Exploring the Concerns of the Forcibly Displaced Child

Background: There are currently 103 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, 36.5 million (41%) of whom are children below 18 years of age. As current crises endure over extended periods, increasingly more children are born into humanitarian settings. Children in humanitarian settings face particularly exacerbated stressors. During crises, children have limited access to education, health care, and the support of community networks, which are significant facilitators for wellbeing and future success. Programs to support children have frequently taken a top-down or organization-centered approaches rather than child-led. In order to develop research and programs that are aligned with children’s interests, it is important to gauge their own understanding of their social ecologies.

Methods: Data were collected as part of the Journey of Life study to investigate the effectiveness and implementation of an intervention for forcibly displaced caregivers living in Kiryandongo refugee settlement, Uganda. Participants were recruited from within the Kiryandongo refugee settlement (n = 93). All participants in the Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were over the age of 18, and included representatives from the implementing organization for the Journey of Life, partner non-governmental and governmental entities active in the settlement, and community members. Participants in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were boys and girls ages 10 to 19. Systematic analysis of the data was conducted using a grounded theory approach.

Results: Children have minimal control over their social ecologies, and are subject to severe detriments in the humanitarian environment. Children are concerned about a lack of access to basic resources such as food, water, shelter, medical, and educational institutions. Children in Kiryandongo have also found ways to support their families, to engage in important activities for their development such as play, and to seek support when they need guidance. Fortunately, the perspectives of actors in the social ecologies of children are well-aligned with children’s concerns. Caregivers and organization staff support more programs for children, more avenues for them to seek support, and more resources to support their growth and development. However, there are significant constraints. Perspectives on the physical discipline of children, or violence against children, were misaligned between caregivers and children. Children believed physical discipline was a concern for themselves and their peers. However, caregivers and service providers did not echo these same sentiments as extensively.

Implications: Children have a strong understanding of the concerns in their social environment. Through dialogue between children, their caregivers, and humanitarian actors, strong programs can be developed that are child-focused and child-led. It is important to involve children themselves in determining programs to support their own wellbeing. Child wellbeing is inclusive of psychological development in addition to physical, social, moral, and spiritual development. In order to fully support children and their wellbeing it is critical to utilize a perspective that both prioritizes child rights.