It is estimated that children make up one-third of the world’s population. Nevertheless, they constituted 40 percent (49 million) of the 122.6 million forcibly displaced individuals in 2024. This blog post analyses a case study of 39 Ethiopian children detained in Zambia in 2016 due to their “consent to being smuggled”, and examines the challenge of protecting children’s rights in times of forced displacement. In light of the increasingly intertwined relationship between forced displacement and the climate crisis, action in terms of protecting children’s rights in this context is imperative at both domestic and international levels. The analysis concludes with a call for meaningful youth engagement and participation at the political level, drawing on insights from the Conferences of Parties (COP) that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Amidst growing concerns about child displacement in the context of environmental and structural crises, the detention of 39 Ethiopian children in Zambia offers a revealing case. These young migrants, aged between 16 and 19, were charged with consenting to be smuggled and faced the possibility of 15 years in prison according Zambia’s Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 11 of 2008. “When the day of our court hearing came, we were all given 15-year sentences. I was shocked…. I couldn’t understand why 15 years. That day we all sat under a tree and cried. We cried under that tree every day for a week. We were worried about our future,” said Desalgn.
While their journey was framed as a violation of the law, it was also influenced by contextual factors such as recurrent droughts, food insecurity, and limited economic opportunities in parts of Ethiopia. These environmental pressures have increasingly driven children and adults to take dangerous migration routes. The Zambian case is notable not only for the severity of the legal response, but also for the failure to recognize environmental displacement as a legitimate driver of displacement in the region. The case received widespread attention and highlighted the urgent need to distinguish between victims and perpetrators of trafficking. On 25 May 2016, these children were pardoned as a gesture to mark Africa Freedom Day. Their eventual return to Ethiopia, facilitated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), underscores the imperative for collaborative international efforts and the establishment of robust legal frameworks to safeguard vulnerable populations, including displaced children.
The case study above highlights the multiple challenges faced by displaced children, including detention, lack of legal representation, inadequate access to basic services such as education and health care, and weak coordination between child protection and migration authorities. These gaps expose displaced children to exploitation, abuse, and neglect, and demonstrate the urgent need for stronger protection mechanisms. In response to such challenges, Zambia introduced the Children’s Code Act No. 12 of 2022, which seeks to ensure that the best interests of the child are upheld in all circumstances. The Act provides a comprehensive legal framework that guarantees children’s rights to safety, education, and well-being, while also aligning national legislation with international child rights standards such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), which Zambia signed and ratified in 1998.
The Children’s Code Act No. 12 of 2022 and the amendment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act in 2022, which added severe punishments for the trafficking of children and deleted the words “or who consents to being smuggled” in Art. 9, are important steps in protecting children’s rights in Zambia. But it is just one of the many measures needed to protect children’s rights especially the rights of forcibly displaced children. Furthermore, there is a necessity for Zambia to adhere to international standards, such as those outlined in the UN CRC, particularly General Comment No. 14 (2013), which clarifies the implications of the right of the child to have their best interests taken into account as a primary consideration under Art. 3 UN CRC. A detailed set of recommendations can be found in the 2022 Report on Zambia by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which also calls for an end to the detention of asylum-seeking children and their families.
Increasing Numbers of Children Displaced by the Climate Crisis
“One billion children – nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion children – live in 33 countries classified as being at extremely high risk to the impacts of climate change. And children are physically more vulnerable to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change and environmental hazards.”
The statement above originates from the Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change published by UNICEF’s Office of Global Insight and Policy in 2022. Environmental changes including droughts and floods are increasingly displacing families across the globe. The IPCC’s Second Part of its Sixth Assessment Report acknowledges the role of climate change in exacerbating humanitarian crises, particularly in contexts “where climate hazards interact with high vulnerability”. The report concludes that climate and weather extremes are increasingly leading to displacement in all regions.
Displacement is a multifaceted issue, contingent on various factors, including natural hazards, conflicts and the specific impacts of the climate crisis in different regions. As climate crises negatively impact jobs, job opportunities, food, and safety in many places, more children and their families are likely to migrate in the future within or outside their countries in search of a better life.
By the end of 2023, the number of children forcibly displaced due to conflicts and violence had reached 47.2 million with the majority of children fleeing from Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, South Sudan and Sudan. Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan, for example, not only experience ongoing conflicts and violence but also face heightened vulnerability due to climate change and limited preparedness. For instance, 25 out of 34 regions in Afghanistan are experiencing extreme drought, which is impacting food and water security. This situation also applies to Syria and Sudan, where livelihoods based on agriculture are severely challenged.
However, data concerning climate-related forced displacement of children remains limited. In this context, the International Data Alliance for Children in the Move (IDAC) has highlighted the necessity to collect more age-disaggregated data and to distinguish between legal definitions of different groups of children on the move. For 2022, IDAC differentiates between 17.5 million children in need of international protection and 29.7 million internally displaced children, including 3.8 million children being displaced due to disasters.
According to the UNICEF report from 2023, 43.1 million children were internally displaced due to weather-related events between 2016 and 2021, which equates to an average of 20,000 children displaced per day. 95 percent of them were victims of floods and storms.
Lack of Legal Rights for Children Displaced by the Climate Crisis
According to the Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change, “there is currently no global policy framework for addressing the needs and rights of children moving in the context of climate change. Where child-related migration policies do exist, they do not consider climate and environmental factors, and where climate change policies exist they usually overlook children’s needs.”
Child displacement and anthropocentric climate change that is caused by the global North must be addressed in the context of intergenerational climate justice. Addressing this nexus necessitates a concerted global response, including investments in climate adaptation and economic reforms that support vulnerable communities. It is therefore, essential for national and international actors to prioritize children’s needs in climate, humanitarian, and developmental policies and to ensure global awareness of child displacement as a risk factor for child well-being.
However, children’s needs and rights are largely absent from climate finance. Research by the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative on multilateral climate funds serving the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement (MCFs) indicates that between 2006 to March 2023 “just 2.4% of climate finance from these key MCFs – a cumulative $1.2 billion, or $70.6 million annual average ($0.03 per capita) – can be classified as supporting projects incorporating child-responsive activities.”
Given the impact of the climate crisis on the displacement of children, this percentage is far from sufficient and should be strengthened especially in the sectors of social protection, education and health.
In addition, legal and protection frameworks must improve nationally and internationally in order to safeguard children displaced by the climate crises, ideally following nine Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change that were jointly developed in 2022 by UNICEF, IOM, Georgetown University and UNU University. These principles are 1) rooted in a rights-based approach, 2) led by the best interests of the child, 3) requiring accountability of governments and other actors, 4) raising awareness and fostering participation in decision-making, protecting 5) family unity, 6) the right to protection, safety and security, and 7) access to education, health care and social services, 8) rooted in the principle of non-discrimination, 9) and granting nationality to stateless children.
Policies for displaced children should therefore ensure access to education, health care, and social and child protection services in displacement situations, while also providing pathways for regularization and reintegration into communities. The Zambian case study also stresses the importance of finding alternatives to detention, such as diversion, family reintegration, and offering support services to help children overcome challenges including psychosocial support.
Meaningful Child Participation under UNFCCC?
“It will be critical to empower the most marginalized and vulnerable groups—including women and youth, recognizing their positive role as agents of change—with adaptative skills, climate education, and opportunities for building sustainable livelihoods and resilient investments.”
This statement from the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) of Malawi is the only NAP under UNFCCC recognizing the need to address the positive role of children and youth as agents of change in the context of displacement, according to a 2024 survey of the NAP Global Network. Not seeing children as active stakeholders or agents of change is a recurrent criticism also raised by the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative. In 2010, Polack analysed NAPs of Action of 43 Least Developed Countries and concluded that “many NAPAs make a few scattered references to children as being among the most vulnerable, but very few target children explicitly in their priority adaptation projects. No references reflect children’s agency to contribute to adaptation.”
Global recognition for meaningful child participation within the UNFCCC started with the Glasgow Climate Pact at COP 26, which emphasized the necessity of supporting and funding children and youth engagement in climate policy. COP 27 in Egypt introduced the Children and Youth Pavilion, albeit distant from decision-making spaces. COP 28 in Dubai advanced this with the creation of a Permanent Youth Climate Champion Role and an International Youth Climate Delegate Program, focusing on underrepresented groups, such as youth from developing countries and small island states.
A similar approach was adopted at COP 29 in Baku in 2024 including the first Youth-led Climate Forum Dialogue on Climate Mobility and Loss and Damage, including the participation of the Youth Delegates on Climate sent by IOM. The forum highlighted that “strategically planned migration and relocation, if properly supported by implementable policies and resources, can provide opportunities for communities to build resilience and diversify livelihoods in response to climate change”. It also called for youth-led and locally driven initiatives that influence local responses to climate displacement, demanded gender-responsive policies as well as policies that address displacement in the context of Loss and Damage funds.
In 2025, at the COP 30 in Belém, Brazil, the Children & Youth Pavilion and the Youth-led Climate Forum continue, supported by the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) that is enshrined in Article 6 of the UNFCCC and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.
The UNFCCC Children and Youth Constituency (YOUNGO) that organizes UN Climate Change Conferences of Youth (COYs) in 100 countries, also contributes to the COPs with the participatory development of the Global Youth Statement. In 2024, the YOUNGO demanded in the Statement: “that climate migration and displacement be comprehensively integrated into climate policy and planning, with a focus on addressing both the economic and non-economic losses faced by affected communities”.
Despite these advancements of youth participation within the UNFCCC, the Youth Stocktake report from December 2023 emphasizes financial barriers, particularly for youth from the Global South, as a significant hindrance to effective participation, raising concerns regarding their meaningful inclusion in decision-making processes. In summary, there is a clear inequality not just in how climate-related displacement affects children, but also in whose voices are heard in response to it.
Conclusion
The climate crisis disproportionately affects children, and displaced children are particularly vulnerable. They must receive targeted protection measures and their rights, as enshrined in the UN CRC, must be enacted in their best interests. Addressing these issues demands more than mere recognition; it necessitates concrete, targeted action on a global scale and within individual nations across different sectors. This includes protecting children on the move from exploitation and detention, enforcing their rights in national legislation across all social sectors as outlined in the UN CRC, addressing children as active stakeholders and not only as victims in NAPs and NDCs under the Paris Agreement, and involving children and youth meaningfully in dialogues and decisions that directly impact their lives locally, nationally, and also at the global level at the COPs.
Suggested citation:
Rosenow-Williams, Kerstin; Chirwa, Masauso; Bayan, Gülistan. Protecting Children’s Rights for Displaced Children during our Climate Crisis. Forced Migration Studies Blog, 12 November 2025, https://fluchtforschung.net/protecting-childrens-rights-for-displaced-children-during-our-climate-crisis/, DOI: 10.59350/0ebhv-2zy32.