New UN Compact can be a source of hope for children on the move

E mërkurë, December 19, 2018
  • Aid agency welcomes UN adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
  • The objectives in the agreement are vital to protecting more than 50 million children made vulnerable without the protection of a home

Wednesday, December 18NEW YORK

As 152 countries sign up to the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, World Vision welcomes the landmark agreement as source of hope for children made vulnerable by being away from home.

“World Vision works with children on the move around the world. We hear their stories, and we witness transformation in their lives as their families and those around them find ways to protect them,” says Daniela Buzducea, World Vision’s global head of advocacy.  

“By adopting the Migration Compact today, governments have clearly signalled a desire to work together to realise the rights of children affected by forced displacement and migration. Like the Global Compact on Refugees committed to earlier this week, it is non-binding but the agreement to collaborate is a source of hope for vulnerable children.”

 The Compact promotes greater international responsibility sharing and commitment.

“It is particularly pleasing to see that the best interest of the child are central to this Compact, including its child-sensitivity and overall protection, and that Governments have adopted it by an overwhelming majority. The Compact echoes World Vision views and that of many other stakeholders.”

Migration affects children in very different ways. At times they migrate alone, are detained, forced to return to their country of origin or stay in places with limited or non-existent access to their basic rights to safety, healthcare, education, and a home. They can be exposed to sexual, mental and physical violence. They are deprived, vulnerable and marginalised. In response to these issues, the Global Compact has 15 measures it recommends Member States to undertake.

“If – and I would like to say when – countries implement all the measures recommended for children, we will see a vast improvement in the lives of the most vulnerable children,” says Buzducea. “There is more chance of this if children are involved in the process, actively participating.

“We have seen just this past week with the death a 7-year-old child from Guatemala, in New Mexico, why tackling some of the most disturbing issues facing children on the move, such as ending the detention of immigrant children, is the most urgent and defining issue of our time.”