This expert post comes from USAID/DCOF Senior Technical Advisor, John Williamson, a leading voice in the discussion on improving economic strengthening for vulnerable children.

Over the last year, we’ve seen the development of a critical mass of interest and programming activity focused on effective ways to use economic interventions as a key means to benefit impoverished young people.

For example, a review of child-focused economic strengthening programs in Uganda and Kenya led to the publication of Economic Strengthening for Vulnerable Children: Principles of Program Design and Technical Recommendations for Effective Field Interventions and more recently the Youth Livelihoods Program Development Guide.

In just over a year, Making Cents organized the first and second Global Youth Enterprise Conferences in Washington, DC. There has been a growing wave of attention to the security imperative of enabling youth in fragile states to integrate economically.

In January 2008, an inter-agency workshop focused on what we know and what we need to learn about economic interventions for child protection and well being, and in February, Project Hope convened a workshop on economic strengthening to benefit orphans and vulnerable children.

Also, in terms of programming, an increasing amount of PEPFAR funding for orphans and vulnerable children is being used to support economic strengthening, and USAID/DCOF has launched the STRIVE Program, which is testing a number of economic interventions and closely monitoring the actual effectiveness of these activities in improving the well being of children and youth. There have also been major developments regarding the use of cash transfers as a way to address the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children. DFID and other European donors are working with several Africa Governments to pilot and scale up such programs.

Each of these developments was itself significant. Together, however, they indicate a strong and encouraging trend toward the use of economic strengthening to benefit vulnerable children. As I reflect on where this trend began and my experience with the development of CYES, the following events seem particularly significant:

• December 2000: First effort to purposefully bring together experts on programming for children affected by HIV/AIDS with experts in economic strengthening results in a “Town Hall” meeting organized by an informal group of donors
  
  

• Spring 2000: Jill Donahue (now Thompson) publishes the seminal paper “Microfinance and HIV/AIDS…It’s Time to Talk.”
  
  
• 2003: the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, as part of its Building Blocks Series, issues Economic Strengthening: Resources for Communities Working with Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
  
  
• 2004: USAID organizes a workshop in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania that that leads to the formation of the CYES Network and commissioning of three publications:
  
  - A CARE review of existing tools and documents
  
  - Economic Strengthening / Livelihood Tools and Literature Review by Hugh Allen and the Hope for African Children Initiative
  
  - Economic Strengthening Activities Benefiting Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa by Carolyn Barnes, the first map of activities at the CYES intersection
  
  

• 2004 – 2008: Jill, Maggie Alexander, Benedicte Moncenis, and finally myself each takes a turn at the helm of the CYES Network and listserv.

Regarding the last point, each facilitator of the Network focused on sharing documents and information we thought would be useful to the members and their work. Occasionally we organized face-to-face meetings. Yet, the “network” has largely been an effort by a small number of committed professionals to improve what we do though somewhat limited email exchanges. The past year has changed that.

I’ve been encouraged by the growing momentum to increase our collective effectiveness and scale in using the economic interventions to benefit vulnerable children and youth. I am also pleased that this has been coupled with increased dialogue and cross-sectoral communication of the sort I think is vital to our success.

I’m excited that through the STRIVE Program and other strategic partners, the CYES Network Learning Platform has been developed as a resource that will support the increasing use of economic measures to benefit vulnerable children. I expect this tool and the monthly newsletter will provide access to vitally important information and, perhaps even more importantly, facilitate the collaborative exchange of information and ideas needed to make a real difference for children and youth and the world they will inherit.

It is indeed an idea whose time has come, and I look forward to writing this exciting new chapter in the growth of the CYES Network with all of you.