As the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, we conduct research to inform policymaking and implementation. This project brief summarizes our work on ethical research involving children.

1. PROJECT BRIEF
Ethical Research
Involving Children
How do you harness the
power of evidence to drive
change for children while
ensuring they suffer no
harmful impacts?
©
UNICEF/UNI229288/Tremeau

2. Overview
Ethical reflection and conduct are a vital part of evidence
generation. When we engage with children and their
families to better inform policy, practical solutions and
interventions – they can, inadvertently be exposed to
certain risks. To protect against potential and actual
threats to privacy, safety or well-being, we are building
capacity globally to equip practitioners, academics,
governments and institutions with the guidance and
tools needed to handle critical emerging ethical issues.
Approach
To appropriately engage children in evidence generation,
our approach strives to (i) develop capacity and (ii)
strengthen both systems and individual practice.This
includes developing training programmes; creating tools
to support practitioners, decision makers and academcs;
and producing academic papers and briefs related to
research that is undertaken in complex or fragile environ-
ments; involves specific child cohorts; or that utilizes
technologies that collect or analyze children’s data.
Goal
The ethical implications for children of data collection
and analysis are often overlooked, particularly in relation
to complex environments; disadvantaged or margina-
lized communities; or in the use of technologies.
This work aims to sensitize and engage the broader
community in reflection on and the practice of ethical
evidence generation involving children.
Contact Info
Gabrielle Berman
Senior Advisor, Ethics in Evidence
Generation
gberman@unicef.org
Project Highlights
Ethics, children and predictive
analytics (2021-2022), withThe
Engine Room
Predictive analytics holds promises
of efficiency and foresight, allowing
for the detection of unknown corre-
lates; facilitating more accurate
assessments and targeting; and
creating responsive technologies –
at a low cost. However, advocating
for or adopting predictive analytics
comes with significant ethical impli-
cations. How will the data sets be
developed, used and implemented?
How could this affect service
delivery or opportunities for children?
Embedded in human rights principles
and reflecting the RD4C guidance,
this research will help academics
and organizations make the right
decisions by unpacking some of the
current and emerging ethical risks of
predictive analytics for children.
Ethics, children and behavioural
science (2021-2022), with the
Behavioural InsightsTeam,
Australia, andWestern Sydney
University
Behavioral Insights (BI) – understanding
how contexts and cognition affect
people’s decision-making – are key to
effective policies but present specific
ethical concerns.These include issues
related to privacy, consent, transparen-
cy and the collection, use and storage
of data.To advance the field of ethical
BI research involving children and
adolescents, we are partnering with the
Behavioural InsightsTeam, Australia,
andWestern Sydney University’sYoung
and Resilient Research Centre to
explore the synergies, challenges and
uncharted terrain between these two
disciplines.The resulting guidance will
also reflect consultations with children
in Chile, Indonesia and Kenya/Tanzania.
Guidelines for funders on ethical
research in fragile contexts
2021-2022, with UK Research and
Innovation
By 2030, 80% of the world’s
extreme poor will be living in fragile
contexts. Current ethical guidelines
for working in such contexts have
been critiqued for being highly
abstract, focused on data collection
and detached from the realities
of academia in the global South.
This guidance will reflect on the
entire research ecosystem in
fragile contexts, focussing on staff
undertaking reviews of proposals
in funding organisations. It will
spotlight some of the most prevalent
challenges researchers face in the
pursuit of ethical working practices
and the critical considerations
required when making the decision
whether or not to provide funding.
PROJECT BRIEF
Benjamin Hickler (for Behavioural Insights work)
Behavioural Science Research Manager
Communication for Development
bhickler@unicef.org