Children in Migration

Source: Jessica Essary generated this image using Google Gemini

Our Mission

The mission of the Subcommittee on Children in Migration is to ensure that children in the context of migration should be addressed as a holistic group and from a comprehensive human rights-based approach, notwithstanding the reasons for migration or the child’s immigration status, in accordance with the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC).

In the several years of the Subcommittee’s operation, it has adopted two main areas of action: the protection of the right to education for migrant, refugee and displaced children (SDG 4) with particular attention to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC, SDG 4.2) and the promotion of a social protection system based on a leave-no-one behind and a child rights approach. With this issue at the forefront, the Subcommittee is working to raise awareness on the protection needed by migrant and refugee parents, primarily women (SDG 5), to protect and educate their youngest children with the final goal to build a cohesive and more peaceful society (SDG 16). This advocacy effort has always been supported by updated scientific fundings and economic analyses, showing the clear benefits of ECEC particularly for children living in crisis situations where danger, instability and insecurity affect individuals and families.

The Subcommittee is advocating also for the promotion of universal social protection, so critical in a global context where millions of families and their children are trapped in situations of violent conflict, displacement, exacerbated by climate change and natural disaster. This social protection must have a comprehensive child-centered approach, recognizing that children’s rights are indivisible, interdependent and interconnected.

 

Our Strategic Agenda

  • Promote the inclusion of early childhood interventions in migration contexts and humanitarian settings
  • Advocate for social protection with a focus on children’s rights, amplifying their voices as well as the voices of their caregivers (i.e. prevention and resilience-building)
  • Share scientific fundings and economic analysis on the cost of non-intervention, supporting the urgent need to implement initiatives in favor of children in crises situations
  • Collect and share sustainable practices (e.g. resources for education, mental health, physical heath, protection, and emergencies), for those who work with and for children and their families in various refugee, migration, and displacement contexts
  • Investigate and monitor, in collaboration with Community Based Organizations (CBOs), the protection of migrant children’s rights at the local level, (e.g. when migrant children’s access to services is systematically denied or blocked).
  • Collaborate with the NGO Committee on Migration (CoM) subcommittees to build common advocacy projects.

 

Our Work

The practical work of the Subcommittee is carried out in various ways and at different levels.

At the United Nations
  • Negotiations of the GCM GCR for the inclusion of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Objective 15 f) and in Global Compact on Refugees (Para 69); (2017-2018)
  • Statement preparation (Commission for Social Development, Commission on Population and Development, the High-Level Political Forum, the negotiations for the Pact of the Future, the World Social Summit)
  • Side Event & Parallel Event Examples
  • Open letters, appeals to support the protection of migrant children’s rights and to counter policies that disadvantage or undermine them
  • Booklet development of guidelines and good practices for the protection of migrant and refugee children’s human rights throughout their lifetime (I Am a Child, 2018) 
  • Launch of the Brighter Futures. An Early Childhood Development Initiative to Promote Social Cohesion and Development to engage in a constructive dialogue with the UN Member States, UN Agencies, Academia, NGOs to promote social cohesion, development and more peaceful societies using ECD initiatives at international, national and local levels (2018)
  • Participation in meetings with the United Nations Permanent Missions to influence policy-makers to integrate a child’s rights-based approach to migration into national legislation, plans, programs, policies and practices, and to empower children to secure their rights
At the Local Level
  • Infographic: Children in Migration Matter– The Elmhurst, Corona Communities in Queens, a support tool of the initiative Brighter Futures initiative with the goal to convince politicians and lawmakers to take initiatives to protect the families and migrant children in Queens, NYC, and erase the existing deep inequalities (2021)
  • Video clip with interview with a forcibly displaced family in New York City (2024). [Please send a request for the video link to this email address].
  • Distribution of the initiative; Brighter Futures to engage City Council members in a constructive dialogue at the local level (2018)
  • Organization of- Round Table Children in Migration and Access to Services in NYC; Obstacles and Solutions Towards a More Inclusive and Cohesive Society, 14 November, 2023. [Please send a request for the Round Table links to this email address]. 

Collaboration with Community Based Organizations in NYC to check the situation of migrant and refugee children and to propose solutions.

Additional Resources/Activities