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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
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Youth on the Move: Investigating decision-making, migration trajectories and expectations of young people on the way to Italy
Since March 2016, more than 260,000 people have arrived on Italian shores. The majority of them are young people, with unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) accounting for up to 15% of all arrivals. In order to strengthen policymakers’ and humanitar
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A Deadly Journey for Children: The Central Mediterranean Migration Route
Every day, thousands of women and children travel from the hinterlands of Africa and the Middle East, across the Sahara to the Mediterranean Sea in Libya in hopes of reaching safety in Europe. They flee war, violence and poverty. They endure exploitation,
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Destination Unknown Institutional Learning Report 2017
In 2010, children on the move were literally non-existent in policies on children’s rights. Not being an organisation specialised in migration, TDH developed a new partnership strategy and launched the Destination Unknown campaign (DU campaign) for the pr
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Balkans Migration and Displacement Hub Data and Trends Analysis: Iraqis transitioning through the Balkans route (September-November 2017)
An increase in refugees and migrants from Iraq has been registered traveling the Balkans migration route for the period of September to November 2017. Relevant data for this period (number of children, unaccompanied and separated children, demography) are
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A Child is a Child: Protecting children on the move from violence, abuse and exploitation
Due to the few opportunities for legal movement and migration, many of the children who are move alone are forced to rely on smugglers, putting them at risk for hazardous and exploitative situations. Traffickers and other exploitative persons thrive espec
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Children on the Move in Italy and Greece
REACH, in the framework of a partnership with UNICEF, conducted an assessment on the profiles and experiences of children who arrived in Italy and Greece in 2016 and 2017, why they left home, the risks children encountered on their journey and their life
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Children on the Move: An urgent human rights and child protection priority
Migrating children is not a new phenomenon: children have fled their homes for centuries to reach safe havens away from poverty, conflict, and disaster. With increased globalization, escalated global warming, and transitioning economies, we are likely to
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Young and on the Move: Children and youth in mixed migration flows within and from the Horn of Africa
The purpose of this study is to provide an updated overview of children and youth as specific (albeit non-homogenous) groups in mixed migration flows within, through and from the Horn of Africa. The report does not purport to be exhaustive, but rather to
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Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016
The third of its kind, the 2016 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons covers 136 countries and provides an overview of patterns and flows of human trafficking at global, regional, and national levels. The UNODC, having systematically collected dat
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Children on the Move: A crisis in the Northern Triangle, Mexico and USA
In the past two years, there has been a considerable increase in the number of unaccompanied children and adolescents from the Northern Triangle who migrate to the USA, and in the number of migrant families with children, particularly young women with chi
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I Play, I Learn and I'm Safe: Project brief
I Play, I Learn and I’m Safe is a Save the Children programme for preventing unsafe migration of children in Ethiopia and Bangladesh by promoting protection, education and play for children on the move. This one-pager briefly presents the programme proces
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Hear it From the Children- on the move and arriving in Norway
This study documents the experiences and views of children who have fled their country and are seeking asylum in Norway. Through talking and listening to children on the move, the Hear it from the Children initiative brings forward children’s unique persp