Children, Adolescents and Migration: Partnering to Develop Evidence & Build Dialogue

A brief reference guide, this document aims to provide information to fill the evidence gap on children, adolescence, and migration. The work is the product of collaboration between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), and the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SU/SSC), a semi-independent entity established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1978. Their goal is to work with governments, the international community, and civil society in the South "to bring the rights of children and adolescents to the forefront of migration policy and debates."

This document, which supports data gathering for the United Nations Global Migration Database, contains a description of the information gaps that impact policy and practice regarding the youth migrant population, a description of the research being done to fill this gap, and some of the trends that have emerged to date on international migrant children and adolescents so far:

• Children and youth have a low propensity to migrate.
• Developing countries host a higher proportion of young migrants.
• Young male migrants are more likely to migrate than young female migrants.
• Approximately one-third of all young migrants are between 15 and 19 years of age.

The organisations are also looking at the impact migration has on the well-being of children and women left behind through a series of surveys and focus groups. Initial survey results indicate that the impact of migration on those left behind is material, psychosocial, and non-material. Some lessons learned from the surveys include:

• Designing flexible research programmes and incorporating control groups.
• Involving national statistical offices, other UN agencies, and civil society.