Refugee Children – A Regional Approach to the Protection of Refugee Children in the South Sudan Crisis

In recent refugee responses, UNHCR is increasingly adopting a regional approach to child protection crises, spurred by the common challenges often experienced by operations hosting refugees from a single crisis. However, while... [ view full abstract ]

In recent refugee responses, UNHCR is increasingly adopting a regional approach to child protection crises, spurred by the common challenges often experienced by operations hosting refugees from a single crisis. However, while there are clear opportunities and advantages to regional approaches, the value and conditions for success of regional approaches is yet to be proven.

In response to this crisis, and in light of the serious impact on children, UNHCR led child protection partners in developing a Regional Framework for the Protection of South Sudanese and Sudanese Refugee Children in the first half of 2014. This Framework set a common vision for protection of South Sudanese and Sudanese refugee children in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. It supported a coordinated and predictable response for refugee children across the region and promoted the harmonization of activities and implementation of child protection minimum standards. The Regional Child Protection Framework was complemented by more detailed country-specific intervention plans for child protection. In 2015, a review of progress, achievements and challenges in all 5 countries was conducted, and the Framework was updated.

The regional approach for South Sudan has been found to add value to the protection of refugee children on several levels. Firstly, it has contributed directly to protection outcomes – in particular enhanced family tracing and reunification – for children in facilitating coordination between actors at country-level as well as regional-level. It has also enhanced the understanding of child protection risks, and hence the ability to respond effectively, through comparative analysis between countries. The lessons-learned from the South Sudan experience are now being applied to other crises such as those for countries receiving refugees from CAR and from Burundi.