Through Their Words
Children’s voices in contexts of migration and displacement
Highlights
This working paper presents an in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of children and adolescents navigating migration and displacement across Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan. Based on comparative qualitative research conducted between 2018 and 2023, it highlights the perspectives of children aged 10–19 who are engaged in diverse migration journeys—both voluntary and forced, regular and irregular, across internal and cross-border settings.
Today, over 47 million children are displaced globally due to conflict and violence—the highest number on record. These trends are exacerbated by a combination of factors including climate shocks, political instability, and protracted crises. While these conditions often expose children to acute risks, this research also reveals the depth of their resilience, agency, and aspirations. Children are not merely passive victims of displacement—they actively navigate complex environments, make difficult choices, and carry hope for brighter futures.
Yet, despite their central role in these journeys, children's own voices remain strikingly absent from global migration policy and discourse. This working paper aims to help close that gap by foregrounding children’s narratives in their own words. Their testimonies offer urgent, grounded insights into how they experience protection systems, family separation, education disruption, and environmental precarity.
Organised around four thematic domains emerging from interviews, the report challenges reductive assumptions and underscores the need for child-informed approaches to migration governance. By placing children’s perspectives at the centre, the paper contributes to evidence that can inform more responsive policies, strengthen child protection systems, and advance the rights of children on the move.
