Resources for “Children on the Move: A Child-centered Policy and Learning Workshop”

These resources are meant to help participants in the “Children on the Move: A Child-centered Policy and Learning Workshop” learn and explore the depth and complexity of the challenges faced by children on the move.

Who are children on the move?

Children on the Move: A Guide to Common Definitions and Terms (KIND, 2023)
International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC)
Data and Children on the Move: Unpacking relevant terminology, concepts and data sources (UNICEF, 2023)
Child Alert: Child Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF, 2023)
Adolescent Girls in Crisi: Experiences of Migration in Central America and Mexico (Full Report Available in Spanish only) (Plan International)
Children and migration: rights, resilience, and protection (UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti)
30 Years of Research on Migration and Displacement at UNICEF Innocenti (UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2023)
Should I Stay of Should I Go? Understanding children’s migration decisions in Northern Central America (Save the Children, 2022)
Embracing Child Protection: Priorities to Support the Safety and Well-being of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Globally (KIND, 2022)
Rapid Evidence Assessment: What Works to Protect Children on the Move? (UNICEF, et al., 2020)
Girls on the Move Research Series (Save the Children, 2020)
Protecting Children on the Move: A guide to programming for children affected by migration and displacement (Save the Children, 2018)
Children on the Move (International Organization for Migration, 2015)

U.S. federal policy responses

Unaccompanied Children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement)
Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement)
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (U.S. Department of State)

Thematic areas

Conflict-induced displacement

Climate-related displacement

Securing the Rights and Protection of Children on the Move: Background Paper - How do children moving because of the effects of climate change fit into existing international laws and frameworks? (UNICEF, 2022)
Children uprooted in a changing climate (UNICEF and IOM, 2021)
Children uprooted in a changing climate (UNICEF)
Walking into the Eye of the Storm: How the climate crisis is driving child migration and displacement (Save the Children, 2021)

Education for displaced children

Education is Like Light. The Opposite is Darkness: Education and female youth in displacement in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq (Save the Children, 2022)
Refugee Education 2030: A strategy for refugee inclusion (Save the Children, 2019)
Action Towards Increased Quality Education for Internally Displaced Children: Recommendations for the High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement (Save the Children, 2021)

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for displaced children

Anywhere But Syria: How 10 years of conflict left Syria’s displaced children without a sense of home (Save the Children, 2021)
Psychosocial Safety: Pathways to psychosocial safety for Syria’s displaced children and adolescents (Save the Children, 2020)
The Cost of Being Female: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) of displaced female youth in South Sudan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq (Save the Children, 2022)

Sexual and Gender-based Violence against children in migration

KIND Works to Prevent Gender-based Violence: A Root Cause of Child Migration (KIND, 2023)
Gender & Migration Initiatives (GMI) Fact Sheet (KIND, 2021)
From evidence to action: Tackling gender-based violence against migrant women and girls (UN WOMEN, 2021)
Migrant experiences of sexual and gender-based violence: a critical interpretative synthesis (Tan and Kuschminder, 2022)
Alone and Unsafe: Children, migration and sexual and gender-based violence (IFRC, 2018)
“More Than One Million Pains”: Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys on the Central Mediterranean Route to Italy (WRC, 2019)

Unaccompanied migrant children in the United States

At A Crossroads: A Midterm Assessment of Biden Administration’s Protection of Unaccompanied Children (KIND, 2023)
Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the United States (Migration Policy Institute and UNICEF, 2022)
Strengthening Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities (Migration Policy Institute, 2021)
Building Bridges for Every Child Reception, Care and Services to Support Unaccompanied Children in the United States (UNICEF, 2021)
In the Best Interests of the Child (U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2019)
A Path to Meeting the Medical and Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities (Beier and Fredricks, 2023)

Global Refugee Forum

Towards a GRF pledge for children (The Global Compact on Refugees, 2023)

Durable solutions

Shrinking Horizons for Hope: Syrian refugees reflect on their priorities on durable solutions after a decade in displacement (Save the Children, 2022)
Achieving Durable Solutions for Returnee Children: What do we know? (Save the Children, 2019)
Durable Solutions for Children Toolkit (Save the Children)

Inclusive Social Protection

Strengthening inclusive social protection systems for displaced children and their families (Save the Children, 2023)

Domestic

Resources Archive (KIND)
Children and Families (Women's Refugee Commission)
An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy (American Immigration Council, 2021)
CBP Custody >> Data Transparency + Independent Investigation letter (Women's Refugee Commission, 2023)
For Discussion: The Unaccompanied Children’s 2023 “Go Big” Agenda (Women's Refugee Commission)
Reports of Inhumane Treatment of Asylum-Seekers in Texas (Save the Children, 2023)

Asylum ban

Asylum Ban Undermines Rights and Safety of Children (Save the Children, 2023)
New Asylum Ban Leaves Migrants Stranded: Recommendations to Increase Access to Protection at the US-Mexico Border (Women's Refugee Commission, 2023)
Refugee Protection Travesty |Asylum Ban Report (Human Rights First, 2023)
The Biden Administration’s Proposed Asylum Rule Risks Violating Human Rights (InterAction, 2023)
U.S. Has a Legal and Moral Duty to Protect Asylum-Seeking Kids (Save the Children, 2023)
Save the Children CEO Statement on Proposed Asylum Ban (Save the Children, 2023)

Unaccompanied and Separated Children

Recommendations for Serving Unaccompanied and Separated Children at Regional Processing Centers (KIND)
Statement for the Record_Senate Judiciary by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND, 2023)
Six Ways to Protect Children Alone at the U.S. Mexico Border (KIND)
Recommendations to End Separation of Asylum-Seeking and Migrant Families (Human Rights First, 2022)
Save the Children Statement on Operation Lone Star (Save the Children, 2023)

Humanitarian protections

Beyond a Border Solution: How to Build a Humanitarian Protection System That Won't Break (American Immigration Council, 2023)

Family detention

The Harms of Family Detention: Why Detaining Families Cannot Be the Answer to Increased Migration and Displacement (Women's Refugee Commission, 2023)
Family Detention Raises Concerns for Children's Wellbeing (Save the Children, 2023)

References to Key Policy and Guidance Documents

1989: UNGA – United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
1994: UNHCR – Refugee Children: Guidelines on Protection and Care
1997: UNHCR – Guidelines on Policies and Procedures in Dealing with Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum
1999: UNHCR – UNHCR Revised Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers
2005: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – General Comment No. 6, Treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin
2009: UNGA – Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children
2009: UNHCR – Guidelines on International Protection No. 8: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
2010: OHCHR – Study of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on challenges and best practices in the implementation of the international framework for the protection of the rights of the child in the context of migration
2011: UNHCR – Field Handbook for the Implementation of UNHCR Best Interests Determination (BID) Guidelines
2012: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – Report of the 2012 Day of General Discussion: The rights of all children in the context of international migration
2012: UNHCR – Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention
2012: UNHCR – A Framework for the Protection of Children
2014: UNHCR – Beyond detention: a global strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seekers and refugees (2014-2019)
2016: UNGA – New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants
2017: UNHCR – UNHCR’s position regarding the detention of refugee and migrant children in the migration context
2017: UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families – Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration
2017: UNGA – Report of the Secretary General: Making Migration Work for All
2018: UNGA – Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
2018: UNHCR – Guidelines on Assessing and Determining the Best Interests of the Child
2019: UNGA – Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Report of the Secretary-General
2019: UNGA – Resolution on the Rights of the Child

Other recent global guidance

2004: IRC, et al. – Interagency Guiding Principles on Separated and Unaccompanied Children ▪ 2012: CELSIS – Moving Forward: Implementing the ‘Guidelines for the alternative care of children
2013: Inter-agency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children – Alternative Care in Emergencies Toolkit
2014: UNHCR – Safe and Sound: What States can do to ensure respect for the best interests of unaccompanied and separated children in Europe
2015: UNICEF & Better Care Network – Making Decisions for the Better Care of Children: The role of gatekeeping in strengthening family-based care and reforming alternative care systems
2016: Inter-agency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children – Framework for Considering the Best Interests of Unaccompanied Children
2016: Inter-agency Group on Reintegration – Guidelines on Children’s Reintegration
2017: Inter-agency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children and the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action – Field Handbook on Unaccompanied and Separated Children
2018: The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action – Recommendations for the Reunification of Separated Children with Their Families and Recommendations for Improving Interim Care for Separated Children
2019: UNICEF – UNICEF Working Paper: Alternatives to Immigration Detention of Children
2019: International Organization for Migration – IOM Handbook on Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation and Abuse
2019: The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action – Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

Local Volunteer Opportunities

Sign up to tutor with Georgetown University Center for Social Justice DC Schools Project here: https://forms.gle/V6AHyc8CH9FwcGB98.
Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network (MSMA)