Day of General Discussion: “The rights of all children in the context of international migration”. Speech by Lena Karlsson, Director, Child Protection Initiative

Ms Lena Karlsson, Director of Save the Children’s Child Protection Initiative, presented the section ‘Global Overview of case studies on specific challenges faced by children in international migration situations and successful approaches for addressing them’ . She emphasized that all children want to have a normal life and that the lack of opportunities or humanitarian disasters were some of the reasons why children decided to migrate, often putting their life at risk. Ms Karlsson also spoke of the need for a global study on transnational cooperation measures that will identify gaps and contribute to high-level dialogue on migration in the future. She concluded by urging for improved coordination mechanisms of State and private actors from different countries to strengthen cooperation and to develop adequate responses to assist and protect these vulnerable children. This introductory speech was delivered on the occasion of the 2012 Day of General Discussion hosted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which overall objective is to promote, at the international and national levels, the rights of all children in the context of international migration.