Fostering hope in a children’s crisis
Children deserve to hold on to their hopes and dreams, even during the most difficult of times
- English
- Македонски
Since the closure of the Balkan route to Europe in March, around 500 children remain stranded in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, trapped in limbo between their past and their future. They have something in common with the other 150,000 refugee and migrant children who passed through the country between June 2015 and March 2016. They all have dreams, and they all have hope for a better, safer future.
As the refugee and migrant crisis intensified, children made up a growing proportion of people travelling through the country — they represented just 9 per cent in June 2015 and peaked at 43 per cent in the first week of March 2016.
Most of the refugee and migrant children are escaping conflict and insecurity, their gruelling journeys compounding the trauma of horrors witnessed at home.
With our partners, UNICEF is doing all it can to uphold children’s dignity and resilience, and ensure their rights and needs are at the heart of the response.
All children on the move have suffered losses — some have experienced the tragic loss of family members and friends, and all have lost stability and the carefree life that all children deserve.
UNICEF and its partners understand that for children coping with volatile and uncertain situations, critical support can take the form of simply allowing children to be just that — children.
During winter in the Balkans, infants’ and children’s difficult journeys were exacerbated by harsh weather, their clothing inadequate for freezing temperatures and rain, snow and bitter winds.
Helping children overcome difficult experiences though activities to develop skills and coping mechanisms is a key component of the psychosocial support that UNICEF and its partners provide.
Every child travelling to seek safety and a better life is in need of protection and entitled to the rights guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the right to relax and play.
Part of fostering hope is providing respite on children’s long journeys to safety.
Children deserve to hold on to their hopes and dreams, even during the most difficult of times.
UNICEF’s response is generously supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the governments of Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom, UNICEF’s National Committees, individuals and corporate and private partners.
