Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of war, and frequently represent at least half of the population in a conflict area. They suffer fear and insecurity, and disruption to every aspect of their lives. Children who have been displaced are at an increased risk of sexual and physical violence, disease and malnutrition, and separation from family members. As displaced persons or refugees they may experience severe poverty, abuse, exploitation, and psychosocial distress.

Children without parental care in conflict areas are highly vulnerable to abduction or other forms of recruitment by armed forces and groups. Such children may be used to fight, provide labour or be sexually exploited. Involvement in conflict may result in malnutrition, abuse, addiction to drugs, injury, psychosocial distress or death. While children associated with armed forces and groups make up a small minority of the total number of children affected by war, they are extremely vulnerable and in need of particular protection and care.

Opportunities to help children who have been associated with fighting forces may begin with their escape, capture or formal demobilization. Some may be able immediately to reunite with family members, but others may need interim care during tracing. While children may be readily accepted by their family and community, others risk rejection. Family mediation and community sensitization is needed to support family reunification and community integration. Ongoing monitoring, family support services, and placement planning is necessary where children are not reunited with one or both parents or where family and community acceptance is uncertain.

Community action to protect and support war affected children should be inclusive and not limited to children formally associated with armed forces or any one group of children. National efforts should focus on the reestablishment of essential services, particularly in the areas of security, health and education.

While this section contains resources relevant for all children in conflict affected areas, it focuses on children without parental care, including refugees and displaced children, and children associated with armed forces and groups. It includes information on demobilisation, family reunification and community reintegration.

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Stop the War on Children 2020 Gender Matters: The West and Central Africa brief

Save the Children, 2020

This brief - a supplement to the Stop the War on Children 2020: Gender matters report - highlights the situation of children in conflict zones in West and Central Africa with a focus on gender.

Solutions for Children Previously Affiliated With Extremist Groups: An Evidence Base to Inform Repatriation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration

UN Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children, 2020

This report from the UN Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children explores repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of foreign, Iraqi and Syrian children who are being held in detention on suspected ISIS association or terror-related offenses, or in camps.

Gender-Based Violence and Violence Against Children: Prevention and Response Services in Uganda’s Refugee-Hosting Districts

Government of Uganda and World Bank, 2020

The Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) analysis includes a comprehensive mapping of services for GBV and VAC prevention and response across the key sectors of health, police, justice, and social services in refugee settlements and host communities.

Caring for Children Through Conflict and Displacement

Rachel Calam, Aala El-Khani, Kim Cartwright, 2020

This booklet is based on a pilot study testing the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a light touch parenting intervention for caregivers in the West Bank.

Military Detention of Children in Armed Conflict: The Role of Handover Protocols in Protecting Children's Rights

Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict and Human Rights Watch, 10 Dec 2019

In this joint policy note, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict and Human Rights Watch highlight the increasingly worrying trend of military detention of children affected by armed conflict, a trend documented in at least 15 countries affected by armed conflict.

Developmental Effects of Parent–Child Separation

Anne Bentley Waddoups, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, and Kendra Strouf - Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 01 Dec 2019

This article reviews the effects on children and youth of parent–child separation due to several of the most common reasons that are responsible for the growth in this family circumstance worldwide.

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‘Even though I Am Blind, I Am Still Human!’: the Neglect of Adolescents with Disabilities’ Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Contexts

Elizabeth Presler-Marshall, Nicola Jones & Kifah Bani Odeh - Child Indicators Research, 28 Nov 2019

Drawing on qualitative research undertaken with adolescents with disabilities from refugee and host communities in Jordan and the State of Palestine, this article critically interrogates the framing of child neglect, which to date has situated the state as a protector rather than a perpetrator, the narrow understanding of adolescent needs and the responsibility of international actors for ensuring that the full range of human rights of adolescents with disabilities is supported.

2019 Edition of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 30 Oct 2019

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS), originally launched in 2012, set out a common agreement on what needs to be achieved in order for child protection in humanitarian settings to be of adequate quality. Years of implementing the CPMS in diverse settings revealed the need for a more user-friendly version of the Standards that would reflect recent sector learning and evidence; improve guidance on prevention, gender and age inclusion, and other cross-cutting themes; and promote applicability to a broader range of humanitarian contexts. Therefore, the Standards were updated in 2019 through a two-year revision process.

Cross-Border Protection of Children on the Move in East and Southern Africa: A quick reference guide for bilateral coordination

Sara Lim Bertrand and Kristen M. Castrataro - Save the Children Sweden and Save the Children International, East and Southern Africa Regional Office, 07 Oct 2019

This Quick Reference Guide is a practical guide for all stakeholders who hope to implement a government-led, cross-border coordination mechanism for the protection of children who are unaccompanied and separated while in situations of migration or displacement.

Children in Specific Emergency Situations and Need for Child Protection Services

Murli Desai - Rights-based Integrated Child Protection Service Delivery Systems, 18 Sep 2019

The aim of this module from the book Rights-based Integrated Child Protection Service Delivery Systems is to learn about children in specific situations of emergency and the need for Integrated Child Protection Centres to provide rights-based services for them at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention.

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