Data surveillance in child protection systems development: an Indonesian case study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Policy
• Information Science

Background:

• Effective child protection and welfare services rely on quality information, as highlighted by the Convention on the Rights of the Child's General Comment 13.
• The critical role of information in child protection systems remains poorly understood and under-examined in current strengthening efforts.
• A study was commissioned by the Government of Indonesia and UNICEF to develop a roadmap for a national child protection information system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify a roadmap for establishing a national child protection information system in Indonesia.
• To address the shortcomings in understanding and utilizing information within child protection frameworks.
• To inform the development of child protection systems globally.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive desk review was conducted.
• Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were employed to gather insights.
• Site visits were undertaken to assess data collection practices and information management from national to community levels.

Main Results:

• Indonesia faces a significant lack of accurate data on child protection issues, including problem scale, causes, and intervention effectiveness.
• There is no designated lead agency for child protection at the national level.
• Absence of agreed-upon data collection priorities, procedures, and methods hinders the development of a shared data system.

Conclusions:

• Reframing the concept from an "information management system" to a "surveillance system" is proposed to clarify data objectives.
• Designating a lead government ministry and fostering partnerships are crucial for a functional national surveillance system.
• Addressing community-level barriers to child protection incident detection is essential for system improvement and can inform international initiatives.