Deadline: 19-May-2026
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNICEF is inviting applications to strengthen child protection systems and technical capacity for programmes supporting children associated with armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG). The initiative focuses on improving prevention, release, reintegration, and protection services for children affected by armed conflict.
The programme strengthens national and regional child protection systems through training, technical tools, and contextualized implementation support across multiple countries.
Programme Overview
The initiative focuses on improving child protection systems and expanding technical capacity for practitioners working with vulnerable children affected by armed conflict. It builds on global tools such as the CAAFAG toolkit and related technical guidance for girls associated with armed forces and armed groups.
It aims to strengthen both policy-level and field-level implementation of child protection interventions, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Key Focus Areas
The programme addresses a wide range of child protection and justice-related areas, including:
- Child protection systems strengthening
- Access to asylum and legal identity services
- Birth registration and civil documentation
- Detention, freedom of movement, and due process
- Family tracing and reunification
- Gender-based violence prevention and response
- Legal assistance and access to justice
- Protection in emergencies and conflict settings
- Crime prevention and violence reduction
- Case management, registration, and child profiling
- General protection services and psychosocial support
Programme Objectives
The initiative is designed to:
- Strengthen technical capacity of child protection practitioners
- Improve quality and consistency of CAAFAG programming
- Support gender-sensitive approaches for affected children
- Enhance prevention, release, and reintegration processes
- Improve coordination between national and regional protection systems
- Strengthen use of standardized global tools and guidance
Implementation Approach
The programme is implemented through a combination of capacity-building, technical support, and resource rollout activities. Key components include:
- Regional training programmes for practitioners
- Contextual adaptation of global child protection tools
- Pilot testing and refinement of psychosocial support materials
- Strengthening coordination across child protection systems
It focuses on building localized expertise while ensuring alignment with global child protection standards.
Key Activities
- Regional Arabic Training of Trainers (ToT) for child protection practitioners
- Contextualization and rollout of CAAFAG technical resources in two selected countries
- Testing and refinement of a draft mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) toolkit
- Strengthening field-level implementation capacity for CAAFAG programming
- Supporting knowledge transfer between global, regional, and national stakeholders
Expected Results
The programme aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- Improved practitioner skills in implementing CAAFAG interventions
- Strengthened regional and global training capacity in child protection systems
- Enhanced national capacity through rollout of standardized tools and resources
- Improved quality and consistency of reintegration and protection programming
- Finalization and validation of a psychosocial support toolkit
- Better integration of gender-sensitive approaches in child protection systems
Why This Programme Matters
- Children associated with armed forces face extreme protection risks and trauma
- Strengthening systems improves prevention, recovery, and reintegration outcomes
- Standardized tools ensure consistent and effective programming across regions
- Training improves frontline capacity in fragile and conflict-affected areas
- Psychosocial support is essential for long-term recovery and reintegration
- Gender-sensitive approaches ensure inclusive protection for girls and boys
Conclusion
The UNICEF child protection capacity strengthening initiative is designed to improve global and regional responses for children associated with armed forces and armed groups. By combining training, technical tools, and system strengthening, the programme enhances practitioner capacity and ensures more effective, coordinated, and gender-sensitive child protection interventions in conflict-affected regions.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.