Abstract
BackgroundThe establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) has become a widespread intervention targeting protection and support for displaced children in humanitarian contexts. There is a lack of evidence of impact of these interventions with respect to both short‐term outcomes and longer‐term developmental trajectories.MethodsWe collected data from caregivers of Congolese refugee children residing in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement at three timepoints. To assess short‐term impact of CFSs, we compared indicators assessed shortly after refugees’ arrival (baseline, T1) and endline (T2, three to six months after CFS implementation) amongst 430 CFS attenders and 161 nonattenders. Follow‐up assessments after the end of CFS programming were conducted 18 months post‐baseline (T3) with caregivers of 249 previous CFS attenders and 77 CFS nonattenders.ResultsIn the short‐term, attendance at CFSs was associated with better maintenance of psychosocial well‐being (PSWB; β = 2.093, p < .001, Cohen's d = .347) and greater increases in developmental assets (β = 2.517, p < .001, Cohen's d = .231), with significantly stronger impacts for girls. CFS interventions meeting higher programing quality criteria were associated with greater impact on both PSWB and development assets (β = 2.603 vs. β = 1.793 and β = 2.942 vs. β = 2.337 for attenders at higher and lower‐quality CFSs c.f. nonattenders, respectively). Amongst boys, benefits of program attendance were only indicated for those attending higher‐quality CFS (β = 2.084, p = .006 for PSWB). At follow‐up, however, there were no discernable impacts of prior CFS attendance on any measures. Age and school attendance were the only characteristics that predicted an outcome – developmental assets – at follow‐up.ConclusionsAttendance at CFSs – particularly involving higher‐quality programming – supported children's well‐being and development. However, sustained impact beyond active CFS programming was not demonstrated. Intervention goals and strategies in humanitarian contexts need to address the challenge of connecting children to other resources to facilitate developmental progress in conditions of protracted displacement.
Highlights
Forced displacement currently impacts the lives of more than 65 million people globally (UNHCR, 2017)
The settlement was re-opened in April 2012 to support the swelling conflict, and by the start of the current study in late September 2012, over 20,000 refugees had taken up residence (UNHCR, 2012b)
We further explored the effects of attending a higher- vs. lower-quality Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) in comparison with nonattendance via multivariate regressions
Summary
Forced displacement currently impacts the lives of more than 65 million people globally (UNHCR, 2017). The establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) has become a widespread intervention targeting protection and support for displaced children in humanitarian contexts. Results: In the short-term, attendance at CFSs was associated with better maintenance of psychosocial well-being (PSWB; b = 2.093, p < .001, Cohen’s d = .347) and greater increases in developmental assets (b = 2.517, p < .001, Cohen’s d = .231), with significantly stronger impacts for girls. CFS interventions meeting higher programing quality criteria were associated with greater impact on both PSWB and developmental assets (b = 2.603 vs b = 1.793 and b = 2.942 vs b = 2.337 for attenders at higher and lower-quality CFSs c.f. nonattenders, respectively). Intervention goals and strategies in humanitarian contexts need to address the challenge of connecting children to other resources to facilitate developmental progress in conditions of protracted displacement.
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