Child and Adolescent Survivor Initiative (CASI)

The Child and Adolescent Survivors Initiative (CASI) seeks to improve the quality of and access to services for child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse in emergencies. Through the partnership of the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and Gender-based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and the Norwegian Capacity (NORCAP) expert deployment, CASI provides inter-agency support to country-level child protection and gender-based violence coordination mechanisms and service providers on the response to child and adolescent survivors.

Emergencies exacerbate gender-based violence (GBV), especially sexual abuse, which children and adolescents are already exposed to in times of peace and stability. During emergencies, child protection (CP) and GBV coordination mechanisms and practitioners play a central role in preventing and responding to sexual abuse by integrating mitigation measures and supporting child friendly services. Response interventions which connect child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse to specialized services, such as individual case management, health and sexual and reproductive health services are critical and lifesaving activities. For response interventions to be timely and effective, good coordination among all emergency response actors is essential.

Check out the latest CASI resource: Gender-based Violence and Child Protection Field Cooperation Framework.  

CASI Phase II, launched in September 2019 represents a global expansion, making a range of services available including in-country coordination and missions support by deployable staff. remote technical support, and a global community of practice for CP and GBV practitioners. In addition, CASI is in the midst of implementing a longer-term capacity development program on caring for child and adolescent survivors of sexual violence, inclusive of individual and group coaching and mentorship as well as dedicated support for local partners, in South Sudan and Yemen.  

Types of support provided by CASI:
•    Identifying complementary areas of work between the CP and GBV coordination mechanisms as related to child and adolescent survivors; 
•    Aiding joint CP/GBV review of coordination tools and resources (e.g., service mapping, referral pathways, SOPs) to ensure the inclusion of and alignment on supporting child and adolescent survivors; 
•    Designing joint CP/GBV workshops on developing or aligning coordination tools and resources as related to child and adolescent survivors, and supporting the CP and GBV coordination mechanisms in operationalizing these;
•    Supporting joint CP/GBV advocacy efforts related to improving the quality of and access to response services for child and adolescent survivors;
•    Assisting CP and GBV coordination mechanisms in establishing inter-agency processes to review capacity to deliver against recognized minimum standards for child and adolescent survivors; 
•    Providing technical guidance on the adaption, contextualization, and facilitation of the Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse (CCS) training package, as well as guidance on contextualizing case management supervision and coaching materials to supplement the training;
•    Facilitating joint GBV/CP inter-agency CCS trainings, including training of trainers;
•    Advising on how CP and GBV case management actors can coordinate on cases of child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse, inclusive of support to develop joint agreements between CP and GBV case management agencies;
•    Reviewing inter-agency resources at the global, regional, or country-level as related to child and adolescent survivors, and coordination/collaboration between CP and GBV actors; and
•    Sharing technical resources to support the delivery and coordination of services for child and adolescent survivors.

Please contact CP AoR helpdesks for more information on the type of support that can be provided and resources available.

You can find a selection of GBV resources for CP actors here.