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400 million children are living in or fleeing conflict zones
by ICRC, UNICEF, Save the Children
 
June 2023
 
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell's remarks at the Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict:
 
"Today 400 million children across the globe are living in or fleeing conflict zones, that is about 1 in every 5 of the world’s children, more than the population of entire countries.
 
"In war, children suffer first, and they suffer most. They lose family members and friends. They are killed or injured, often by explosive weapons in populated areas. They are sexually violated. They are recruited and used by armed forces or groups. And many are displaced multiple times, risking separation from their families, losing critical years of education, and fraying ties to their communities.
 
"The United Nations has verified more than 315,000 grave child rights violations in areas of conflict between 2005 and 2022.
 
"These are children who were killed, maimed, recruited or used by armed forces, abducted, or subjected to horrific sexual violence. In addition, thousands of schools have been attacked or destroyed. And these are only the cases that have been verified, which means the true number of violations is most certainly much higher.
 
"Behind each of these numbers is a story of unimaginable child suffering … of rights violated and rights denied. "I have met too many of the children affected by conflict in my travels.
 
"In Ukraine, I met a severely disabled teenage boy whose family struggled to get him into the shelter every time air raids sound … and they sound often as this horrible war grinds on. "In Aleppo, Syria I met children who barely survived a war and were beginning to rebuild their lives only to experience a horrific earthquake.
 
"In Yemen, I met a child who had lost both his legs after he was injured in a mortar attack. "And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I met a boy who was so traumatized by violence he could barely speak, while a girl shared her story of abduction and years of sexual violence.
 
"Each of these stories is a tragedy. Taken as a whole they are an indictment of a world that has abandoned too many children in need.
 
"For the sake of these children, we simply must do better. This starts with delivering a robust child protection response to reach all children in need – whether they are in areas under conflict or on the move in search of safety.
 
"These services must build upon existing protection systems and community structures, and support children’s rights, participation and best interests. "This is a big aspiration. But we can accomplish it by investing in Child Protection Policy, People and Programming.
 
"First, we must put some teeth into policies that place children and their protection at the center of humanitarian action. We have already heard how states can do this by prioritizing the best interests of children in their laws and practice.
 
"International organizations and NGOs must also put the protection of children at the heart of their policies and strategies.
 
"We must invest in the people who are the backbone of our child protection workforce – our social workers, frontline responders, and community mobilizers. "Our protection workforce must be better equipped with the ability and knowledge to monitor the impact of war on children.
 
"All stories and circumstances are not the same, so protection staff must respond to the different specific vulnerabilities and needs of children affected by armed conflict. And they need the tools to tirelessly advocate to keep children safe, like demanding that parties avoid using explosive weapons in populated areas.
 
"As you have heard throughout the conference, the United Nations Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism is critical to informing policymakers about the true impact of war on children … and to facilitating engagement with parties to conflict. This is highly sensitive work, and unfortunately, it is also very challenging to mobilize resources to support it.
 
"That is why today, UNICEF is committing to cover fifty per cent of the annual cost of staffing to monitor, document and verify grave violations against children … and to engage with parties to conflict. "We will work with partners to mobilize the additional resources to fulfill this critical mandate.
 
"We must invest in quality child protection that meets evolving circumstances and needs. This means finding better ways to collaborate and to engage children and communities. It also means delivering programming tailored to local realities.
 
"Protecting children is a choice. And so, too, is putting them at risk, forcing them into conflict, and blatantly denying their needs.
 
"War and conflict are the work of adults. Children do not start wars and they are powerless to end them. At a minimum, we must do everything in our power to keep children safe from the dangers and deprivation wrought by those who engage in conflict.
 
"Today, I urge all states and entities to join us in making the right choice … to protect children today so they can grow up to create a more peaceful world for future generations."
 
http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-oslo-conference-protecting http://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/international-conference-on-protecting-children-in-armed-conflict/id2975968/ http://medvind.arkon.no/1824624/9065535.html http://www.end-violence.org/articles/new-analysis-spotlights-urgent-need-better-fund-child-protection-conflict http://protectingeducation.org/ http://alliancecpha.org/en
 
Childhood in rubbles. (International Committee of the Red Cross)
 
Urban warfare causes death and injury among civilians on a staggering scale. It destroys homes, communities and the social fabric. It cuts off access to health care, education, electricity, and clean water. Even so, accounts of the consequences of urban warfare for children, as a distinct segment of the civilian population, are – when composed – often incomplete. This may come as a surprise: after all, one in six children lives in a conflict zone. Urban warfare takes place in settings with children and young populations. Children usually make up a large proportion of the people displaced (either internally or across international borders) by armed conflict.
 
This report aims to address this gap and sets out how international law protects children in urban warfare, and makes legal, policy and operational recommendations for the actors in a position to protect children’s lives. It draws from interviews with key stakeholders, and from a desk review, to provide an assessment of the consequences of urban warfare for children.
 
Children must not be regarded simply as miniature adults. The risks they face in urban warfare settings are distinct, and must be understood within the context of their social, physical, psychosocial and cognitive development.
 
http://shop.icrc.org/childhood-in-rubble-the-humanitarian-consequences-of-urban-warfare-for-children-pdf-en.html
 
* In 2022, approximately 468 million children were living in a conflict zone. In 2021, approximately 1.6 billion children – more than two-thirds of children globally – were living in a conflict affected country, meaning in a country where conflict incidents have occurred. Out of these children, as many as 230 million lived in high-intensity conflict, which means they lived in conflict affected countries with more than 1,000 battle related deaths over the year.
 
http://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/media-and-news/2023-press-releases/number-of-grave-violations-against-children-in-conflict-rose http://data.stopwaronchildren.org/ http://www.stopwaronchildren.org/ http://www.savethechildren.net/news/world-leaders-must-pick-bill-protect-18-million-children-risk-violence-recruitment-trafficking http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/We-dont-have-magic-powers-but-you-do.pdf/


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Up to 150 million children are homeless
by Consortium for Street Children, agencies
 
Street children and homeless children are living in cities, towns and villages all over the world, regardless of the economic climate of the country.
 
The United Nations estimates there are up to 150 million street children in the world. No one knows the exact number because they are often unknown or uncounted by government agencies.
 
What risks do street children face, by Eleanor Hughes
 
Street children are some of the most vulnerable children on the planet. Situations that push them to the streets in the first place, and issues they face once there, puts them at risk of multiple types of harm.
 
This year’s International Day for Street Children is highlighting some of the challenges street-connected children face, as well as some ways we can help to make them safer through practice and advocacy.
 
We highlight just some of the challenges they face:
 
Lack of access to essentials: Street-connected children often lack access to basic essentials like food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare. This makes them vulnerable to malnutrition, illness and injury. Lack of access to essentials can also cause children to become street-connected as they seek means to get by.
 
Discrimination: Children may face discrimination because of their status. They may be seen as a nuisance or a threat by some members of society, leading to further marginalisation and stigmatisation.
 
Lack of protection: Street-connected children often don’t have a trusted adult they can turn to for support, help and guidance. This leaves them alone and vulnerable.
 
Exposure to violence: Domestic violence can lead children to turn to the streets to escape. However, once there, the isolation and marginalisation they face in their communities can also lead to an increased risk of violence and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. They may also be exposed to gang violence, and other forms of violence on the streets.
 
Lack of education: Many street-connected children lack access to education for a variety of reasons. This affects their future opportunities and makes it more difficult for them to find a sustainable pathway off the streets.
 
Exploitation: Without adequate protection, street-connected children may be exploited by adults who take advantage of their vulnerability. This can include forced labour, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.
 
Mental health issues: Depression, anxiety, and trauma affect many street-connected children as a result of their experiences.
 
Street-connected children are one of the most marginalised populations in the world; they face violence and abuse, are excluded from their communities and are unable to access basic services like healthcare and education.
 
Because of the way they have been treated, these children can be understandably distrustful of adults, and gaining their trust is the first step in supporting them. Being honest, transparent and accountable to children is essential to maintain that trust.
 
Street children face many dangers as both a cause and consequence of being on the streets. We used our Digitally Connecting Street Children platform to ask street-connected children themselves what makes them feel safe, in order to ensure any solutions reflect children’s views and address their concerns.
 
The most popular answer, with 33% of the children choosing it, was that having a trusted adult in their lives would make street-connected children feel safer. 32% of children would also seek out a charity worker to help them if they were in an unsafe situation.
 
At the Consortium for Street Children we have adopted a street work approach – a specialist form of youth work that we believe is the best way to support street-connected children, and often the first step towards changing a child’s life.
 
Street Workers are essential to a rights-based response to street-connected children. They work to ensure street-connected children are valued, supported and can access vital services.
 
Street Work takes place physically on the streets, where the child is. Trained adults build a relationship of trust with street-connected children that enables a purposeful and empowering relationship to develop where children can come to trust Street Workers and know that they can depend on them. This is of huge value to children who are so frequently subject to violence, harassment and discrimination from the adults around them.
 
Street Workers establish relationships with street-connected children by beginning to understand their values, attitudes, issues, and their ambitions. Once trust is established, Street Workers support street-connected children in their personal growth and development.
 
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 21 (2017) on children in street situations recognises the importance of Street Work and recommends governments develop specialised solutions for street-connected children that includes recognising the skill of frontline Street Workers to be able to deliver these specialised solutions for street children.
 
Street children (Theirworld)
 
The circumstances for street children can be very complex and there can be lots of different reasons for their situation. Some street children are still in contact with their families, who may be extremely poor, and will work on the streets to contribute to their family’s income. They might be working out on the streets during the day and going back to their family home at night.
 
Many other children have run away from home or an institution to escape psychological, physical or sexual abuse. They have no home except for the streets and may move from place to place, living in shelters and abandoned buildings.
 
Some children are homeless with their families. They may be displaced due to poverty or natural disasters or are refugees from areas of conflict. Others may be children with disabilities who have been abandoned by their families, children separated from their families for long periods of time, or orphaned children.
 
The term “street children” can be problematic as it can be seen as a negative label. One of the problems for these children is they can be viewed by mainstream society as a threat or a source of criminal behaviour.
 
Definition of a street child by a group of non-governmental organisations at an Inter-NGO programme on street children and youth, 1983:
 
“Any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, directed, and supervised by responsible adults.”
 
What is life like for street children?
 
Some street children may have very low-paid work such as shining shoes or selling goods on the streets. Some children may scavenge for food or beg. Others are exploited by gangs and criminals. Their situation and the need to earn money for survival will often prevent them from being able to access schooling. Street children are highly vulnerable to exploitation and violence.
 
There are numerous health issues for children who live and work on the streets. The lack of medical care and inadequate living conditions mean they are more susceptible to chronic illnesses. They may also be at greater risk of sexual and other violence, exploitation, drug use.
 
It’s common for street children to be in unsafe situations. They can find themselves harassed or harmed by the police and can find themselves in conflict with the law. They can feel alienated from societies that may view them as outcasts and even criminals. They may consider official authorities to be threatening and may be wary of government or organised initiatives.
 
In 1992, the United Nations issued a Resolution on the Plight of Street Children, expressing concern over the emergence and marginalisation of street children, and the acts of violence against them. The Resolution called for international cooperation to address the needs of homeless children and for enforcement of international child rights laws.
 
Since then, there have been initiatives to assist street children, often through shelters offering programmes to provide healthcare, counselling, education, vocational training, legal aid and other social services.
 
The right to a quality education is just one of the rights that street children are denied. Yet education is one of the most effective way to help street children to reintegrate into society.
 
http://www.streetchildren.org/idsc/international-day-for-street-children-2023/ http://www.streetchildren.org/idsc/international-day-for-street-children-2023/idsc-around-the-world/ http://www.streetchildren.org/news-and-updates/what-risks-do-street-children-face/ http://www.streetchildren.org/news-and-updates/the-importance-of-trusted-adults/ http://www.streetchildren.org/legal-atlas/ http://www.streetchildren.org/resources/general-comment-no-21-2017-on-children-in-street-situations/ http://tinyurl.com/emp45eca http://tinyurl.com/3adn2xew http://theirworld.org/news/we-help-children-who-have-run-away-from-home-and-get-them-back-into-school/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/10/expert-children-street-situations-are-victims-forced-labor-sexual-abuse http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5430-homelessness-cause-and-consequence-contemporary-forms-slavery


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