The current refugee crisis has left numerous unaccompanied and separated minors at high risk of abuse, trafficking, violence and exploitation. DFID’s Refugee Children Fund for Europe (RCFE) was a one-year project working with Save the Children, UNHCR and the International Rescue Committee to improve care and protection of unaccompanied children in Greece and the Balkans. Ground Truth Solutions was commissioned to assist the initiative by gathering feedback from children serviced by the project and support the three agencies to respond to their voices.

Ground Truth’s goal was to ensure that direct feedback from children receiving aid from RCFE partners informed programmatic improvements and empowered minors to express their views on the support they received and on the organizations providing it. The proposed approach complemented RCFE partners’ own feedback mechanisms and, when triangulated with other data, helped determine the relevance, effectiveness and outcomes of services provided and guided possible improvements in implementation.

Ground Truth’s Constituent Voice® methodology was initially implemented in Greece. However, our team has been providing support and tools to RCFE partners to replicate the methodology in other countries in the Balkan region. The questionnaires was designed in cooperation with RCFE partners and administered in three rounds throughout the 12-month duration of the project.  The first round was completed in December 2016, followed by a second round in April 2017, using a mixture of both face-to-face interviews and small focus group discussions. The final round was completed in August 2017.