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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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#Fearless- campaigning for children on the move
In a time where the refugee crisis went from public outrage to fear. In a time where Swedish politicians decided to go from openness to a ”European minimum” in live tv. In a time where bombs were killing children in Syria, while Sweden and Europe chose to
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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 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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No Place to Call Home: Protecting children's rights when the changing climate forces them to flee
Children affected by climate change are vulnerable to a range of heightened risks, notably those that result from displacement and migration. Separation, exploitation, and limited access to health and education services are some of the many challenges and
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Children Come First, Intervento in Frontiera: Dossier IV
The general objective of the project "Children Come First: Intervention at the border" is to strengthen the system of protection and reception of migrant children arriving in Italy, whether they are separated or accompanied by their parents. As part of th
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Children Come First, Intervento in Frontiera: Dossier I
The general objective of the project "Children Come First: Intervention at the border" is to strengthen the system of protection and reception of migrant children arriving in Italy, whether they are separated or accompanied by their parents. As part of th
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The Refugee Children's Progress Report: Grading U.S. Refugee Policy from 2015-2017
The Refugee Children’s Progress Report gives grades to U.S. policy progress on four issues central to the health and well-being of refugee children: education, child protection, food security, and resettlement. Nearly half of the world’s 17.2 million refu
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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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Putting Children at the Forefront: Save the Children's recommendations for a child-centred EU agenda on migration
Based on experience from work on the ground, Save the Children has identified a number of key issues that urgently need to be addressed by the EU and its Member States to ensure better management of mixed migration flows for children and their families. A
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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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In Search of a Better Future: Experiences of unaccompanied migrant children in Limpopo & Mpumalanga in South Africa
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provide for the protection of children who are deprived of family or parental care and make it clear that such children should have acc