Investing in knowledge for evidence-based social policies for children: two case-studies of knowledge dissemination initiatives in the Eastern Caribbean

Abstract

In the Eastern Caribbean various knowledge initiatives are underway. Unfortunately, this knowledge does not always reach its intended end-users. There is a need to leverage knowledge in order to halt the explicit trend of child poverty and exclusion. A knowledge function for social policy should be geared towards knowledge identification, generation and access. Greater development results can be achieved if focus is put on the design, monitoring and evaluation of social policies on four different levels: planning, legislation, financing and implementation. To this extent, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Office (ECO) promotes practical knowledge dissemination tools such as DevInfo and the Social Policy Mapping for Children database in order to ensure that the different stakeholders use and build on knowledge to develop and implement child-friendly policies.