In the Central African Republic (CAR), childhood is shaped by fragility as much as by resilience. Years of armed conflict, population displacement, poverty, and weak access to basic social services continue to expose children
to serious protection risks. Many face violence, exploitation, neglect, family separation, and psychosocial distress, often simultaneously. For child protection actors, responding effectively means not only providing services,
but ensuring that every child’s situation is properly understood, documented, followed up, and protected over time.
Yet, in highly constrained contexts such as CAR, this is easier said than done.
Children at the Centre of a Complex Reality
Child protection services in CAR are delivered by a mix of governmental institutions, international organizations, and national civil society actors. Over the years, these actors have worked tirelessly to respond to urgent needs.
However, the systems supporting child protection case management, how information is collected, managed, shared, and safeguarded, have often remained fragmented.
Multiple tools, mostly paper-based and excel spreadsheets that collect only a limited set of information and not always harmonised, have been used to document cases. Information has been stored in silos, with limited capacity to analyse trends or ensure continuity of care when children move, services change, or staff rotate. In a context where confidentiality and data protection are paramount, these limitations increase risks for children and constrain the ability of social workers to deliver quality, coordinated case management.
The Challenge of Case Management in Fragile Settings
Effective child protection case management relies on several critical pillars: clear procedures aligned with interagency standards, skilled social workers, supervision mechanisms, and reliable systems to manage sensitive
information. In CAR, the mission findings highlighted three recurring challenges.
First, limitations within the case management forms and guidelines. Case management forms were standardized in 2019 and focused on unaccompanied and separated children, but do not incorporate all the innovations in interagency standards that would allow for the full consideration of all issues related to child protection.
Second, capacity gaps in case management practice. While social worker sare deeply committed, many require further strengthening in core case management competencies. Without solid understanding of assessment, planning, follow-up, and closure processes, even the most advanced digital tools risk being underused or misused.
Third, technical and infrastructure constraints. Limited internet connectivity, lack of dedicated technical staff, and competing operational priorities pose real obstacles to the sustainable deployment of digital solutions. These challenges must be addressed pragmatically to ensure that systems support, rather than burden, frontline workers.
What's happening on the ground
In October 2025, the government of the Central African Republic, with technical and financial support from UNICEF, launched the initial phase of the CPIMS+ rollout. A technical team was established and trained in the Primero rollout process. In April 2026, a technical mission from the Nairobi Center of Excellence assisted with the CPIMS+ deployment process, with a particular focus on building the capacity of stakeholders in child protection case management.
© UNICEF/UNI864122/Rodriguez
Technology follows structure. And structure starts with accountability and contextualization to move into building local capacity and 4 sustainability.
1. Governance and safeguarding first
Before a single screen was configured, the mission established the institutional foundation that makes a system trustworthy: a Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and the Government, and Terms of Use with the
partners were signed. Data Protection Impact Assessment was conducted collectively ensuring that CPIMS+ is not only technically sound but ethically grounded, nationally anchored, and fit to handle children's sensitive data with
the care it demands.
2. National localisation
CPIMS+ was configured to mirror CAR's national child protection structure: user roles were adapted for both government and non-governmental actors, case management forms were updated to current standards, and the case management workflow was aligned with CAR's own child protection case management standard operating procedures, transforming a global platform into a country-owned tool that speaks the language of the social workers using it every day.
3. Hands-on training
Social workers and supervisors from state and non-state institutions were trained directly on the system, testing the full case management cycle hands-on, from registration and assessment through planning, service provision,
follow-up, and closure, allowing them to build real confidence with the tool while identifying and correcting configuration gaps in real time.
© UNICEF/UNI443417/Ndomba Mbikayi
4. Progressive rollout
The CPIMS+ journey in CAR is deliberately incremental: national deployment will begin with a pilot phase in Bangui before expanding to other regions, with parallel investment in updating case management tools,
strengthening social work capacities, and reinforcing national technical teams,
ensuring that the technology serves the people, and the people are ready to
carry it forward.
Why it matters
Technology alone does not protect children, people do! That's why the training phase wasn't just about learning software. Practitioners walked through real case scenarios, identified configuration issues in real time, and
built the confidence to use the system daily. The testing continues for several weeks before wider rollout.
The result won't just be a database. It will be an accountable,coordinated, child-centred service one where no child needing support is ever lost between the cracks of a fragmented system.
Because every child’s protection begins with being seen, heard, and safely supported and no child’s needing support should ever be lost.