Evidence on the economic and social costs of neglect, abuse and violence against children is increasingly informing the case for greater investment in child protection. However, translating this evidence into funded policies and services requires practical tools that enable governments to estimate costs, prioritize investments and plan for implementation. Costing provides this critical bridge between policy ambition and sustainable financing — strengthening child protection systems requires moving from broad advocacy to realistic, evidence-informed planning and financing.
This session will demonstrate how costing tools help governments answer critical questions:
Drawing on practical examples — including Ukraine's Social Services Costing Tool, Kenya's child protection systems and case management costing models, care reform costing tools, and Social Service Workforce (SSW) costing work in Kenya and Zambia — participants will explore different approaches to estimating the resources required to strengthen child protection systems. The session will highlight how costing can be applied to workforce planning, service package design, phased implementation, and budget negotiations across national and subnational levels.
The session will emphasize that costing is not simply a technical exercise, but a strategic planning and public financial management tool that helps governments to:
Strong child protection systems depend on a well-supported social service workforce. Costing and investment cases help translate policy commitments into implementable and fundable plans — and sustainable financing requires effective domestic investment, not only new financing streams.
Facilitator: Shar Kurtishi, Senior Associate, Public Finance Specialist, Maestral International
Speakers:
Susan Musonda, Chief Policy Planner, Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, Government of the Republic of Zambia (tbc)
Vivienne Mang'oli, Principal Children's Officer, State Department for Children Services, Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Servcies, Government of Kenya (tbc)
Purpose
To demonstrate how practical costing tools can support governments to move from policy commitments to evidence-informed planning, budgeting and sustainable financing for child protection and social services systems.
Using examples from different country contexts, the session will illustrate how costing can support:
Learning Objectives
By the end of the session participants will:
Section 1: Opening Mentimeter (5 min)
Which best describes your experience with costing child protection or social services?
What has been the biggest challenge in costing child protection systems?
Section 2: Why Costing Matters (8 min) Powerpoint presentation
Moving from:
to
Governments need answers to questions such as:
Section 3: Practical costing tools in action (30 min)
Four costing applications. Different costing tools answer different policy questions.
Example 1: Ukraine Social Services Costing Tool (7 min)
Purpose: Integrated local government planning
Example 2: Kenya Child Protection & Case Management Costing (7 min)
Purpose: Costing integrated child protection services
Example 3: Social Service Workforce Costing Tool (8 min)
Purpose: Planning workforce expansion
Example 4: Care Reform Costing Tool (8 min)
Purpose: Investment in family strengthenining; Planning transition from institutional to family-based care
Section 4: Interactive Discussion: Applying costing in your country (12 min) facilitated discussion.
Poll Question: If you were advising your Ministry tomorrow, where would costing add the greatest value?
Closing (5 min)
Key Messages
If systems are not costed, they are difficult to finance, implement and scale sustainably.
Handouts:
Reference Docs:
