October 12, 2009
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Publication: For Better Implementation of Migrant Children’s Rights in South Africa
For Better Implementation of Migrant Children’s Rights in South Africa
by Ingrid Palmary, PhD, Forced Migration Study Programme
This reports gives an overview of the situation of children who migrate across international borders to South Africa. It looks at people who migrate (alone and/or with adult caregivers) and
people who stay when their caregivers migrate. The report seeks to answer to a series of questions such as: what is the existing legal and policy framework to protect children’s rights; what institutional capacity exists to respond to children’s needs; what is the level of access to services for children migrants and what level of knowledge is registered among service providers and migrants themselves about their rights in South Africa.
In the second part, the report reviews existing research and studies on this matter in order to understand the level of awareness and identify gaps in information.
Children are particularly vulnerable to right’s abuses and exploitative working conditions. They are also limited in their access to health and education and victim of violence and denial of basic rights, often perpetrated “by the state authorities whose duty is to protect them”.
The study indicates a poor implementation of legal and policy framework and reveals lack of knowledge and capacity for intervention in South Africa (this is also true for many migrant’s and children’s organisations) and provides a series of policy recommendation for: improved information, advocacy, policy development, organisational capacity building, migrant communities.
It makes recommendations for the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other key stakeholder for strenghtening children’s rights protection and access to basic rights in South Africa.
About the Author:
Ingrid Palmary is Seniot researhcer and coordinator of the Gender, Violence and Displacement Initiative at Forced Migration Study Programme (FMSP), University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburgh.
Written by: Angela
Filed Under: Migration, Publications, Resources
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