The number of children on the move, including refugee and displaced children is increasing, accounting for 41 percent (42 million) of those who have been forcibly displaced. Displacement undermines the protection of children by disrupting their family and community support, increasing their poverty, and reducing their access to the economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to education and health.
Many of these children – including migrant children – remain invisible to national child protection systems or are caught in a bureaucratic net of lengthy processes to determine their status, and this curtails their opportunities for a better future.
This advocacy brief reflects on lessons arising from past and ongoing crises worldwide, outlines principles to guide action in response to similar crises in the future, and proposes policy actions to strengthen the effective protection of children.