C4C's Solution

Citizens 4 Change is a UK registered social enterprise. We partner with funders, NGOs, faith-based organisations and community groups across East Africa to resolve the problem of violence against children from the ground up.

Our team is led by Dr Kate McAlpine who has over 25 years experience as an advocate, service provider, researcher and strategist in child protection in Tanzania and Uganda. C4C uses research, tech for good, and group facilitation to

Generate behavioural intelligence from communities that are on the digital margins - Partners & Projects
Co-create with them replicable and scalable solutions to violence - Services
Build an evidence base about the beliefs and behaviours of people who are doing the right thing to prevent and respond to violence against children - Research Library

Currently, C4C has identified over 19,000 Child Protectors; embarked on 8 partnerships in Tanzania and one in Uganda; and developed a model of social listening and engagement to resolve the problem of violence in schools and communities in Tanzania.

Foster a growing decentralised network of Citizen Child Protectors to build a critical mass of people who do the right thing by children.

We use SMS and mobile app technology to survey citizens on the ground and conduct social network analyses. This enables us to shed light on the dynamics that underpin violence; and identify, map and communicate with individuals who are socially connected and respected by their peers. These individuals feel an urgency for change and become part of the critical mass of child protection champions.
Understand and demonstrate what works to prevent and respond to violence against children in East Africa.

Using Participatory Action Research and Theory U C4C’s esteemed research team facilitates a process with communities where they co-create and work towards their shared ambitions to spread protective norms. In doing so we foster a decolonised understanding of how to protect the best interests of children in a way that responds to heterogeneous cultural, economic and social practices related to childhood and child-rearing.
Seed a child and youth-led movement for safe schools.

Facilitating meaningful child participation via our partnership with Junior Councils, the Catholic church and Shule Direct, we support children to learn protective behaviours; develop their ideas for school safety and put their ideas into action.
Mobilise and learn from the collective intelligence of a crowd of Child Protectors in East Africa.

We survey community members about their beliefs to build a nuanced picture of violence prevalence and causation. We also track the protective actions they take and investigate outcomes for children who have been protected.
Support our Citizen Child Protectors with a bespoke toolbox

By sending them tailored SMS messages about child development that help them act in the best interests of a child and develop safeguarding knowledge.
Calculate the social return on investing in community based child protection

By quantifying the social value that Citizen Protectors create when they prevent and respond to violence. Our forecast for the return on investing in Citizens 4 Change and our Child Protectors is 3:1; i.e. for every £1 invested in us there is a return to society equivalent to £3.
Answer the question, “What works under different conditions in East Africa to resolve the collective action problem of violence against children?”

By building longitudinal evidence of how different communities resolve the collective action problem of violence; and working with funders, government and community organisations to inform their child protection programmes so that they can amplify their value, learn adaptively, and integrate C4Cs research findings into programme design and investment decisions.