5 July 2017: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a report, titled ‘In Search of Opportunities: Voices of children on the move in West and Central Africa,’ which addresses the drivers behind regional child migration and displacement, as well as longer-term implications for the region should these population movements intensify with the projected population growth.
Based on a series of interviews with migrants and their families from several countries, the report reveals a complex set of drivers for migration that extend beyond poverty. These drivers include climate change, urbanization, education, conflict, population growth and access to information. Smuggling and trafficking are also listed among the factors that drive migration.
UNICEF proposes an “agenda for action” that would address the root causes of migration and expand systems to protect children on the move through sustained and coordinated international effort.
Citing the projected temperature rise in West and Central Africa of 3-4°C this century along with intensifying droughts, the report indicates that tensions in accessing scarce resources and increasing hostilities in many rural areas are pushing greater numbers of people towards cities. It also notes that even conservative estimates of a sea level rise could lead to the forced displacement of millions of climate refugees from coastal cities.
The report proposes an “agenda for action” that would address the root causes of migration and expand systems to protect children on the move through sustained and coordinated international effort. The proposed agenda for action calls for governments and partners to: protect uprooted children from exploitation and violence; end the detention of refugee and migrant children by creating practical alternatives; keep families together and give children legal status; help uprooted children to stay in school and stay healthy; press for action on the causes that uproot children from their homes; and combat xenophobia and discrimination. [Publication: In Search of Opportunities: Voices of Children on the Move in West and Central Africa] [Publication Landing Page] [UN Press Release]