Using a Systems Perspective to Examine Child Protection Systems and Practice: a Scoping Review on Child Abandonment and Institutionalization in the Maghreb
Authors: F. Baghdadi, M.E. Rauktis, C. Hands, A. John, A. Khanom, S. El Mhamdi, A. Soussi, H. Snooks.
In ‘Using a Systems Perspective to Examine Child Protection Systems and Practice: a Scoping Review on Child Abandonment and Institutionalization in the Maghreb’, the authors provide an overview of the current state of the child welfare system in the Maghreb, the sociopolitical region comprised of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Among other findings, the authors highlight the fractured state of the current child welfare system, and how state investment in the welfare of children and constitutional recognition of the rights of women and children are both key to enabling cultural change. This study was a collaboration between Swansea University UK, University of Pittsburgh, Fondation Amane pour la Protection de l’Enfance, and Moroccan Children's Trust, UK.
Key Insights:
· Fragmented child protection systems prioritize communitarian cultural norms and mores over child welfare.
· Limited alternative care, inadequate child safeguarding structures, and the stigmatization of unmarried mothers and their children all contribute to high rates of child institutionalization.
· Research is urgently needed to develop evidence-based interventions to reduce child institutionalization in the region.