1.1 Executive summary
This working paper identifies and explores the issues that should be considered when undertaking ethical research involving children in humanitarian settings. Research grounded in sound ethical principles is critical in ensuring that children’s rights are respected throughout the process and beyond and that the research itself is relevant, useful and valid.This paper examines both the universal (i.e. relevant to all research involving children) and specific ethical issues that may arise when involving children in research in humanitarian settings.This is undertaken through an examination of the literature, a review of relevant case studies and a reflection on the ethical issues highlighted in UNICEF’s Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis (the Ethics Procedure). The latter is used as a baseline for generic ethical standards when involving children in research.
The key findings of this overview highlight that many of the ethical issues that are present in other settings remain relevant and applicable in the context of humanitarian settings.These ethical issues include: an institution’s capacity to appropriately and respectfully engage children in research, understanding power relations, securing informed consent and assent, ascertaining harms and benefits, maintaining privacy and confidentiality, and ensuring appropriate communication of findings.
Importantly though, humanitarian contexts present extreme circumstances where each of the issues noted are likely to present greater challenges and complexities. Further, the implications of not reflecting on and mitigating against these difficulties could have far greater consequences for both the short and longer term safety and well-being of children and their communities. In spite of this, the literature in this area is under-developed and the issues require further engagement and ongoing reflection.
The aim of this paper is firstly to highlight the need and value of engaging children in research in these settings. Second, it provides a broad overview of the key ethical considerations that those commissioning or undertaking research need to reflect on when proposing, designing or implementing research programmes in these complex settings.To this end the general ethical principles for research involving children are examined with explicit reflection on UNICEF’s Procedure for Ethical Standards (UNICEF, 2015). Based on these principles and the findings from a literature review conducted for this paper, seven categories of ethical issues were identified and examined in detail. Several case studies are also included to provide examples of how ethical issues have been raised and addressed in research involving children in humanitarian contexts. Following analysis of the ethical issues, Appendix 1 provides a list of questions designed to trigger reflection about each of these. Appendix 2 then provides an annotated summary of excerpts from key documents from the literature review that specifically explore ethical issues arising in research in humanitarian contexts. Appendix 3 includes excerpts from the UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis (UNICEF, 2015a) as a reference point for work undertaken in these domains.
It is clear that further work remains to be done on this important topic. We do not claim to have identified every ethical issue regarding children’s participation in research in humanitarian settings. Nor do we claim that our suggested responses for addressing ethical issues are the only possibilities or always the best ones for any specific context. The intention is to provide a comprehensive overview of this topic in order to raise awareness of its relevance and importance, and to encourage further discussion, debate, reflection and scholarship in this area. We will continue to work on this topic and the specific issues, and welcome input that will constructively critique this paper and help to improve its future versions.