Challenges for 'global' thinking and practice in child welfare

’Diversity’ is not new in child welfare, as diverse issues and troubles, groups of children and families, communities and professional responses have characterised child welfare for a long time. Diversity related to... [ view full abstract ]

’Diversity’ is not new in child welfare, as diverse issues and troubles, groups of children and families, communities and professional responses have characterised child welfare for a long time. Diversity related to migration, however, does need special attention as it challenges child welfare to think and respond both at the global and individual levels of children and families, their needs and rights. The meaning of diversity becomes too narrow if it is only seen in terms of cultural diversity.

This session addresses migration in a broad sense: it recognises that children and families migrate for a variety of reasons. Children do not typically make the decisions about migration but sometimes they migrate on their own. When they do, the very notions of dependent children become challenged. For child welfare, migration poses fundamental questions about children’s agency, dependency, vulnerability and their right for protection, which in their depth and intensity are new across so many countries. Children may be active and skilful agents in migration but they may also be the most vulnerable and abused group in migration. Needs for new psychosocial interventions emerge as do new ways to implement them. For example, close and meaningful social relations may spread across many countries and in order to support the child’s well-being those transnational relations should be included in the intervention.

The recognition of children’s rights as a paramount principle asks child welfare to think globally as the rights are not bound to a concrete nation state – neither the one left behind or the country being migrated to. The term ‘global child protection’ has been suggested to support new thinking and practice in child welfare.