Abstract:

This paper examines the institutional and fiscal challenges affecting the effectiveness of child protection policies in Colombia between 2018 and 2025. Using a mixed-method design, the study analyses how public resources assigned to early childhood services, administrative processes of rights restoration (PARD), and strategies for preventing the recruitment and sexual violence of children by armed groups are transformed—or not—into measurable improvements in wellbeing and educational opportunities. The research integrates budget analysis, administrative datasets, documentary review, and fieldwork across six departments and Bogotá D.C., including 86 service units and multiple institutional actors.

Results reveal persistent gaps in planning, intersectoral coordination, and quality assurance that limit the delivery of early childhood education and protective services. In the institutional early childhood modality of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), inequities in human resources, variable compliance with quality standards, incomplete information systems, and limited supervisory capacity affect service quality and children’s developmental outcomes. In the PARD system, delays in response times, high recurrence of cases, and uneven territorial capacities undermine the restoration of rights for vulnerable children and adolescents. In contexts of armed conflict, prevention actions led by the intersectoral commission (CIPRUNNA) show insufficient territorial coverage, duplicated interventions, and weak monitoring mechanisms, especially in high-risk Indigenous communities.

The study provides new evidence on how institutional fragmentation, fiscal rigidity, and limited data interoperability reduce the State’s ability to guarantee safe, protective, and learning-enabling environments. By linking fiscal execution with effectiveness, efficiency, and institutional adequacy indicators, the findings contribute to the international debate on child rights, educational equity, and governance. The research argues that improving early childhood education outcomes and reducing barriers to learning require stronger inter-agency coordination, investment in professional capacity, and the modernization of information systems. It concludes by proposing policy adjustments aimed at ensuring that public spending effectively supports developmental, educational, and protection outcomes for children in contexts of inequality and conflict.

Keywords:

Child protection, early childhood education, public governance, efficiency, inequality, learning barriers, conflict-affected children, Colombia.