Publications

Evidence and objective assessment are needed more than ever to help enhance the rights and well-being of the world’s children. Researching the changing world around us and evaluating progress are two sides of the same coin, both critical to reimagining a better future for children. In recognition of this, UNICEF celebrates and showcases innovative and influential research and evaluations from our offices around the world every year. For 2020, Innocenti and the Evaluation Office joined forces to find the most rigorous UNICEF studies with greatest influence on policies and programmes that benefit children.

يتعرض الأطفال المنخرطون في حركات الهجرة ، سواء داخل الدول أو فيما بينها ، لخطر متزايد من التعرض للعنف أوالخضوع  له. الأطفال المهاجرون واللاجئون معرضون للخطرخاصة  إذا كانوا غير مصحوبين بذويهم أو منفصلين عن أسرهم وقد يتعرضون للعنف الجنسي والاستغلال ، فضلاً عن العمل القسري والاتجار بالبشر٠

Les enfants qui participent à des mouvements migratoires, tant à l’intérieur de leur pays qu’audelà de leurs frontières nationales, courent un risque accru de subir des actes de violence. Les enfants migrants et réfugiés sont particulièrement vulnérables s’ils ne sont pas accompagnés ou s’ils sont séparés de leur famille et peuvent être victimes de violences et d’exploitation sexuelles, ainsi que du travail forcé et de la traite des êtres humains.

I minori coinvolti in movimenti migratori sia interni che internazionali corrono un rischio maggiore di essere esposti o sottoposti a violenza. I minori migranti e rifugiati non accompagnati o separati dalla famiglia sono particolarmente vulnerabili e possono essere vittime di violenza sessuale, sfruttamento, lavoro forzato e traffico di esseri umani.

Los niños que forman parte de corrientes migratorias tanto internas como internacionales corren un mayor riesgo de quedar expuestos a la violencia o ser objeto de ella. Los niños migrantes y refugiados son especialmente vulnerables cuando no están acompañados o se han separado de sus familias, y pueden ser víctimas de violencia sexual y explotación, así como de trabajos forzosos o trata de personas.

Current times are characterized by unprecedented migration levels: millions of people are on the move worldwide. Thus, understanding why people decide to migrate is a major goal of policymakers and international organizations, and migration has become a prominent issue on the global research agenda. Traditional migration drivers can be divided into reasons to leave (‘push’ factors) and reasons to migrate (‘pull’ factors), and include income deprivation, dissatisfaction with public services and institutions in the home country, conflict and war, climate change, and social networks abroad. In this paper, we focus our attention on children’s well-being as a potential migration driver. We investigate it by using the Gallup World Poll, a  repeated cross-section dataset of a survey conducted in more than 150 countries from 2006 to 2016. We estimate the association between planned and intended migration and children’s perceived well-being using logit models with standardized coefficients, robust standard errors, and year and country fixed effects. Estimates reveal a positive and statistically significant association between child-related concerns, migration intent and plans. In particular, the probability of individuals having migration intent and plans increases where they report lower levels of satisfaction with child-related issues, as measured by the Youth Development Index, an index driven by indicators of respect for children and satisfaction with the education system. Moreover, children’s well-being affects more individuals living in households with children than those without. Finally, migration is a child- and youth-related phenomenon: young individuals would like to migrate, and plan to do so, more than older individuals.

This quarterly digest synthesizes the latest research findings in adolescent well-being over the previous three months. Key themes in this latest edition include adolescents in humanitarian contexts. The sections cover News, Upcoming Events, Resources and Latest Research to help practitioners keep informed and up-to-date in the field of working with young people.

The study was initiated with twin aims: improving understanding of child trafficking and responses in the region; and contributing to the international discourse on child trafficking by examining the linkages between anti-trafficking responses and child protection systems. Although the study was conceived with a primary focus on trafficking, its scope is much broader. It analyses how the general principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child are applied in relation to those children vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The study confirms that the Nordic countries have indeed made significant − and continuously evolving − attempts to address the issue of child trafficking, including through setting up relevant institutions, developing action plans and allocating budgets. However, while this has meant that specialized expertise is available for specific groups of children, it has sometimes also led to fragmentation of services, leaving some children unprotected. The research also finds that many existing gaps may be bridged by consistent and strengthened implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the same time, the study highlights that there is a way to achieve a fuller realization of rights for children who are vulnerable.

The study was initiated with twin aims: improving understanding of child trafficking and responses in the region; and contributing to the international discourse on child trafficking by examining the linkages between anti-trafficking responses and child protection systems. Although the study was conceived with a primary focus on trafficking, its scope is much broader. It analyses how the general principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child are applied in relation to those children vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The study confirms that the Nordic countries have indeed made significant − and continuously evolving − attempts to address the issue of child trafficking, including through setting up relevant institutions, developing action plans and allocating budgets. However, while this has meant that specialized expertise is available for specific groups of children, it has sometimes also led to fragmentation of services, leaving some children unprotected. The research also finds that many existing gaps may be bridged by consistent and strengthened implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the same time, the study highlights that there is a way to achieve a fuller realization of rights for children who are vulnerable.

This paper studies child migration in Argentina, Chile and South Africa. It defines child migrants as under 18 year olds whose usual residence was in a different country or province five years prior to census. The paper estimates the scale of child migration; compares relative magnitudes of internal and international migration; and considers sensitivity to alternative definitions of migration. Second, it examines family structures within which migrant children live at destinations, defining children who are co-resident with adult parents and siblings as dependent, and those outside of these close family members, as independent. Third, the internal/international and in/dependent distinctions are analysed jointly to describe some social-economic characteristics of the four sub-groups of migrant children.

This paper focuses on independent migrant children, defined as below 18 years old, who choose to move from home and live at destinations without a parent or adult guardian. It summarises quantitative and qualitative research, and uses this to reflect on research agendas and global debates towards linking migration and development. The paper surveys historical evidence on linkages between children’s migration and societal development in earlier periods of modernisation, and identifies parallels to contemporary developing countries. The contemporary situation in developing countries is described in terms of: (1) numerical scale; (2) individual and family characteristics of the children involved; (3) decision-makers and decision-making processes in children’s movements; (4) why it happens, including from children’s viewpoints; (5) modes of movements; and (6) situations of children at destinations. The paper considers the extent to which children may demand migration opportunities, and how this demand may be met partly with forms of movement specific to children. Research strategies are discussed to provide a bridge to development issues, including conceptualization of children’s independent movements, children’s labour migration, migration statistics and selection of who migrates. A final section draws on the review to reflect on global debates in child development and societal development.

Процесс международной интеграции ярче высветил многие проблемы, и не в последнюю очередь рост масштабов бедности и неравенства между странами и внутри стран. Это относится как к странам Центральной и Восточной Европы и Содружества Независимых Государств, так и к другим регионам мира. После краха коммунистических режимов вместо 8 стран, существовавших в 1989 году, к середине 1990-х годов образовалось 27. Рыночные реформы не только принесли ногочисленные выгоды и преимущества, но и породили нестабильность. Сегодня жизнь детей в этом регионе совсем не такая, как у их родителей, – шире перспективы, больше свободы и возможностей выбора, но при этом и больше бедности, неравенства и риска.