United Nations A/74/261

General Assembly Distr.: General

31 July 2019

Original: English

Seventy-fourth session
Item 72 (b) of the provisional agenda*
Promotion and protection of human rights: human
rights questions, including alternative approaches for
improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms

Rights of internally displaced persons

Note by the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the
report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons,
Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution
72/182 and Human Rights Council resolution 41/15.

__________________
* A/74/150.

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of

internally displaced persons

Summary
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the
report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons,
Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution
72/182 and Human Rights Council resolution 41/15.
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur seeks to highlight the situation of
internally displaced children who are suffering and dying because of the lack of rapid
and appropriate responses to their specific needs and protection concerns and the lack
of capacity and resources to fill protection gaps on the part of humanitarian actors. She
calls for renewed attention on improving the protection of internally displace d
children, with a focus on concrete outcomes.

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I. Protection of internally displaced children

A. Introduction

1. Although the exact number of children living in internal displacement

worldwide is unknown, at least 17 million 1 were estimated to have been displaced
worldwide by conflict and violence within their own countries by the end of 2018.
Countless more had been displaced by disasters. Five million youth between the ages
of 18 and 24 were also estimated to be living in internal displacement. Research has
pointed to how forced displacement disproportionately affects children, with the aim
of better addressing the needs and protection challenges faced by “children on the
move”, which was the theme of the ninth dialogue of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees. The phrase “children on the move”, however, does not
signify a homogeneous group and includes migrant and refugee children. The specific
plight and vulnerabilities of internally displaced children tend to di sappear among the
varied groups considered under that umbrella.
2. The present report is aimed at bringing increased attention to the
intersectionality between being a child and being internally displaced. Being a child
shapes how the child experiences internal displacement, and being displaced shapes
a child’s experience of living through armed conflict or violence. On the other hand,
internally displaced children may share the same challenges as other displaced people
but, because of their age, may be affected in different ways. Internally displaced
children also often experience human rights challenges owing to interlinked forms of
discrimination based on other factors, such as gender, group affiliation, disability and
displacement itself. Certain groups or categories of internally displaced children can
be especially at risk, such as unaccompanied, separated and orphaned children, street
children, children with physical and mental disabilities, those who suffered severe
trauma and children associated with armed forces or armed groups. The particular
risks encountered also vary depending on the displacement context.
3. The anniversaries of instruments that are important for internally displaced
persons and the rights of the child are observed in 2019, namely, the tenth anniversary
of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally
Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), the thirtieth anniversary of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the seventieth anniversary o f the Geneva
Conventions and the tenth anniversary of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of
Children. Moreover, the high-level political forum held in July 2019 on the theme
“Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” reviewed six
Sustainable Development Goals, most of them relevant to internally displaced
children as a particularly vulnerable group prone to be left behind. The tenth
anniversary of the Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons
and the twentieth anniversary of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography, will be observed in 2020.
4. While the present report is focused on displacement due to conflict, generalized
violence and human rights violations, the Special Rapporteur acknowledges that
many of the issues facing internally displaced children and their needs would be
similar in situations of disaster brought on by natural hazards and the adverse effects
of climate change.

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1
A child is defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as every human being below the
age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

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5. The present report builds on the paper entitled “The rights and guarantees of
internally displaced children in armed conflict”. 2 It also benefited from extensive
consultations with other partners, including the Office of the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and experts from the Child
Protection Area of Responsibility, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), the Joint Internally Displaced Person Profiling Service, the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the Global Protection Cluster, the Alliance for Child Protection in
Humanitarian Assistance and non-governmental organizations, including through
their participation in an expert meeting held in Geneva in March and in a side event
in June during the forty-first session of the Human Rights Council, and written
feedback. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank all who contributed, including
Member States and in particular internally displaced children themselves, for sharing
their views.

B. Applicable legal frameworks

6. The rights of internally displaced persons, including children, are neither

diminished nor curtailed by their situation of displacement. The rights of the child as
established in international and national law, including the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, apply equally to children experiencing internal displacement. Displaced
children enjoy the same rights as those not displaced. Indeed, under conditions of
heightened vulnerability, including in the context of conflict and internal
displacement, the duty of the State to protect and care for vulnerable children is
enhanced to ensure that their special needs are taken into account and addressed
effectively. International human rights law and international humanitarian law
provide extensive legal protection frameworks for internally displaced children.
7. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human
rights convention. Importantly, in the context of internal displacement, it does not
allow for any derogation in times of emergency. The Convention’s preamble
recognizes children who live in exceptionally difficult conditions and that such
children need special consideration. In view of the heightened vulnerability of
children experiencing internal displacement and the ensuing c hallenges to protection
and the fulfilment of their human rights in displacement situations, the Convention is
consequently the most important international standard for their protection.
8. Based on the core principles of consideration of the best intere sts of the child
and non-discrimination, the Convention elaborates the fundamental rights of children,
including the right to life, survival and development, the right to be registered at birth
and have a legal identity, the right to education and health care, the right to protection
against all forms of violence, the right to protection from recruitment into armed
forces, the right to protection from economic and sexual exploitation and trafficking,
the right to be provided with measures to promote their p hysical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration and the right not to be arbitrarily detained, as well
as measures to preserve family unity and ensure family reunification. Furthermore,
the Convention calls for children to be recognized and resp ected as rights holders
rather than as passive objects of protection and care, including the right of children
to express their views and to be heard in decision-making processes that affect their
lives.
__________________
2
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
Working Paper, No. 2 (New York, United Nations, 2010).

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9. In situations of armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the

Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict is particularly
relevant to internally displaced children. States parties should take all possible
measures to prevent the unlawful recruitment and use of children in hostilities by
armed forces and armed groups. In addition, the Optional Protocol on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography prohibits all forms of sexual
violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect, including the sale and t rafficking of
children for any purpose. To build on and extend the protection given to conflict -
affected children, such political initiatives as the Principles and Guidelines on
Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, the Safe Schools
Declaration and the Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the
Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers have been introduced in recent years.
10. The 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which reflect
international human rights law and international humanitarian law, include explicit
guarantees to protect internally displaced persons, focusing specifically on internally
displaced children. In particular, they address the right of families wishing to remain
together to do so or to be reunited rapidly; the right to dignity and physical, mental
and moral integrity, including the protection of children from sale into marriage,
exploitation and forced labour; the protection of displaced children from being
recruited, required or permitted to take part in hostilities; the right to recognition
before the law, requiring authorities to issue documentation; and the right to
education, with the equal participation of girls.
11. Critical for the protection of civilians, including children, in all situations of
armed conflict and applying to all parties to a conflict, the Geneva Conventions, the
Additional Protocols thereto and customary international humanitarian law require all
parties to a conflict to respect the principle of distinction and to provide protection
for civilians. Under customary international humanitarian law, children are entitled
to special respect and protection, including age-appropriate treatment in detention,
access to essential goods, health care and education, and reunifica tion with their
families. In addition, the Additional Protocols and customary international
humanitarian law prohibit the recruitment and use in hostilities of children under the
age of 15.
12. At the regional level, the Kampala Convention reaffirms the c ommitment of
African States to implement international human rights law and international
humanitarian law and includes specific provisions reaffirming the rights to personal
documentation; education; protection against recruitment, participation in hostil ities,
kidnapping, abduction, sexual slavery and trafficking; and protection that addresses
the special needs of separated and unaccompanied children, as well as mothers of
young children. Similar provisions are also included in the 2006 Protocol on the
Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons adopted by the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The 1990 African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child emphasizes the responsibility of States to ensure
that internally displaced children receive appropriate protection and humanitarian
assistance, paying special attention to the importance of reuniting families separated
by displacement. The Council of Europe has adopted a number of recommendations
concerning internal displacement, including on the right of internally displaced
children to education. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has developed
significant jurisprudence on the applicability of the American Convention on Human
Rights to the situation of internally displaced persons and has looked at States’
obligations with respect to the increased vulnerability of certain displaced groups,
including children and young people, due to conflict and displacement.

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13. At the national level, several countries 3 have developed laws, policies or
strategies relating to internal displacement, which include provisions to address the
particular needs and rights of internally displaced children.

C. Participation and consideration of the best interests of the child

14. Internal displacement often threatens the physical, mental and social aspects of
a child’s life, which can be broadly referred to as a child’s well-being or best interests.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that in all actions concernin g
children, whether undertaken by public or private institutions, courts of law or
legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. This
concept is particularly relevant when considering the care and safety of the most
vulnerable internally displaced children. 4
15. In order to implement the best interests principle in displacement -related
procedures, guidelines have been developed by UNHCR in coordination with
UNICEF, ICRC, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and se veral
non-governmental partners. 5 Although States have the primary responsibility for
determining a child’s best interests, the guidelines highlight the situations in which
such determination is required and the need for procedures for determining best
interests, whether carried out by Governments, UNHCR or partners, to be integrated
into broader child protection systems, especially national child protection systems,
rather than established as parallel structures.
16. The assessment of best interests must include respect for children’s right to
express their views freely, with due consideration given to those views in all matters
affecting the children, according to their age and level of maturity. The concept of
“participation” is widely used to describe such ongoing processes as information-
sharing and dialogue between children and adults based on mutual respect
(CRC/C/GC/12, para. 3).
17. While there is greater understanding of the need to give children and youth a
voice and to support their empowerment and resilience, as well as increased
appreciation for the unique agency of children and young people, little is happening
in practice to ensure their meaningful participation in decisions that affect them. The
Special Rapporteur and others have called for a “participation revolution” (A/72/202,
para. 42) and urged participatory approaches to ensure the full inclusion of internally
displaced children and young people at all times in the planning and management of
durable solutions 6 and the development of local strategies for recovery and
reintegration and for peace processes (A/HRC/39/28, para. 60). All actors, including
the internally displaced children themselves, should understand that children not only
have much of value to contribute but that they also have the right to contribute.
Displaced children should be encouraged and enabled to participate in analysing their
situations and future prospects. Their participation helps them to regain control over

__________________
3
Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia,
Georgia, Iraq, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mexico (Chiapas), Montenegro, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka,
Ukraine, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia. See: [Link]
database-on-idp-laws-and-policies/.
4
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
2010.
5
UNHCR, “Guidelines on assessing and determining the best interests of the child: 2018
provisional release”.
6
For example, participation of “go and see” visits; see Office of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 2010.

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their lives, contributes to their rehabilitation, develops their organizational skills and
strengthens their sense of identity.
18. Numerous pragmatic, ethical and sociocultural barriers to children’s
participation exist, however. In humanitarian situations, the participation of displaced
children is rarely prioritized for a variety of practical reasons, which are compounded
by prevailing traditions and sociocultural attitud es that may not be conducive to
children’s participation. The value of listening to children’s priorities and opinions
may not be entrenched in the society concerned, and humanitarian response staff may
not be adequately trained regarding the right of children to participate. 7 Feedback
mechanisms too often focus on adults and material aid.
19. Nonetheless, there are efforts on the part of various agencies to set up more
child-friendly feedback mechanisms that allow children’s voices to be heard. 8 Plan
International, for example, has trained youth reporters to report on issues affecting
children. 9
20. It is important to note that when deciding whether and in what format to involve
internally displaced children in decision-making, the principles of doing no harm and
considering the best interests of the child should be applied consistently. Internally
displaced children may avoid speaking up because of the fear of stigma, trauma or
perceived consequences for themselves and their families. For some displac ed
children, threats or abuse may exist within host communities, or even in their own
families. Safety, security and risk implications must always be taken into account
when encouraging children to speak. 10
21. Participatory processes involving children, be they consultative, collaborative
or child-led, must comply with certain basic requirements. Children’s participation
should be safe, transparent, informative, voluntary, respectful, child -friendly and
inclusive. Children’s participation should always be aimed at reaching and including
the most marginalized groups of children, including adolescent girls, children with
disabilities and those belonging to minorities. Adequate care should be taken to ensure
that boys and girls are equally included and that various age groups, socioeconomic
and ethnic backgrounds are represented. For example, World Vision International
developed an interactive methodology that works within a child protection and “do
no harm” approach, engaging children to discuss challenges and threats associated
with forced displacement and identifying and mapping child -led solutions linked to
national, regional and global processes. It is vital that youth leaders be identified and
that safe spaces for young people be established.
22. Much can be learned from successful efforts to better engage and empower
women and girls. In many displacement contexts, for example, safe spaces for women
and girls are perhaps the first areas available to them after stepping out of the home
that are conducive to their participation and where they are listened to as individuals;
those spaces also provide linkages to other participation structures in a community. 11
In the same way, child-friendly spaces are conducive to children’s well-being and
participation in the community, as the children tend to come together on a regular
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7
Save the Children, “Guidelines for children’s participation in humanitarian programming”
(London, 2013).
8
Anna Wood, Interagency Study on Child-Friendly Feedback and Complaint Mechanisms Within
NGO Programmes (Educo Plan International, Save the Children UK, War Child UK and World
Vision International, 2015).
9
Plan International, Child-Friendly Feedback Mechanisms: Guide and Toolkit (United Kingdom,
2018).
10
Save the Children, 2013.
11
UNHCR, “Tearing Down the Walls: Confronting the Barriers to Internally Displaced Women and
Girls’ Participation in Humanitarian Settings” (2019).

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basis with staff and volunteers trained to work with them. It is critical to note,
however, which children have access to them and which do not.
23. While valuable child participation tools are already available, 12 securing the
participation of internally displaced children requires that such participation be
clearly mandated and that governments and the international community take a clear
directional approach, with adequate resources, in progr amming and policy
development. Consequently, taking into consideration specific challenges, risks and
barriers to the participation of children, every effort should be made to provide
children and youth with meaningful opportunities to express themselves, reveal their
needs or protection concerns and contribute to their families and communities.

D. Data and evidence

24. Data on internally displaced children are collected by different actors for various
purposes. Sources of data can vary significantly depending on country or context and
may include those managed by governments and humanitarian and development
actors. For the purpose of official national statistics, the main data sources include
population censuses, listings, general or internally displaced person-specific sample
surveys and administrative registers. 13
25. Multi-indicator cluster surveys are the largest source of statistically sound and
internationally comparable data on women and children worldwide, although the data
collected through them rarely are disaggregated by displacement status. The
disaggregation of data in this way in countries affected by internal displacement
would represent a significant opportunity to increase the visibility and understanding
of the ways in which internal displacement affects children and to facilitate
monitoring of the situation of internally displaced children in comparison with
non-displaced children. Such data could also furnish critical information on displaced
children for inclusion in relevant policy initiatives, with a view to improving the
situation of all children and supporting States’ reporting on progress towards the
achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals for this specific group.
26. The Expert Group on Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Statistics is
working under the auspices of the Statistical Commission to develop international
recommendations, including guidance for national statistical authorities and United
Nations entities, on improving the quality of officia l statistics on forcibly displaced
populations and on the disaggregation of existing data, including those emanating
from multi-indicator cluster surveys.
27. The evidence base relating to internally displaced persons in conflict situations
is derived primarily from humanitarian operational data collected from various
sources to inform strategic decision-making and programming, including better
targeting of protection and assistance. Different methodologies, such as needs
assessments, population movement tracking systems and protection monitoring,
cover child-specific issues as well. Often, however, data are not adequately
disaggregated by age group, thus limiting their usefulness.
28. Profiling is another collaborative data collection and analysis process used by
governments and humanitarian and development partners that provides disaggregated
data about displacement situations 14 and offers a comparative analysis between
displaced and non-displaced age-disaggregated data on key indicators. In urban
__________________
12
Save the Children, 2013.
13
European Union and United Nations, Technical Report on Statistics of Internally Displaced
Persons: Current Practice and Recommendations for Improvement (Luxembourg, 2018).
14
See, e.g., [Link]

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contexts, it can be a useful methodology for identifying the specific needs and
capacities of internally displaced persons in order to inform area -based approaches. 15
Moreover, an evidence-based understanding of how displacement affects children and
how child protection issues affecting displaced children can be more effectively
prevented or addressed remains necessary.
29. While disaggregated quantitative data are vital, and even when operational data
are disaggregated to the extent possible by age, sex and other fa ctors, most data are
collected from heads of household or community leaders and therefore, more often
than not, portray children through an adult lens. While this can be sufficient for certain
purposes (e.g. enrolment rates), direct engagement with childre n is necessary for
understanding their experiences and perspectives (e.g. experience of discrimination
or future intentions regarding durable solutions).
30. Qualitative data collection methods, therefore, bring much added value through
participatory processes and tools, but still represent the exception rather than the rule.
For example, War Child invited internally displaced children and youth in South
Sudan to participate in group discussions on their perceived protection issues and key
needs. Save the Children in Iraq and Yemen worked with displaced adolescent girls
and boys using methods such as forum theatre to explore their experiences of conflict.
Those methods allowed children to voice their views and propose their own solutions
in an age-appropriate way, on their own terms. 16 With adolescent girls, the Women’s
Refugee Commission has successfully used a participatory ranking methodology, the
results of which informed safe space content with operational partners in Iraq, Mali,
the Niger and South Sudan. ICRC has carried out community-based protection
workshops in different armed conflict settings to enable communities to take an active
role in the analysis and design of responses aimed at improving their situation, for
example, in Nigeria and South Sudan. A government-led profiling exercise in the
general context of displacement due to violence in Honduras included a participatory
assessment workshop with young people exploring gender-based violence and the
forced recruitment of children, which often leads to the displacement of households.
Safety and security were perceived differently by children and adults, where children
disagreed with adults’ assessment that things had gotten better over time. 17
31. Those examples show that while the disaggregation of quantitative data on age,
gender and diversity is important, it is not sufficient. Despite the many challenges
that collecting data from children and adolescents involves, increased effort must be
made to use qualitative data collection methods and to integrate the meaningful
participation of internally displaced children in processes where appropriate and
feasible. This should be done through enhanced collaboration between child
protection experts and collectors of data.
32. The Security Council, in its resolution 1612 (2005), established the monitoring
and reporting mechanism mandating the systematic gathering of information on six
grave violations 18 committed against children in situations of armed conflict. The data
collected under the mechanism are not disaggregated by the displacement status of
children subjected to grave violations, however, the adoption of a flexible approach
to the monitoring of other child protection concerns that are not necess arily reported
to the Council was identified as an example of good practice, as it helps to enhance
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15
Global Alliance for Urban Crises, “Urban profiling for better responses to humanitarian crises ”
(2019).
16
Save the Children, “I wish tomorrow will not come: adolescents and the impact of conflict on
their experiences: an exploratory study in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen ” (2019).
17
See [Link]/jips-country/honduras/.
18
Recruitment and use of children by armed forces or armed groups, killing and maiming, rape and
other forms of sexual violence, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of
humanitarian access.

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the local relevance of monitoring. As a result, analysis of the link between forced
displacement and specific grave violations has been enhanced, for exampl e, in the
case of Colombia. 19
33. As demonstrated, data on internally displaced children do exist, but they are
neither collected systematically nor consolidated. Moreover, given the need to
prioritize analysis, including the analysis of comparative data o n displaced versus
non-displaced populations, final results often omit data related to internally displaced
children. Unfortunately, because of limited data-sharing practices, it is not always
possible to access those data even when they do exist, which li mits their use in the
formulation of child-sensitive strategies for and responses to displacement.

E. Addressing child protection issues

34. Child protection refers to all efforts to prevent and respond to violence,
exploitation, abuse and neglect against children during and after displacement caused
by conflict and generalized violence. Governments have the primary responsibility
for ensuring that internally displaced boys and girls are protected at all times and that
services and assistance are available to them at the national and local levels,
especially during conflict situations. The prevention of and response to violations
against children must go hand-in-hand, and the life-saving aspects of child protection
need to be prioritized by all actors, including through the establishment of and
provision of support to child protection systems. The Minimum Standards for Child
Protection in Humanitarian Action constitute an essential inter-agency reference tool
in this sector.
35. When internal displacement occurs, family and community structures are likely
to break down and traditional institutions tend to disintegrate, placing displaced
children at greater risk of various forms of exploitation, abuse and neglect. This
includes exposing them to such dangers as mines and other unexploded ordnance, the
threat of violence and death and severe physical and mental trauma. Displacement
affects all aspects of the lives, development and well-being of children, who are
facing such issues as family separation, arbitrary detention, trafficking, child labour
and sexual violence. Girls and young women are at greater risk of serious sexual
assault, abduction, rape, early and forced marriage and murder, while boys are more
at risk of recruitment, exploitation and violence. Separated, orphaned and
unaccompanied children are more likely to face neglect, abuse and forced, dangerous
or exploitative forms of labour. In some urban centres, an increase in street children
has also been noted after displacement. Internally displaced children often endure
malnutrition and ill health. Instead of being safe places, camps and settlements for
internally displaced persons may come under attack, be caught in crossfire or be
places of recruitment, with boys in particular being coerced into joining parties to
conflict, including in exchange for money, food or protection. Poverty and hunger
among internally displaced persons may lead to families adopting harmful coping
mechanisms to survive, such as sending children to beg or work rather than to school
or exposing them to risks of exploitation or trafficking. There is also an immediate
risk of domestic abuse and exploitation. In protrac ted displacement situations,
families’ lack of hope can lead to abuse within the family. Protracted displacement
situations may also lead over time to the depletion of resources, putting additional
pressure on families and increasing protection risks for c hildren.

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19
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations,
Global Good Practices Study: Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on Grave Violat ions
against Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (2012).

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36. Displacement is a process of loss, and internally displaced children lose the
protective environment around them. Strengthening child protection systems requires
national and local solutions that fully respect the rights of children and put th eir best
interests at the heart of decisions. Effective prevention, response and accountability
approaches should reach children in the most challenging contexts. Good practices
include safe and child-friendly counselling, complaint, reporting and accountability
mechanisms.
37. Protected safe places for internally displaced children, where children can find
respite from the psychological stresses of war or violence, are essential. Child -
friendly spaces are used widely to protect and provide psychosocial su pport to
children in emergencies. The nature, intensity and quality of the activities, their
fitness to local circumstances and the relationships established between facilitators
and children appear to be crucial in determining their impact. However, in
displacement settings, the notion of “safe spaces” for children and youth must always
be tested and monitored closely to ensure that they do not become venues for abuse;
assumptions that such environments are always safe should be challenged. There is a
certain automatism about the establishment of child-friendly spaces as the main – or
only – means of protecting children, while insufficient attention is devoted to
preventing protection risks and addressing their root causes.
38. As with overall humanitarian funding, the estimated funding for child protection
activities increased between 2010 and 2018. Such funding remains minimal, however,
having an average share of only 0.5 per cent of total humanitarian funding. 20 Child
protection is underfunded and is often mentioned only within a broader protection
context. The gap in funding for child protection activities is alarming when
considering the scale of needs and costs of quality interventions. Donors and those
who provide or support child protection interventio ns, as well as States providing
budget allocations, have a joint responsibility to increase child protection funding
substantially and urgently. 21

Community-based child protection

39. In situations of humanitarian crisis and displacement, the capacity of
communities and parents is often undermined. It is therefore paramount that States
and their humanitarian and development partners support and strengthen the
protective capacity of families and communities, who are the first layers of support
when it comes to the protection of children affected by internal displacement.
Working in a coordinated way through community-based child protection
mechanisms is an approach that has proven to be effective and appropriate in
achieving child protection goals, including for internally displaced children. 22
40. Involving families, communities and children themselves when identifying
issues that affect them and designing and implementing child protection activities that
are sensitive to local cultures will contribute to increasing the acceptance and impact
of the interventions, reaching a larger number of affected children and promoting the
sustainability of the activities that are carried out. Community -based mechanisms
take different forms. Their functions include the identification of both protection
concerns and children at risk, informal tracing, awareness-raising, the referral and
accompaniment of children to appropriate services, the provision of psychosocial
__________________
20
United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Financial Tracking Service
database.
21
Save the Children, “Unprotected: crisis in humanitarian funding for child protection” (2019).
22
Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, “Adapting to Learn, Learning to Adapt”:
Overview of and Considerations for Child Protection Systems Strengthening in Emergencies
(2016).

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support, the establishment of girls’ and boys’ clubs and the promotion of birth
registration. 23
41. Internally displaced children will often share experiences with or seek support
from their parents, relatives, guardians and friends. Information on children ’s rights
and channels through which to seek support should be provided in order to equip them
adequately to guide children and protect them from harm. Important resources already
exist to empower children by putting them at the centre of initiatives and promoting
their resilience, such as the UNICEF “Adolescent Kit” and War Child’s “DEAL”
methodology.
42. Traditional systems and networks of community and child support likewise
exist, and it should be ensured that they function in the best interests of the child. The
interventions of others in the community, such as social workers, teachers, youth and
traditional or religious leaders, with appropriate training and sufficient monitoring to
mitigate any risk of abuse, help to ensure multilayered child protection initiatives.
The role of faith-based actors is recognized as essential in many displacement
contexts, 24 for example, in Honduras and the Syrian Arab Republic.

Protection issues
43. Family separation has a great impact on the experience of displacement for
children and varies with age, sex and other factors. Family separation can happen
during displacement or during screening, upon arrival in camps or during settlement.
Special consideration should be given to child-headed households where a child’s
responsibility to care for younger siblings goes hand -in-hand with securing safety,
food, water, health, education and shelter.
44. Investing in preparedness and holistic approaches to pre vent family separation
are needed. The importance of sharing basic information on what family members
should do if separated should not be underestimated. For example, in South Sudan,
ICRC is working with children at risk of displacement through theatre pl ay to help
them to remember names and how their village looks in order to facilitate future
family reunification.
45. The link between internal displacement and the recruitment of children by
parties to conflict is well established. Displacement can also o ccur as a means of
avoiding children’s recruitment by armed groups or criminal gangs, such as in
Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras, where children’s refusal to be recruited can
lead to violence or even loss of life. Recruitment into non -State armed groups often
affects children who are already internally displaced, particularly boys, occurring in
and around camps and settlements for internally displaced persons. The variation in
the percentage of children recruited by parties to conflict across 19 African countries
was reflected by the extent to which the government and other actors provided
protection against abduction and forced recruitment in camps for internally displaced
persons. 25 When girls are recruited it is often as child brides, cooks or sex slave s, and
when they are eventually demobilized or rescued, they frequently have babies or small
children.
46. States and international organizations have an important role to play in
safeguarding children, including those internally displaced, from recruitme nt and
__________________
23
UNHCR, Child Protection Issue Brief, “Community-based child protection mechanisms”
(September 2013).
24
World Vision South Sudan, annual campaign report 2018; Global Partners Forum report, “Faith
action for children on the move” (2018).
25
Vera Achvarina and Simon F. Reich, “No place to hide: refugees, displaced persons, and the
recruitment of child soldiers”, International Security, vol. 31, No. 1 (summer 2006).

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ensuring the accountability of the perpetrators. The Special Representative of the

Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict is working on a guidance note to
provide practitioners with conceptual clarity and tools in that regard. A Global
Coalition for the Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers was launched in September
2018 by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed
Conflict and UNICEF to bring attention to and encourage action to sustainably
support child reintegration programmes. Progress has already been achieved in
certain countries, including Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Sudan.
47. In many cases, children associated with parties to conflict are perceived as
perpetrators rather than as victims. Sustained and comprehensive reintegration support
to break the cycle of violence and avoid social stigmatization and re -recruitment is
vital. Children, including internally displaced children who are associated with parties
to conflict, are often revictimized through detention for their association with armed
groups or exclusion from their communities and denial of access to services. Children
should be treated first and foremost as victims, and their treatment must be determined
with their best interests as the primary consideration. They should be detained only
as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, while
alternatives to detention should be prioritized, as detention conditions can seriously
threaten children’s cognitive, emotional and social development.
48. Internally displaced children are especially vulnerable to gender-based violence.
In the context of armed conflict and displacement, sexual violence, which can be used
either randomly or systematically as a weapon of war, is the most immediate danger.
The breakdown of families can expose children to sexual violence within the home
and community. Other forms of gender-based violence, including enforced prostitution,
trafficking and domestic abuse, are common. The forced e arly marriage of internally
displaced girls as a harmful coping strategy has been documented across several
internal displacement contexts, occurring in part because of the economic pressures
faced by families that are deprived of their usual sources of income. 26 Sexual violence
also affects internally displaced boys and young men, for example during military
operations in civilian areas, military conscription, abduction and detention. In
conflicts where sexual violence against men and boys has been investig ated, male
sexual violence has been recognized as “regular and unexceptional, pervasive and
widespread”. 27
49. Internally displaced children living in camps can be especially vulnerable to
targeting by traffickers and other opportunists. The presence of ar med men, including
security forces, in proximity to camps also poses risks. Gender-based violence can
cause debilitating psychological harm, including depression, post -traumatic disorder
and suicide, to internally displaced children. Victims of gender-based violence may
experience stigmatization and rejection by their families or serious physical
consequences, such as early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases that can
cause disability or death. 28
50. Adequate attention is essential for mitigating gender-based violence risks in
displacement settings and requires collective action and comprehensive cross -sectoral
approaches. Humanitarian actors have a responsibility to ensure that strategies to
reduce or mitigate such risks, such as ensuring safe acces s to schools, illuminating

__________________
26
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
2010.
27
UNHCR, “Sexual violence against men and boys in the Syria crisis” (2017); see also Women’s
Refugee Commission, It’s Happening to Our Men as Well: Sexual Violence against Rohingya
Men and Boys (New York, 2018).
28
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
2010.

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dark areas, providing separate latrines and locating services where they are most
needed, are built into their programme design and implementation. Safety -mapping
exercises give internally displaced girls the opportunity to ident ify where and when
they perceive themselves to be at risk and guide humanitarian practitioners on
possible risk mitigation strategies. If those types of actions are not taken at the outset,
some of the resulting harm is irreversible. 29
51. Community-based programmes using awareness-raising techniques – as stand-
alone interventions aimed at changing attitudes and behaviour or included as part of
a broader programme, such as economic intervention – have reduced the incidence
and mitigated the impact of gender-based violence and changed attitudes, perceptions,
knowledge and (some) behaviour. 30 To be successful, services aimed at combating
gender-based violence should ensure confidentiality and anonymity in gaining access
to services, reduce stigma, be culturally sensitive and utilize local expertise. 31
Strengthening coordination mechanisms between sectors and programmes is essential
for gender-based violence programming but remains a challenge, particularly when it
comes to internally displaced children. The Child Protection Area of Responsibility,
the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility and some of their members have
launched an initiative aimed at countering some of those challenges and improving
support for child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse. 32

F. Supporting durable solutions for displaced children and

their families

52. The need to find a durable solution to their displacement distinguishes internally
displaced persons from other civilians affected by armed conflict. Considering the
risks and vulnerabilities that displacement can entail and the disproportionate impact
on the lives of children, the search for solutions should begin as soon as conditions
permit. States have the primary responsibility for creating the con ditions and
providing the means to enable internally displaced children and their families to
return voluntarily, integrate locally or settle elsewhere in the country in safety and
dignity and in a sustainable manner. The risks linked to premature return o r relocation
to areas that are not safe should therefore be considered carefully.
53. In order to understand the challenges and potential opportunities children may
have when returning to their places of origin, durable solutions for forcibly displaced
children, for example in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic,
require better data and evidence based on child-sensitive indicators. The same can be
said in many contexts in relation to children’s local integration or settlement
elsewhere. It is also essential to embed the principles of child -sensitive programming
in all durable solution contexts and establish minimum standards for guiding rights -
based processes towards solutions for children and their families. 33 In that sense, the
best interests of the child remain a primary consideration in the preparation of
solutions for internally displaced children, including by identifying and building on
their coping mechanisms and self-protection capacities.

__________________
29
Dale Buscher, “Preventing gender-based violence: getting it right”, Humanitarian Exchange,
No. 60 (February 2014).
30
World Vision South Sudan, 2018.
31
Humanitarian Practice Network, “Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in
humanitarian crises”, Network Paper, No. 77 (January 2014).
32
See [Link]/expert-deployment/2016/2019/improved-support-for-sexually-abused-children/.
33
Save the Children/Samuel Hall, Achieving Durable Solutions for Returnee Children: What Do We
Know? (London, 2019).

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54. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, in its 2010 Framework on Durable

Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons, identifies the core principles for durable
solutions and emphasizes the need for a rights-based process to enable internally
displaced persons to make informed and voluntary decisions on and participate in the
planning and management of durable solutions. This of course also applies to all
children. A number of criteria as to what constitutes a durable solution are identified
in the Framework, which must be viewed through a child -focused lens.
55. Internally displaced children have a right to be informed in a child -appropriate
and age-appropriate way. Children’s perspectives on preferences for durable solutions
may differ significantly from those of older people. When children grow up in
different contexts, resulting in an increasingly weaker historical and cultural
attachment to their places of origin, they may want to pursue different options. When
young people are displaced from rural to urban areas, they often prefer to stay on
account of the better educational and employment opportunities found in cities. 34
Special efforts should therefore be made to ensure the full participation of displaced
children and youth in planning for durable solutions.

Documentation
56. During the course of displacement, people often lose or leave behind their
documents, or the documents may be destroyed or confiscated or may not be
recognized. Internally displaced persons may never have had documents at all.
Without identity documents, internally displaced children are effectively rendered
invisible to authorities, bound to face difficulties in asserting a wide range of rights
and risking increased rights violations. Displacement may at times also increase the
risk of becoming stateless. In some displacement contexts, unaccompanied minors
may not possess documents or be unaware of them and therefore lack proof of their
identity or nationality. Without any evidence of parentage or place of birth, they risk
becoming stateless. 35 The risk of statelessness increases in countries with nationality
laws that discriminate on the basis of gender when internally displaced children are
separated from their fathers or lack documentation proving a legal link to them.
Documentation issues affect children in a variety of contexts worldwide and for other
reasons, including the status of displaced parents suspected or accused of terrorism. 36
57. It is the responsibility of States to take all measures necessary to ensure that
children are able to obtain a legal identity as swiftly as possible by replacing lost or
issuing new documentation, as has been done in Colombia, for instance, by deploying
mobile registration teams to reach internally displaced persons in remote areas 37 or in
Côte d’Ivoire by using witness statements to establish the identity of internally
displaced persons for a civil registration exercise. 38 Where gender-discriminatory
nationality laws persist, States should enact reforms to uphold gender-equal
nationality laws in line with international conventions.

Mental health and psychosocial safety

58. Mental health and psychosocial safety are increasingly viewed as a key
dimension of child safety, as traumatic incidents in childhood can lead to poor mental
health throughout life. The harmful effects of armed conflict and violence on children’s

__________________
34
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, 2010.
35
Norwegian Refugee Council, “Statelessness and displacement” (2016).
36
Ibid., “Barriers from birth: undocumented children in Iraq sentenced to a life on the margins ” (2019).
37
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, 2010.
38
Brookings, Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: A Manual for Law and Policymakers (2008).

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psychological and physical well-being are exacerbated by the experience of

displacement. Some of them are at higher risk for psychological problems or trauma. 39
59. Young people in Iraq and South Sudan consulted by War Child highlighted how
trauma can affect their ability to communicate and stressed their need for support in
dealing with and processing their experiences and for more active listening in the
context of programming. Frequently, stigmatization prevents those affected from
seeking support and local decision makers from seeking solutions. Some children
with mental and physical disabilities are considered “shameful” and are hidden away,
making their inclusion difficult. The lack of wheelchairs for most disabled children
may cause depression and have a psychological impact on their lives, as they are, as
War Child put it, “just captive inside their tents”.
60. Although there is widespread agreement that psychosocial support for internally
displaced children is essential and should be integrated at the earliest possible point
in the humanitarian response, there is still an alarming lack of focus on children ’s
mental health. While in many countries access to psychosocial support may be
similarly difficult for both displaced and non-displaced children, those who are
displaced may have faced trauma in their lives that their peers have not, making those
professional services all the more necessary for them. 40
61. Displaced children are also more likely than non-displaced children to have
difficulties in gaining access to a nurturing environment and a safe place to play and
may lack social connections compared with peers in host communities, which are
conditions crucial for child development. In one situation, a large pro portion of
displaced children who were interviewed rarely or never felt safe playing, even next
to their home, while older children did not feel safe without their parents. One in four
children said they rarely or never had a place to go or someone to talk to when they
were scared, sad or upset. 41
62. Appropriate mental health and psychosocial support that is locally based and
promotes self-help, coping skills and resilience among affected people, including
internally displaced children, is essential and should be developed and delivered as
part of a comprehensive programme using sustainable and community-based
approaches to mental health, including by providing child -friendly spaces and
expanding young people’s access to leisure activities, such as through clubs. Life
skills training helps children to build the confidence to withstand pressure and protest
inappropriate decisions made for them, such as decisions regarding recruitment.

Education
63. The right to education does not stop because of displacement, and displaced
families often view the education of their children as a priority. In situations of armed
conflict, access to education is disrupted not only by general insecurity, but also by
targeted attacks on students, teachers and educatio nal facilities and the use of those
facilities for military purposes. In situations of generalized violence, there often arises
the need to protect teachers, pupils and their parents from the violence, as highlighted
by the Special Rapporteur, the Special Representative on Violence against Children 42
and other partners. 43
__________________
39
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, 2010.
40
Save the Children/Samuel Hall (2019).
41
Save the Children, “Invisible wounds: the impact of six years of war on the mental health of
Syria’s children” (2017).
42
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children,
Protecting Children Affected by Armed Violence in the Community (United Nations publication,
Sales No. E.16.I.15).
43
See, e.g., UNHCR, “Impacto de la violencia en 220 centros educativos de Tegucigalpa ” (2018).

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64. In many displacement situations, parents choose to keep their children home
from school because of safety or economic considerations. Poverty often dictates that
earning sufficient income to feed and clothe a family takes precedence over education.
Other challenges may arise, such as the need to learn a new language. Easing the
documentation required for internally displaced children to attend school, which can
be onerous in many States, can enormously ease displaced children’s access to
education. Social tensions and discrimination against or stigmatization of internally
displaced persons may also have an impact; at times, children are not sent to school
or refuse to go for fear of being bullied by their classmates on account of their
displacement.
65. In addition to focusing on access, due attention should be given to the ability of
internally displaced children to remain in school and complete their studies. A good
practice for countering high dropout rates is the inclusion of educational allowances,
school fees and school supply kits in the family packages given to displaced families,
followed by monitoring and attendance sheets from the schools themselves.
66. Despite the growing awareness in recent years of the humanitarian imperative
to ensure access to education during crises 44 and in protracted displacement
situations, there is still a significant lack of global data and information on the
education of internally displaced persons that could help to illuminate the scope of
needs and the appropriate policy response. Moreover, tracking the educational
trajectories of the internally displaced is difficult. 45 There is a gap in the operational
response too, with the overriding priority being to identify solutions and the resources
needed to provide standard education to millions of children affected by
displacement. Despite significant evidence demonstrating that access to a quality
education is crucial in providing internally displaced children with physical,
psychosocial and cognitive life-sustaining protection, child protection and education
remain among the least funded humanitarian sectors. 46
67. Education provided in the best interests of the child may differ according to t he
given displacement situation, and educational needs have to be assessed on a case -
by-case basis. Any psychosocial care provided to displaced children must address
both past traumas and ongoing stress and fear and be aimed at building a sense of
safety and teaching coping skills. Supplementary classroom-based programmes
aimed at addressing the acute psychosocial needs of children affected by conflict -
induced trauma can be effective. One programme helps students to identify their
reactions to stress and learn calming techniques, be able to talk to teachers and family,
be aware of risks in their communities and identify measures to keep themselves safe,
such as walking to school in groups or finding alternative routes. 47
68. Moreover, the provision of education in emergencies should take into account
gender issues. Conflict and displacement may change gender dynamics and affect
boys and girls differently, although barriers to education are often maintained and
gender disparities reinforced. Those factors must be taken adequately into account in
the development of educational programmes for internally displaced children.

__________________
44
Manuel Bessler, “Foreword: education – a humanitarian and development imperative”, Forced
Migration Review, issue No. 60 (March 2019).
45
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Global Education
Monitoring Report 2019: Migration, Displacement and Education – Building Bridges, Not Walls
(Paris, 2018).
46
Global Protection Cluster and Global Education Cluster, “Child protection and education in
emergencies” (2015).
47
Norwegian Refugee Council, Education in Emergencies: Children in Distress – A Child
Protection Risk Analysis for NRC Afghanistan’s Education Programme (Kabul, 2018).

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69. Despite the fact that internal displacement places a huge strain on the already
inadequate educational infrastructure, it is important that the needs of the host
communities be taken fully into account, particularly in protracted displacement
situations. Adequate financial and technical support, such as additional teachers and
school facilities, are essential in order for communities to bett er implement their
obligations towards displaced children. This may necessitate the establishment of
additional school locations and simplified admission procedures, the coverage of
tuition fees and loans and the provision of textbooks for displaced childr en, as has
been done in Ukraine. 48 Indeed, access to quality inclusive education brings
significant economic, social and health benefits to displaced and host communities
alike, helps to foster cohesive societies and is a vital tool in fighting prejudice,
stereotypes and discrimination. 49

Housing, land and property

70. In displacement contexts, risks faced by displaced communities include forced
eviction, lack of access to land and other barriers to housing, land and property rights.
Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the risk of forced eviction and
homelessness (A/HRC/25/54, para. 65) and should receive priority consideration for
emergency shelter until more durable housing solutions are estab lished. Children can
be particularly vulnerable when they have to participate in harmful coping mechanisms,
such as child labour or early marriage, to meet the cost of rent or owing to exploitation.
71. Children are usually dependent on a parent’s or guardian’s ability to obtain
adequate housing and establish a home free from the fear of forced eviction. In
displacement contexts, the ability to find and sustain a safe home can be particularly
difficult. Access to adequate housing and land is important at all phases of
displacement. Displaced women’s experiences of gaining access to housing, land and
property rights may be limited owing to challenges in connection with gaps in laws
and customary practices, leading to the loss of inheritance rights, exacerbate d
discrimination and barriers resulting from socioeconomic disadvantages. These can
have a significant effect on their children’s ability to obtain security of tenure (ibid.,
para. 64).

Preserving and strengthening national child protection systems in internal

displacement contexts
72. During emergencies, and the longer a displacement situation lasts, the more
imperative it is for national and local governments and the international community
to support efforts to put in place laws, policies, systems and public services that are
inclusive of internally displaced children. There is too often a disconnect between the
informal and formal elements of national child protection systems, and there is a need
for the two levels to collaborate and for the central government body dedicated to
child welfare and the social welfare workforce to be sufficiently equipped and
resourced to address protection issues and violations against children in situations of
displacement. 50 Within the framework of a system-strengthening approach, children’s
displacement-specific vulnerabilities should be identified and addressed.
73. UNICEF has worked with national child protection authorities to ensure that
child protection systems incorporate the specific needs of internal ly displaced
children, for example in case management systems. The establishment of case
management systems has, for example, demonstrated increases in the number of
__________________
48
UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report 2019.
49
UNICEF and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, “Equitable access to quality education
for internally displaced children” (July 2019).
50
UNHCR, “Community-based child protection mechanisms” (2013).

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children gaining access to case management services, which include individual

counselling, family tracing and reunification, victim assistance, reintegration,
response to gender-based violence, education and legal support. The establishment
and strengthening of birth registration systems, including electronic systems to avoid
duplication, have led to significant increases in birth registration rates.
74. Local governments play an increasingly important role in displacement settings.
Systems and services that have the greatest impact on children ’s daily lives are often
provided locally. The international community should support area-based approaches
and engage with local governments, which are uniquely placed to make a difference
in the lives of internally displaced children. This can mean adapting national policies
to local needs or filling gaps within national systems through municipal services.
75. Humanitarian actors have increasingly recognized the value of and need for
collaborative, integrated and intersectoral programming to tackle the root causes of
child protection concerns and respond to child protection needs, with child protection
and education professionals as natural allies. Economic strengthening initiatives for
families – through microcredit, skills transfers or cash transfers, for example –
implemented by child protection, education and livelihoods programme staff have
been increasingly used as a form of cooperative action among governments, United
Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations to prevent child
separation, improve foster and parental care and reduce the incidence of child
labour. 51 Challenges linked to the coordination of efforts and competition among
agencies for resources unfortunately remain in various contexts. The ongoing United
Nations reform process provides an opportunity to increase coher ence in the
international response on behalf of internally displaced children.

IV. Conclusions and recommendations

76. With the present report, the Special Rapporteur hopes to revitalize and
enhance a needed conversation among a range of actors, including governments,
United Nations agencies, international organizations, non-governmental
organizations and internally displaced persons, with the ultimate goal of moving
from discussion to improved practice for the strengthened protection of
internally displaced children.
77. This is a year of opportunity, as 2019 marks important anniversaries,
including the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, in which the signatories called upon all nations to ensure
that every child would be brought up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance,
freedom, equality and solidarity. Children must be respected as “zones of peace”,
and their rights must be safeguarded at all times. Internally displaced children
are children first and foremost.
78. The Special Rapporteur therefore calls upon States and other actors, as
relevant to:

On law and policy

(a) Urgently and unequivocally respect international humanitarian and
human rights law, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its
Optional Protocols and Security Council resolutions on children and armed
conflict, and to end impunity by holding perpetrators of violations against
internally displaced children to account;

__________________
51
Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, “Adapting to Learn, Learning to Adapt”.

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(b) Put in place laws, policies, systems and public services that are
inclusive of internally displaced children without discrimination and ensure that
national laws that are not specific to internally displaced persons do not
discriminate against them or restrict their rights;
(c) Ensure that the priorities of internally displaced children and child
protection and gender-related concerns are integrated in the development and
implementation of national laws and policies on internal displacement;
(d) Adopt or reinforce legislation that criminalizes the six grave violations
against children in armed conflict, strengthen monitoring and reporting
mechanisms, including through the active participation of all relevant United
Nations entities, and ensure the implementation of action plans to end and
prevent violations by parties to conflict listed in the annual report of the
Secretary-General on children and armed conflict;
(e) Raise awareness through public statements and public-awareness
campaigns to sensitize the general public and public officials to the impact of
internal displacement, including on the particular protection risks faced by
internally displaced children;
(f) Train public officials, including social workers, police officers, judges,
prosecutors, lawyers, guardians, teachers and local civil society organizations, in
child rights, child protection case management, best interests assessment and
determination processes, and child-friendly procedures;

On participation
(g) Take special measures to ensure that the views and concerns of
internally displaced girls and boys are taken into account in the design and
delivery of protection and assistance programmes, as well as in the development
of relevant laws and policies, the planning and management of durable solutions
and peace processes;
(h) Facilitate coordination between those working in public institutions
with those responding to internal displacement in order to promote child
participation activities during recovery and reintegration;
(i) Ensure that children are provided with information about options,
their consequences and conditions concerning durable solutions in a format and
language they can understand so that they can make their voices heard;

On data and evidence

(j) Integrate a “displacement lens” into data exercises and information
management systems focused on or including children in line with the
forthcoming international recommendations on statistics related to internally
displaced persons and appropriately implement the multi-indicator cluster
surveys in States seriously affected by displacement, initiatives that require close
collaboration between child protection and statistical experts;
(k) Integrate a “children’s lens” into data collection systems and
processes that focus on or include displacement, as appropriate and feasible,
including data adequately disaggregated by age, sex and specific vulnerabilities,
and also speaking to the use of qualitative and innovative data collection methods
that allow for the participation of and effective engagement with children and
adolescents; such initiatives require close collaboration between child protection
and information management experts;

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(l) Make better and greater use of existing data on internally displaced
children through enhanced data-sharing practices within appropriate data
protection standards and protocols; for this purpose, data anonymization
software and other technological solutions for sharing sensitive data should be
further supported and explored; the increased use of collaborative approaches
to the collection of new data on children in internal displacement situations is
encouraged;

On prevention and response programming

(m) Recognize and address child-specific drivers of internal displacement
within conflict and generalized violence settings through the strengthening of
community systems and the development of capacity to influence changes in
social behaviour;
(n) Strengthen the child protection capacities of national authorities, as
the primary duty bearers responsible for protecting and providing assistance to
internally displaced children and their communities;
(o) Support and strengthen the protective capacity of families and
communities for the protection of children affected by internal displacement,
including through community-based initiatives and programmes, and support
the mainstreaming of the child protection element across the humanitarian
response, including in the context of educational and health services;
(p) Select safe and adequately accessible locations for displacement sites,
undertake child and gender-sensitive protection-based site-planning and
undertake demining and the removal of cluster munitions and other explosive
remnants of war as a priority in places where internally displaced children and
their families take refuge and in their areas of origin and potential return, and
carry out mine risk awareness activities with children and their parents;
(q) Take action to criminalize attacks against internally displaced persons
sites and hold accountable those who recruit or use children or commit other
grave violations; ensure the creation of legal support services for internally
displaced children and train and sensitize military and police forces involved in
providing security for internally displaced persons sites and settlements to the
obligation to protect children from recruitment, use and other grave violations;
(r) Establish confidential, accessible, child- and gender-friendly
complaint and referral systems to address all forms of violence, abuse and
exploitation of internally displaced children, who should be adequately informed
about those mechanisms, as well as their families and communities;
(s) Prioritize the prevention of family separation, notably by helping
communities to prepare for any eventual displacement and mitigate the risks
associated with it, as well as by raising awareness on the part of authorities of
the importance of preserving family unity, and support family tracing and
reunification during displacement and in the return and reintegration process;
(t) Offer counselling to help families and communities to understand the
experiences and needs of children and, in the absence of parental care, promote
other care and guardianship arrangements in line with the Guidelines for the
Alternative Care of Children;
(u) Ensure long-term, reliable and comprehensive support, including
funding and engagement, for internally displaced boys and girls associated with
armed forces or groups, taking into account their specific needs, especially

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rehabilitation and reintegration, including catch-up education, vocational

programmes and livelihood projects, as well as psychosocial support;
(v) Take the steps necessary to implement a coordinated prevention and
response plan to combat gender-based violence, such as ensuring the
identification of internally displaced children who are victims or are at risk,
creating accessible, safe and confidential reporting mechanisms, setting up
community-based committees to coordinate, monitor and follow up on responses
to gender-based violence, training local authorities in preventing and responding
to gender-based violence and promoting the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance
policy for the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by peacekeepers, other
United Nations staff and non-governmental organizations, while at the same time
prioritizing and supporting the functioning of formal justice systems as a
primary channel for addressing incidents of sexual violence;

On durable solutions
(w) Ensure that conditions are conducive to durable solutions for
internally displaced children and their families, with particular regard to the
education and psychosocial care of internally displaced children;
(x) Provide all internally displaced children with appropriate legal
documentation and ensure that birth registration services include all children;
(y) Take all possible steps to provide adequate medical and psychosocial
care for internally displaced children and their families through coordinated
intersectoral community-based programmes with trained staff members, plan
for and implement arrangements for longer-term assistance for severely
traumatized children with the assistance of trained mental health experts and
assist children affected by long-term mental illness and their families;
(z) Ensure immediate and effective access to free, quality and inclusive
education and essential services for all boys and girls, regardless of whether they
are displaced or possess documentation, recognize and tackle the specific gender-
and disability-related barriers, in both emergency and non-emergency
displacement settings, at all levels and in vocational training, strengthen
educational systems so that they are able to provide high-quality learning
opportunities for children in host communities and absorb displaced children
and cater to their specific needs;
(aa) Strengthen social safety nets and expand opportunities for family
income and youth employment, including for internally displaced persons;
(bb) Provide affordable, safe and adequate housing for internally displaced
children and their families, ensuring that families are housed together;

On funding
(cc) Increase multi-year collaborative and flexible funding in support of
children, including those internally displaced and, in particular, increase funding
for child protection interventions from 0.5 per cent to a minimum of 4 per cent
of total humanitarian funding and identify new sources of funding to fill the gap
and ensure adequate State budget allocations for the rights of internally
displaced children;
(dd) Increase support for the strengthening of national and local child
protection systems to address and cope with the additional needs of internally
displaced children, including in urban areas, through area-based approaches
that take into account the needs and situation of host communities.

22/22 19-13101