SMS BASED DATA MANAGEMENT

Globally, there is growing interest in utilizing mobile phones to support information collection and transfer initiatives, including in areas such as health, finance and education. Many of these initiatives initially focused on using mobile phones to share valuable information with remote communities, but more recent initiatives are examining the role of mobile phones as reporting tools for the collection of valuable data. One such example is RapidSMS, a system developed by UNICEF and contributors from the open source community. RapidSMS is a framework organizations can use to build an SMS-based reporting system for specific needs. The system allows users to collect qualitative and quantitative data through a customizable SMS and to create a web-based interface for editing data, displaying graphs and exporting reports.

Based on what the research team learned from participants during this mapping initiative, it seems clear that an SMS-based reporting system could help support an effective child protection surveillance system through improvements in three particular areas. The first involves training for community leaders on how to report incidences either on a periodic schedule or on a case-by-case basis. This data could be used to identify the needs of specific communities and provide valuable information about child protection issues to government ministries and NGOs via automated online reports. The second is training for community leaders on how to report child protection cases that require immediate attention. This data could be used, for example, to alert proper authorities about a child in need of protective custody. The third involves implementing a system to train community leaders to report cases that require long term monitoring. This data could be used to support prevention and early detection efforts by sending out periodic alerts that remind community leaders and other child protection actors to monitor at-risk households. Improved community detection and reporting would also lead to the improvement of prevalence of case estimations. User Scenarios

The following set of user scenarios demonstrate how an SMS-based system might be used to support the reporting of child protection cases. Proper transference, management and analysis of these child protection cases at the district provincial level would, in turn, yield valid estimations of prevalence.

These scenarios are built on the assumption that participants have been trained to use the system and to correctly identify incidences of abuse or neglect. These scenarios have not yet been tested and a pilot program as described above is recommended to determine best-case use and implementation.

• System Set-Up

A government official at the provincial level receives news from the national office that an SMS-based system is being established to assist with the reporting of child protection cases. In this particular province, only a few district level offices have an internet connection, so the official decides to set-up the web-based interface at the provincial level.

Once the district and sub-district level offices have been notified about the system, the sub- district level offices send representatives to train and register sub-village heads. After learning about the system and their duties as reporters, sub-village heads register by sending an SMS to the designated reporting number indicating their name and village name, as in the example below. The system confirms this information by sending an SMS back to the sub- village heads, giving them the opportunity to correct the entry if there are any mistakes. Once the sub-village heads have registered, officials from the sub-districts register their information, including the village they represent, by calling or texting the information to the provincial level where it can be entered manually through the web interface. Rather than being registered as reporters, sub-district officials are registered as contacts that may be designated to receive alerts and reminders reported by the sub-village heads.

• Incidence Reporting

A sub-village head discovers that a child from his village has been working long days on local farm with very little rest or pay. The sub-village head decides to speak to the child and the parents to resolve the issue. Since there have been no previous incidents with this particular child or family, the sub-village head decides to inform the parents about the national child labor laws and tells them that they must stop asking their child to work and that there will be penalties if the child is discovered to be working again. Although the incident is successfully resolved by the sub-village head he sends an SMS to the designated reporting number indicating the type of incident, the age and sex of the child and the type of perpetrator, as in the example below.

• Alert Reporting

A sub-village head receives a report from a witness that a family member has physically abused a child. The sub-village head follows standard practice and visits the household where the incident took place. After confirming that the child has been physically abused the community leader decides to report the abuse as a severe case requiring immediate attention. The sub-village head then sends an SMS to the designated reporting number indicating an alert, the kind of incident, the age and sex of the victim and the type of perpetrator, as in the example below. Upon receiving the SMS, the system logs the information as a case and immediately alerts the sub-district level official representing the village.

• Prevention and Early Detection

A sub-village head finds out that a single mother has decided to travel to Malaysia to work for one year. The mother has arranged to leave her daughter with her parents, the daughter’s grandparents. Although the daughter is currently enrolled in school, there is a risk that she may be pulled out of school to help support her grandparents. The sub-village head sends an SMS to the designated reporting number with the type of case and the child’s name, age and sex, as in the example below. Upon receiving the SMS, the system logs the information as a case and creates a reminder that is sent out once a week to the sub-district level official representing the village to request follow up.