You are here
Children on the move
As of January 2016, an estimated 30 million children are on the move, both within and between countries, with or without their parents. They are part of large-scale population movements currently taking place in many parts of the world.
Children on the move are those children moving for a variety of reasons, voluntary or involuntary within or between countries, with or without their parents or other primary caregivers, and whose movement might place them at risk (or at an increased risk) of inadequate care, economic or sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect or violence.
Children on the move is an umbrella term that brings together a series of categories of children to highlight their common protection needs, including, children who have been trafficked, children who migrate (e.g. to pursue better life opportunities, to look for work or education or to escape exploitative or abusive situations at home, or because of other protection needs), children displaced by conflict and natural disasters and children who live and work in the streets.
Movement can help children and their families improve their living standards and life opportunities. However, children do not always benefit from such potentials. Child protection policies and interventions should refocus to place the protection of the child at the centre as well as the need to support the positive aspects of mobility.
Save the Children’s goal is that all children, including those on the move and in emergencies, have appropriate care either from their own families or community-based alternatives.
Photo: Pedro Armestre/Save the Children
-
Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration
In response to the growing numbers of migrants who die on their way to European shores, this report examines how data on migrant deaths is collected and shared in different parts of the world. The study shows that no organization at the global level is cu
-
Migrating Childhood
The documentary ‘Migrating Childhood’, produced Aide et Action and The Bernard van Leer Foundation, introduces the lives of migrant children at worksites in India. The Bernard van Leer Foundation works with Aide et Action to improve the living condition
-
Regional Policy Review Report and Guidelines: Migration and Repatriation laws and Procedures for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe
The movement of unaccompanied children in Southern Africa remains a great concern, both for countries which children migrate from and those to which children migrate to. Save the Children is particularly concerned that there is an absence or poor implemen
-
Educating Burmese Children in Thailand
Migrants from Myanmar have been present in Thailand in large numbers for many years due to the long-term conflict, poor economy and lack of educational opportunities and jobs in the country. As a result, approximately 2.5 million migrants from Myanmar liv
-
The Added Value of Protective Accompaniment of Children
Terre des Hommes Foundation Lausanne decided to tackle the problem of undocumented child migration by launching a regional project in 2008 whose aim was to offer migrant children better protection. The project was implemented, through local and strategic
-
Local Co-Operation for Unaccompanied Children: A tool to assess and improve reception conditions
Save the Children Sweden together with UNHCR’s Bureau for Europe, NIDOS in the Netherlands, Coram Children’s Legal Centre in the UK, Save the Children Italy, Don Calabria Institute, the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies in Italy and the Count
-
Literature Review: Jozi Lights- children on the move
This literature review is part of a greater research project on children on the move in Southern Africa, currently being finalised by Save the Children International.
-
Save the Children CPI Newsletter- October 2012
The October issue of Save the Children's CPI Newsletter includes highlights from the 2012 Day of General Discussion (DGD) on the theme of "The Rights of All Children in the Context of International Migration". The Newsletter includes: An introductory mess
-
Joint Statement of the InterAgency Group on Children on the Move
Joint statement of the InterAgency Group on Children on the Move submitted at 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 ri
-
Children speak out- speech during the Day of General Discussion by 16-year old Sasima Srikhwang
Speech by 16-year old Sasima Srikhwang held during the 2012 Day of General Discussion on the challenges faced by children in international migration situations. Sasima, who was selected by the Forum on Child Migration of Thailand to participate in the Day
-
Transnational Coordination Mechanisms for the Protection of Children on the Move in the Context of International Migration and the Fulfilment of their Human Rights. Submission by Save the Children
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) dedicates annually one Day of General Discussion (DGD) to a specific article of the Convention on the Rights or to a child-rights issue. This year's discussion is dedicated to the theme of “The Righ
-
Situational Analysis of Children at Risk in Bulgaria
This Situational analysis was realized in the framework of the international project Mario – Joint Action to Protect Children from Exploitation in Europe funded by the OAK Foundation. In 2009, ECPAT Bulgaria published and disseminated the first Situationa