Forcibly displaced children and other child migrants are at higher risk of harmful practices and protection risks, including violence, family separation, human trafficking, increased child marriage, gender-based violence (GBV), forced labour and psychosocial distress.
In Pakistan, where nearly half of UNHCR’s population of concern are children, internally displaced Pakistani children, Afghan child migrants and forcibly displaced children face significant protection risks in urban and peri-urban areas. These risks are compounded in Pakistan by challenges in accessing protection services to effectively responding to the needs of children in urban settings.
Little research has focused on: (1) the risks specific to – or heightened among – these children, and barriers to their protection; or (2) the child protection measures and mechanisms in place to address them. This topic is of crucial importance given the estimated 3.6 million Afghans in Pakistan, many of them children, and high numbers of internally displaced people, including children.
For more details, check out the full report here: Generating Evidence on Internally Displaced Children, Afghan Child Migrants and Forcibly Displaced Children in Pakistan.
