Child Migration along East African Migration Routes – thematic studies

Over the past years, the world has witnessed record levels of mixed migration, mainly originating from and hosted within developing countries. Individuals and families migrate for a variety of reasons, some choose to leave to seek education and employment opportunities or to escape poverty, while many are forced to leave their homes, fleeing natural disasters, conflicts, and violence, discrimination or persecution. 70.8 million individuals were forcibly displaced in 2018, 52% of whom are children. Whatever the reason for their journey, migrating children – especially those traveling alone – find themselves extremely vulnerable to a variety of risks, including physical and sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. In this context, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has collaborated with Save the Children (SCI) through a four- year programme, to build the protection and self-reliance of children and youth in vulnerable displacement situations along East African migration routes, starting with Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. In order to design evidence-based intervention, four regional research pieces were undertaken to inform programme development and design. The findings and conclusions served to support the development of relevant interventions along the route, ensuring that SCI’s activities will reach the most vulnerable children and youth and effectively strengthen their self-reliance and address acute protection needs. Here you can find executive summaries of the four reports: 1. Political Economy Analysis; 2. Conflict Analysis; 3. Girls on the Move; and 4. Mapping of Child Protection Stakeholders. Each outlines the key findings and topline recommendations, providing an overview of the research outcomes.