Primero Information Management System

When everything else is falling apart, the system holds

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:53:42 -0700

30,000+
Cases recorded in four years
270,000+
Follow-ups documented
52,000+
Services provided
696
Active users across 14 agencies

In Lebanon, crisis hasnever arrived one at a time. Long before the current war and mass internal displacement, families were already grappling with refugees’ influx, economic collapse and the far‑reaching impacts of COVID‑19. For children, these overlapping shocks translated into heightened risks: violence at home, child
labour, psychological distress, and disrupted access to essential services. Amid this succession of emergencies, one element of the child protection response has remained constant: CPIMS+.

More than a technical platform, CPIMS+ has repeatedly proven its value as a system that holds continuity keeping children visible, cases documented, and services coordinated even when face‑to‑face work becomes impossible.

From lockdowns to displacement: continuity in the face of crisis
During the COVID‑19 pandemic, mobility restrictions and lockdowns forced child protection actors across Lebanon to rapidly shift to remote case management. CPIMS+ played a critical role in enabling this transition. As a fully online, secure system, it allowed caseworkers to continue safely documenting assessments, follow‑ups, and
services remotely, ensuring that children were not abandoned simply because in‑person visits were no longer possible.

Farewell to Robert MacTavish: The “Godfather” of Primero

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:22:01 -0800

Reflecting on Robert’s Remarkable Journey and Lasting Impact

This month, we bid a heartfelt farewell to Robert MacTavish. After 13 groundbreaking years, Robert is moving on from the Primero Team. It is never easy to say goodbye to a colleague, but it is especially hard when that colleague has played such a pivotal role in shaping an initiative and building a global community.

From the moment Robert took up his assignment, he brought with him a spirit of dedication, innovation, and hustle. He was a man with a mission. Robert took Primero from concept to global scale, reaching more than 100 countries and millions of children. His work to build a strong, responsive, interagency product had left its mark on the sector. Whether tackling the toughest deployment challenges or converting the most resistant non-believers, Robert has always led by example. His professionalism and commitment set the bar for what could be achieved in digital for programmes. He leaves a legacy of “firsts”: UNICEF’s first programme-facing SaaS; the first Digital Public Good at scale in the Protection sector; the first fully self-sufficient digital initiative in UNICEF’s history; the list goes on.

Over the years, Robert has worn many hats and taken on countless projects that have left a lasting mark on the sector. He made major contributions to data protection and data responsibility, including co-founding the Responsible Data for Children initiative. He developed innovative business models, new partnership models and was a...Read More

Our annual community event

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 10:53:18 -0800

The Primero Global Meeting is an annual event that brings together Primero stakeholders to help build community, drive software development, and advance our common interests. Each year the event grows and becomes more impactful as more global partners join and share their experiences and ideas.

We are facing extreme challenges in 2025. Now is the time to come together and develop strategies for the coming years. The focus of this two-day online event was on sustainability. We shared experiences from the field and the programming that Primero supports, Primero products and services, and engaged in planning for the future.

Past years' events have helped to shape the direction of the Primero initiative, prioritizing the needs of users and the work that needs to be done to ensure sustainability. The 2025 was equally impactul, with clear priorities and new partnerships set to take center stage in the coming year.

Although we have seen unprecedented funding cuts and programme roll backs in the past year, demand for Primero has never been stronger. This demand is driven by the evidence that Primero helps partners achieve better results by working in a more integrated manner. It is a cost-effective platform that helps create a network of service delivery and security, sustainably and at scale.

Data Governance That Puts Children First: Boosting the Efficiency and Impact of the Primero Information Management System Through Responsible Data Practices

Imagine a young girl in a humanitarian setting who has just survived sexual assault. She seeks help through a local service provider who uses a digital tool to manage her case. Her personal story, sensitive details about her health, family situation, and safety, enters a digital system designed to coordinate care, track follow-ups, and ensure that children don’t fall through the cracks of the system due to overlooked or uncoordinated care. Every piece of data recorded is essential for protection, but if mishandled, could expose her to further harm and stigmatization.

Primero is a widely used information management system built to help child protection actors work together, securely and efficiently. With collecting data comes responsibility, and that responsibility doesn’t stop at data entry; that’s where it starts How we govern that data, how it’s collected, accessed, used, and protected, makes the difference between safeguarding a child and putting them at additional risk.

This is where the new Read More

The Primero DAO

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 13:24:16 -0700

With content from guest blogger, Arun Maharajan

The Primero DAO: A new type of digital community

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are shaking up the digital world. Imagine a future where decisions are made collectively, resources are managed transparently, and everything runs smoothly without a "middleman". DAOs, powered by blockchain and smart contracts, promise fairness and accountability. They have been successfully used to innovate many areas of modern life, including governance mechanisms with transparent voting, community engagement, money and fundraising, and accounting. All of this makes DAOs a powerful tool for any community driven, impact generating, real world public good.

The UNICEF Ventures team, Primero, and Xcapit spent the last 1.5 years working together to pilot a DAO that supports Digital Public Goods and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals. This is the story of the Primero DAO.

Primero in Europe

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 04:04:53 -0800

Reprinted from the article by Yannis Chourmouziadis at Interoperable Europe (IA) for the Interoperable Europe Act, an initiaitve with the goal of improving digital public services in the EU that need cross-border data flows. In pursuit of the EU’s digital targets for 2030 and a fully functioning Digital Single Market, improved cross-border interoperability will help to interconnect public administrations at European, national, regional and local level by working together closely to deliver trans-European digital public services and reduce fragmentation and silos. See more here.

Primero: UNICEF's open source software for social services

Primero is an open source software that supports digital transformation in social services. It helps workers manage...Read More

Keeping momentum in 2025: A message from the Chair of the Primero Board

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:38:49 -0800

Dear Friends of Primero,

As our new year gets underway and our calendars start to fill up again, I want to take a moment to share my appreciation with the Primero Community for a very special 2024. Not only did we make an important contribution to programmes all over the world, but we also celebrated Primero’s 10th anniversary. This is an important achievement and testament to our commitment to sustainability.

As the global Director of Child Protection and Migration at UNICEF, I serve as the Chair of the Primero Board. With over 300 organizations globally using Primero, we represent a broad partnership of rights-based organizations and duty bearers working together to make change for children and survivors of violence.

I am proud of the fact that Primero is a digital initiative deeply rooted in protection programming. Ten years ago, when I was first introduced to Primero, I was working as the Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF Somalia. Primero was still in the very early stages of development, but even then, the focus was on empowering frontline workers. This was the beginning of the digital transformation of the child protection sector. Ten years later, Primero is the leading digital solution for child protection and gender-based violence case management and incident monitoring in the world.

What is our vision for the next ten years? We see a digitally empowered social services workforce reaching more children and survivors of violence with quality services. We see data driven interventions responding to the needs of at-risk children, but also directly contributing to prevention programming. We see an expanded network of partners - including governments - working in a coordinated, integrated manner to...Read More

Revolutionizing Child Protection Across the Globe

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 02:00:43 -0800

Behind the Scenes of Primero, a Multi-Agency Initiative Empowering Frontline Workers and Transforming Lives

Primero is the result of a decade of collaboration among leading development and humanitarian organizations, including the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR, Plan International, and others. Now deployed in over 70 countries and supporting more than 75 programs, Primero is an essential tool for over 15,000 users—frontline workers, government officials, and international NGOs—who depend on it to deliver crucial services to vulnerable children worldwide.

In an interview with the Read More

Primero is celebrating 10 years of putting children first

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:17:07 -0700

The Primero Global Meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya / 12-15 November

The Primero Global Meeting is an annual event that brings together Primero stakeholders to help build community, drive software development, and advance our common interests. Each year the event grows and becomes more impactful as more global partners join.

This year we celebrate 10 years of Primero. This three-day event will focus on experiences from the field and the programming that Primero supports, Primero products and services, and planning for the future. The event will take place in the Windsor Golf Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

Past years' events have helped to shape the direction of the Primero initiative, prioritizing the needs of users and the work that needs to be done to ensure sustainability. Check out the materials, photos and outcomes from past events by clicking the button below.

A new community and a vision for UN 2.0

Thu, 30 May 2024 09:05:28 -0700

A new community of digital practitioners

The United Nations recently launched the new UN Digital Community (UNDC) and showcased digital solutions making an impact on a global scale. This new community is envisioned as a place for UN colleagues to explore digital programming across the United Nations and its member states, providing opportunities for teams to connect with fellow digital practitioners. This is part of a strategic shift towards digital transformation (Dx) and a recognition that digital innovation is critical to accelerate of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNDC is intended to contribute to embedding a digital mindset into UN culture, as envisioned by the UN 2.0 Agenda

What is the UN 2.0?

We are past the halfway mark for the 2030 Agenda. The SDGs need all the help we can give them. Without digitally-enabled programmes and policies, the SDGs will not be met. It's time to take stock of what is working and what's needed to increase the rate of progress. We need to rethink, refocus and recharge. This is where UN 2.0 comes in. It's a vision for a...Read More