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Refugee Children and Children in Armed Conflict Policy Initiatives in FY 1998 Released by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration November 16, 1998 I. INTRODUCTION Children represent over 50% of the world's refugees, displaced persons, and conflict victims. Children are among the most vulnerable of any refugee population--they are the victims of violence, disease and malnutrition. They are often separated from their families, deprived of education and, too frequently, forcibly recruited by armed factions. The United States has long been a leader in promoting attention to refugee children. The Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) works closely with international and non-governmental organizations to ensure that basic needs of children, and any other vulnerable group of refugees, are met in an equitable and humane manner. PRM works especially with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on protection, tracing, and assistance to refugee children and children who are conflict victims, and with U.S non-governmental organizations on the resettlement of unaccompanied minors. PRM strongly encourages UNHCR to mainstream the special protection and assistance needs of refugee children throughout its programs, as well as through the activities of the NGO implementing partners. This paper describes the special initiatives funded by the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) in support of refugee children. These programs go beyond basic humanitarian assistance, by responding to some specific needs of refugee children. In FY 98, PRM contributed over $7 million toward children-specific programs. These programs support the shared Administration and Congressional commitment to refugee children as expressed in the following reports on FY 1998 appropriations: Senate Appropriations: "The Committee urges the administration to work closely with the UNHCR to provide additional resources for the specific development of programs to educate refugee children and address these other critical needs." House Appropriations: "The Committee recommends that the United States take the lead in this area by providing approximately $5,000,000 in fiscal year 1998 for unaccompanied refugee children. The primary purpose of this funding should be to help establish a fund through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for vulnerable refugee children; particularly those separated from their parents." II. PRM POLICY ON CHILDREN PRM's commitment to address children's issues is expressed in the Bureau's Performance Plan (BPP), which is a primary vehicle for guiding the Department of State's implementation of two of the United States' national interests, namely Humanitarian Response and Global Issues. The goal of Humanitarian Response is to prevent or minimize the human costs of conflict and natural disaster. PRM implements this goal by providing support for Protection, Response Capacity and Standards of Care, Voluntary repatriation and Reintegration, and Resettlement. The two issues of concern to PRM under Global Issues, are to stabilize world population growth, and to support efforts to manage international migration flows humanely and effectively. PRM funding is used in support of humanitarian assistance and migration. PRM addresses the rights of children to protection and specific care throughout its BPP. The following excerpts from PRM's BPP pertain specifically to children: A. Protection Under the goal of Protection, PRM actively promotes the implementation of UNHCR's Guidelines on the Protection and Care of Refugee Children in the programs of international organizations (IOs), implementing partners, and USG-funded agencies. These guidelines address refugee children's need for specific care and assistance such as: education, physical safety and protection, health and nutrition, legal status and psychosocial well-being. In support of these guidelines, PRM identifies three specific targets: Collect/disseminate "best practices and "lessons learned" from efforts to keep children from becoming child soldiers, and for demobilizing and rehabilitating child soldiers, with a view to identifying practical approaches that may prevent the phenomenon. Ensure that unaccompanied children are traced quickly in emergencies, and protected pending reunification with their families. Take all possible measures to deter, detect and address consequences of sexual violence, including funding workshops, training staff, and providing program support to link protection and prevention activities to assistance victims as well as prosecution of offenders. Promote sufficient economic opportunities or assistance to reduce the likelihood that refugee women, girls, and boys turn to prostitution in order to support their families. B. Response Capacity and Standards of Care Building a Humanitarian Response capacity among international and non-governmental agencies to respond quickly to humanitarian emergencies minimizes the human cost of conflict. PRM advocates effective and efficient humanitarian response, whether by international organizations, non-governmental organizations, or USG agencies. During this decade, the USG has been instrumental in the improvement of international response capacity in the international community, not only in terms of response time, but also in the quality of response and the manner in which assistance is provided. Maintaining assistance at minimum standards to those in need of international protection ensures that death rates are not inordinate among refugees and conflict victims. To this end, PRM had identified the following objectives that mainstream children's interests: To provide assistance to refugees and conflict victims that meets internationally accepted standards in the sectors of shelter and site management, food, nutrition, food aid, public health, and water supply and sanitation. PRM supports and funds the SPHERE project, an IO/NGO initiated standards setting exercise, which will establish sectoral standards and organizational best-practices, including programs that address the special needs unique to children affected by calamity or conflict. These program plans address specific needs such as family tracing, care and support for unaccompanied children, services that support families' abilities to care for their children, community social service activities, child care centers, education programs, and psychosocial services. Provide basic education opportunities for children and semi-illiterate adult women. PRM emphasizes programs that encourage the participation of female children in primary school in places where girls do not have the same support as boys to attend school. To mainstream to the maximum extent possible women's issues, children's issues, and national capacity building into programs funded by PRM. Children's programming receives special funding attention on an ad hoc basis; attention to needs that are unique to children (e.g., primary education, recreation) are not mainstreamed. PRM will work with interested international or non-governmental agencies to provide training, technical assistance, or other capacity building activities to expand attention to children. C. Voluntary Repatriation and Reintegration Finding a durable solution that permits the refugees' voluntary return home is the most desirable solution. PRM's goal is to support voluntary repatriation of refugees and to provide a catalyst for their sustainable and safe reintegration in their country of origin: Provide specific support for the successful reintegration of vulnerable populations, such as female heads of households, unaccompanied children, and demobilized soldiers. Education: Skills/vocational training for heads of households, including focus on women, vulnerable adult and teen populations. Link more consciously skills and vocational education to the actual prospects for repatriation in a refugee situation. In each area where skills' training is supported, identify those vocations that are truly transferable to refugees' homes upon repatriation. Support community-based plans for return of unaccompanied children to family, extended family, or community of origin, including tracing family members, or arranging foster care. Where armed forces have been demobilized, ensure that programs for child soldiers (including schooling and appropriate psychological interventions) are in place. D. International Migration Protection for vulnerable migrants: develop policies and programs that cultivate support for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, warn them of risks associated with irregular migration, and provide direct assistance to those unable to help themselves. PRM participates in USG inter-agency efforts to prevent trafficking in women and children, and to protect victims of traffickers by increasing public awareness of the criminal and human rights abuses. III. PRM FUNDING A. Global Initiatives for Refugee Children 1. UNHCR UNHCR's Senior Coordinator for Refugee Children has reported five major areas of concern: 1. unaccompanied children 2. adolescents as a "neglected" age group 3. forced recruitment of children 4. sexual exploitation 5. promotion of education, especially for girls. UNHCR has established a trust fund for refugee children and adolescents to support programs for at-risk refugee children, particularly those affected by armed conflict. These funds are used to meet urgent child refugee concerns on a global priority basis, with a focus on the protection of unaccompanied children, children affected by military recruitment and sexual exploitation, and the promotion of learning opportunities for adolescents and girls. A new training program "Action for the Rights of the Child" (ARC) has been developed jointly by UNHCR and the International Save the Children Alliance. The primary goal of ARC is to increase the capacity of UNHCR, governments and NGO field staff to protect children and adolescents during all stages of refugee situations. UNHCR Children's Unit: PRM contribution: $ 200,000 As a follow-up strategy to the 1996 United Nations Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (Graca Machel Study), UNHCR's Children's Unit has established performance objectives for actions on behalf of children and adolescents in emergencies. This Unit has developed a new training program, and has established a trust fund to promote these activities for children. A $200,000 contribution from PRM has augmented the staffing level of UNHCR's Office of the Senior Coordinator for Refugee Children. UNHCR-Children At Risk: PRM contribution: $4,230,000 With funding from the Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration, UNHCR has established three Regional Children's Policy Officer posts in Africa, and one Post in the CIS. The goal of these officers is to promote the strategic reorientation of UNHCR's protection and programming activities on behalf of at-risk refugee children and adolescents. This contribution was provided in support of the following activities: for the promotion of education, child rights, and life skills programs for adolescents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and capacity building for local NGOs in Pakistan; for adolescents, unaccompanied children, tolerance education and local NGO capacity building in the CIS; for unaccompanied children, girls education, disabled children, and adolescents and regional capacity building in the Horn of Africa; regional capacity-building in West Africa; for identification, tracing, reunification and monitoring of unaccompanied minors in the Great Lakes Region. 2. International Rescue Committee (IRC) With funds from PRM, the International Rescue Committee established during FY 98 a Technical Support Unit for children affected by armed conflict at its headquarters, and an Advisory Committee on Children in Armed Conflict. This committee brings together experts with a child focus to advise on areas for program or policy development. The Technical Support Unit will a) provide support to existing IRC programs regarding child-related programming, b) develop resource materials, needs assessments and program evaluation tools, and guidelines, c) evaluate field programs and document lessons learned, d) develop and conduct training for IRC staff, e) coordinate with other institutions, and f) develop stand-by personnel lists for deployment in an emergency. B. Regional Initiatives for Refugee Children 1. Liberian Children's Initiative With two thirds of the Liberian displaced population under the age of 17, children's safety and welfare is of primordial importance. Of the children separated from their parents, some become child soldiers, prostitutes, forced laborers, or street children. These initiatives aim to directly assist an estimated 90,000 returning Liberian children and adolescents to recover from the effects of the war and to reintegrate back into their home country. These goals are accomplished through support for educational facilities, child tracing, income generating, and child rights awareness. UNHCR PRM contribution: $1,500,000 Primary focus is placed on assisting schools in the Liberian border counties with a high number of returnees. Given the limited resources of the Liberian Ministry of Education, this assistance includes teacher training, provision of education materials/sports equipment, and school-focused income generation support. Programs focusing on girls and environment education activities complement the formal education program. Tracing and integration assistance for unaccompanied children is also supported countrywide. Since assistance does not discriminate between returnees and local persons, it is thus estimated that the project assists an additional 120,000 Liberians living in the areas of return, for a total of 210,000 beneficiaries. UNICEF PRM contribution: $630,000 UNICEF promotes reintegration education by providing textbooks and training for teachers, and the protection and promotion of child rights by providing training in the area of juvenile law enforcement and justice. 2. Refugee Children in Kenya Many of PRM's contributions go towards projects that include children's specific needs as an integral part of their programs. Indeed, PRM makes a point of funding projects that address the special needs of vulnerable refugees, such as children. International Rescue Committee (IRC) Kakuma Camp/Kenya PRM contribution: $746,047 IRC provides health care and outreach services to some 50,000 refugees at Kakuma (mostly Sudanese refugees) as well as to the some 20,000 Turkanas from surrounding villages. IRC works in for areas; namely health care, community-based rehabilitation, women's development, and the environment. Services include immunization, school feeding programs, mother/child health and education programs. In addition, community-based rehabilitation programs are aimed at preventing disabilities, and at reducing the impact of existing disabilities for the estimated 2000 disabled children population. Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Kakuma Camp/Kenya PRM contribution: $625,322 Approximately half of the 50,000 refugees in the Kakuma Camp are Sudanese children, and some 5,000 of these children are unaccompanied minors, some separated from their families during their flight from Southern Sudan to Kenya. Many of the boys have served as child soldiers. LWF provides psychosocial services to the refugees to help them recover from their traumatizing experiences, and also manages education programs (three levels: pre-school, primary and secondary education). CARE Kenya PRM contribution: $1,267,303 CARE/Kenya is UNHCR's main implementing partner for delivery of services to some 100,000 refugees, most of whom are from Somalia. Among other services, CARE provides social services, education, training, water and sanitation. A community self-management program is in place, to empower refugees to take responsibility for their lives and prepare them for repatriation. In the sector of education, a training curriculum for teachers is developed, and disabled children, who are unable to attend school, are tutored. Afghan Refugee Children Save the Children (SCF) Pakistan PRM contribution: $595,500 Save the Children's project focuses on providing educational services to women and children. This education project includes both primary education components to assist girls and boys, and non-formal education to assist adult women who have limited access to education. This contribution is responsive to the Secretary's and the First Lady's commitment to provide more funding to Afghan women and girls. UNICEF Afghanistan PRM contribution: $150,000 UNICEF, in collaboration with UNESCO and other NGOs, is improving the educational quality for school children (boys and girls) by providing educational supplies and improving the quality of teaching by supporting teacher training. C. Resettlement in the United States PRM is working with UNHCR and with NGOs to provide resettlement opportunities to the United States, and other countries, to unaccompanied minors for whom tracing efforts have been unsuccessful. PRM is currently providing support to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC), and the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society (HIAS), for resettlement services in the U.S. for unaccompanied minors, including foster care. [end of document] Refugee Assistance | Population, Refugees, and Migration | State Department