Introducing Guidance for Alternative Care Provision during COVID-19

Jan. 27, Jan. 28, and Feb. 2, 2021: READY and Child Protection Advisors Lauren Murray and Rebecca Smith hosted two child protection webinars, introducing health practitioners and policy makers to the newly developed Guidance for Alternative Care Provision during COVID-19, coordinated by the Better Care Network, Save the Children, The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, and UNICEF.

The first webinar, hosted on January 27th*, is aimed at health practitioners with the goal of introducing the guidance and helping practitioners understand their role in preventing family separation and supporting unaccompanied and separated children. (*To support attendance across timezones, we will offer an alternative date for the Practitioner’s Session on February 2. Register for the February 2 session.)

First session: For Health Practitioners

The second webinar, hosted on January 28th, is aimed at policy makers and will explain their role in developing policies and guidance to prevent family separation during an outbreak.

Second session: For Policy Makers

Both webinars include a practical component: Participants walked through a scenario and answered a series of questions balancing public health guidance and the best interest of the child.

SPEAKERS

Lauren Murray, Senior Humanitarian Child Protection Specialist, Save the Children: Lori is a senior specialist with Save the Children, specializing in humanitarian child protection. Following her MSW from Columbia University, Lori began her career in the child protection sector working as a social worker for resettled refugee youth in New York City. Since then Lori has deployed to 10+ humanitarian responses in a child protection capacity, working closely with health colleagues. Over the past nine years, Lori has worked on the development of both global initiatives and alternative care guidance, and provided direct support to alternative care programming in countries including Bangladesh, Iraq, Mozambique, and Syria. Lori has been collaborating with health colleagues throughout her career to promote shared understanding and to joint advocacy for children’s rights.

Rebecca Smith, Senior Child Protection Advisor, Save the Children: Rebecca is an experienced social worker with over 15 years working in children protection in humanitarian and development contexts. She has provided direct support as a technical advisor to governments and civil societies in Albania, Bosnia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. She has also supported the UN Resolution on the Rights of the Child on alternative care, publishing guidance to support policy makers and practitioners. Prior to working with Save the Children, Rebecca lived and worked in DRC, Chad, and Mongolia, and has been deployed to humanitarian disasters all over the world. She holds an MSW and an MPH, both from Columbia University.

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