Building the evidence base — practices and polices grounded in children’s lives

To be effective our programmes are grounded in children’s lived experiences and their particular contexts. Analysing the needs of children, families and communities we pinpoint the root of the problem and we design the most integrated solutions which bring about positive lasting results in the lives of children and families.

We encourage central and local government to base practices and policies developed on evidence from research, ensuring that proposed changes will have a positive impact in the lives of children, families and communities. We have supported the government to design and undertake a number of assessments, evaluations and surveys to help them to make informed decisions about the strategies, legislations, services to be developed on the ground, such as Beneficiary Assessment (prior to the development of the national polices on social services and social aid), survey on causes of infant abandonment, Assessment of Child protection system in the Republic of Moldova (commissioned by UNICEF), Social Services Survey to guide service development at local level, organizational review to guide structures development at local level, a number of sociological surveys to understand professional and public attitudes to child abandonment and institutionalization of children, child abandonment, on the child abuse and neglect phenomenon, etc.