on providing safe, inclusive, and protective educational environments that promote child development and reduce risks.
• Standard 21 - Health and Child Protection: Ensures access to protective health services that cater to children's needs while reducing child protection risks in health interventions.
• Standard 22 - Nutrition and Child Protection: Aims to ensure children and caregivers, especially vulnerable groups like pregnant women, receive adequate nutrition services that minimize protection risks.
• Standard 23 - Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Child Protection: Ensures children access safe WASH services that protect them from risks like violence or exploitation and support their dignity.
• Standard 24 - Shelter and Child Protection: Emphasizes the importance of safe and protective shelter for children and their caregivers, reducing risks of harm like forced eviction or insecurity.
• Standard 25 - Camp Management and Child Protection: Addresses child protection concerns in displaced populations, ensuring camps are managed in a way that mitigates risks and promotes the safety and well-being of children.
• Standard 26 - Distribution and Child Protection: Ensures that distribution processes (like food, non-food items) are managed in ways that do not expose children to additional harm, such as exploitation or violence.