The Economic Strengthening, Livelihoods and Child Protection Global Technical Group (GTG) is one of several technical groups established under the Care and Protection of Children in Crisis-Affected Countries (CPC) Learning Network. Led by the Women’s Refugee Commission and the International Rescue Committee, the Economic Strengthening, Livelihoods and Child Protection GTG works in partnership with The CYES Network to reach a broad audience of policy-makers and field practitioners throughout the world. The GTG aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of economic programming targeting conflict-affected populations in order to enhance the protection and well-being of affected children. Learn more about the GTG and download the group work plan.

Current CPC GTG bloggers are:

Dale Buscher, Director of Protection, Women’s Refugee Commission

Dale Buscher leads the Women's Refugee Commission’s work on refugee livelihoods, displaced youth, gender, disabilities and UN advocacy in New York and Geneva. Mr. Buscher has been working in the refugee assistance field since 1988 in a variety of capacities. He worked with Vietnamese boat people in the Philippines and later with Haitian refugees interned at Guantanamo Bay. He has worked with displaced Kurds in Northern Iraq, with Bosnian refugees in Croatia and with Kosovars in Albania and in Kosovo. He went on to work as the Director of Operations for the International Catholic Migration Commission in Geneva where he oversaw the organization’s $25 million international programs – covering 20 countries and 800 staff. He started numerous new programs for the organization, including during extended field postings in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, Mr. Buscher has worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where he wrote a field handbook entitled Operational Protection in Camps and Settlements.

Mr. Buscher has designed and implemented a variety of refugee assistance programs covering life saving services, refugee resettlement and reintegration, and economic recovery. He has written numerous publications and presented at conferences around the globe. Dale earned his Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Utah and earned a Bachelors of Science degree from Iowa State University. He lives in Manhattan.

Lili Stern
Lili-Marguerite Stern is the Technical Advisor for Youth & Livelihoods at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the Child & Youth Protection and Development Technical Unit. As Technical Advisor for Youth & Livelihoods, Lili provides intensified support to a range of IRC programs designed to provide conflict-affected youth with opportunities to develop marketable and transferable skill sets, the chance to participate in civic and community affairs, and access life saving and life sustaining services. During her three years in this role, Lili has provided technical support to IRC’s youth programming in a variety of conflict-affected settings, including Afghanistan, Darfur, South Sudan, Liberia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Jordan.

Lili joined the IRC from the United States Department of Labor (DOL), where she worked as an International Relations Analyst, providing technical oversight and assistance to DOL grantees in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia, but also working on policy development and engaging in research and evaluation of programs designed to prevent child labor through education and skills training. During her tenure at DOL, Lili conducted numerous monitoring and evaluation visits of International Child Labor Education Initiatives, particularly in the Middle East. Previously, Lili worked for approximately 7 years with the Department of Labor in Atlanta, GA as an Employment Specialist in the Welfare-to-Work program providing job placement assistance for resettled refugees and single mothers and later as a Senior Labor Market Analyst under various US Bureau of Labor Statistics programs, where she gained extensive experience conducting market and workforce analysis. Lili has degrees in International Studies and Sociology.