This online course, Protection of Children in Humanitarian Settings, was produced by Columbia University.
Instructors and Teaching Assistant
 Professor, Program on Forced Migration and Health |
Michael Wessells, PhD, a Professor in the Program on Forced Migration and Health, is a psychosocial and child protection practitioner who has worked for decades in humanitarian and development settings in countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He served as former Co-Chair of the IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings; and former psychosocial focal point for Sphere and also the INEE Minimum Standards. He has conducted extensive research on the holistic impacts of war and political violence on children, and he is author of Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection (Harvard University Press, 2006). In Sierra Leone, Kenya, and India, he is lead researcher on inter-agency, multi-country action research on community-led action to enable children's protection and well-being. He regularly advises UN agencies, governments, and donors on issues of child protection and psychosocial support, including in communities and schools. His practice and research has emphasized the power of children's voice and agency, the importance of community resilience and problem-solving as sources of sustainable child protection, the priority of prevention, and the need for critical reflection, with attention to Do No Harm issues. |
 Instructor, Program on Forced Migration and Health |
Hanna-Tina Fischer is an Instructor in the Program on Forced Migration and Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a Doctoral candidate in the DrPH program on Leadership in Global Health and Humanitarian Systems. Her research focuses on the impact of adversity on children’s well-being and development, analysing risk as a function of family level system adaptation to crises. Tina has significant experience working with United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations on issues of child welfare and protection in Asia, Africa and Europe. She has led post-disaster needs assessments in Thailand and Bangladesh, implemented psychosocial support programs in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and supported post-disaster family tracing and reunification programs in the Philippines. In Africa, Tina has worked on programs supporting children associated with armed forces in South Sudan, refugee children in Dadaab, Kenya, and unaccompanied minors in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Tina also has experience of working with refugee populations in Germany and earthquake affected populations in L’Aquila, Italy. She has worked with a variety of organisations including UNHCR, Save the Children, ILO and the IRC as well as national NGOs in India and Germany. Prior to starting the DrPH, Tina worked with the UNICEF-led Global level Child Protection Working Group of the Global Protection Cluster to strengthen field-based humanitarian coordination. Born in Botswana and raised in India and Pakistan, Tina has a BA in Anthropology and Communication Studies from Goldsmiths’, University of London and an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). |
 Co-Director, CPC Learning Network |
Mark Canavera is the co-director of the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network, an entity housed at the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health that convenes academics, policymakers, and practitioners to promote innovative research, nurture communities of learning, and build the next generation of researchers and advocates for children and families worldwide. In this role, he coordinates research and advocacy efforts on children’s protection, care, health, and development in complex settings around the world. He serves as the co-chair, with the World Health Organization, of the INSPIRE Working Group to promote evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce violence against children and as the co-lead of the Assessment, Measurement, and Evidence Working Group of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Settings. He also serves on the Expert Advisory Group of the Special Representative to the UN Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict’s initiative to improve the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. His current research focuses on effective means to strengthen the global social service workforce in low- and middle-income countries and to boost local and national child protection systems through humanitarian response efforts, and child labor. Mark came to the CPC Learning Network after many years working as a humanitarian aid and development worker in West Africa. He has worked in over 20 countries with a variety of agencies, including Save the Children, UNHCR, Oxfam, Terre des hommes, AVSI, and Child Frontiers. His work has spanned efforts to support children formerly associated with armed groups in northern Uganda, small arms control in Senegal, girls’ education promotion in Burkina Faso, and child welfare system reform in Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Benin, Senegal, and Cameroon. He holds Master’s degrees in Peace Studies from Notre Dame and Public Policy from Harvard. |
 Graduate Research Assistant, CPC Learning Network |
Rebecca Liron is a graduate research assistant with the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network and a TA for this course. As part of her work with the CPC Learning Network, Rebecca has served as the Co-Chair for the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action’s Cash Transfer and Child Protection Task Force and managed a child well-being survey in Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with UNICEF and the Ivorian government’s Direction of Child Protection. Rebecca was previously based in Nairobi, Kenya and worked for the US refugee resettlement program, conducting interviews with refugees in the process of resettling to the US in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti, and Cameroon. Prior to that, she was a Princeton in Africa Fellow at the International Rescue Committee in Kenya. Rebecca holds an MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a BA from Northwestern University. |
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We would like to express great appreciation to the following members of the MOOC Sounding Board who provided feedback on the overall outline of the MOOC as well as on individual sections. They are: Harpreet Bullar, Vilma Cabrera, Zeinab Hijazi, Breanne Kaiser, Sara Lim, Sandra Manachi, Natalie Mccauley, Marianna Narhi, Hili A. Ningnoun, Patrick Onyango, Marion Prats, Yesica Serrano Rojas, René Yetamasso, and Hamzahal Yosif. |
COLUMBIA CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
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The Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) builds learning experiences on campus and online to support excellence and innovation across educational programs at Columbia University. Working in close partnership with the Columbia teaching community and through the support of the Office of the Provost, the CTL is committed to advancing the culture of teaching and learning for professional development, curricular enhancement, and academic excellence. The CTL understands teaching as a critical practice, driven by inquiry, experimentation, reflection, and collaboration, and promotes pedagogy that is inclusive, learner-centered, and research-based. Through its programs, services, and resources, the CTL supports the purposeful use of new media and emerging technologies in the classroom and online to foster the success of Columbia’s instructors and students. Protection of Children in Humanitarian Setting Online Course Team:
Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning Leadership Council:
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