Children are often made invisible in the research, data and evidence that shapes policies, programs and practices of development. This is particularly true of children who are marginalized in additional ways – as migrants or refugees; as children left behind; those living on the street or in institutions; those with disabilities, those who marry young, or those who work. Their invisibility in data is mirrored by the limited understanding and inclusion by many scholars and policy makers of the child’s perspectives or subjective experiences.
At critical moments, such gaps in data and understanding become particularly significant – they prevent adequate responses to meet the needs, address the vulnerabilities, or protect the rights of less visible children. The impacts on such children may be unseen and their long-term consequences ignored. This has been all too obvious in recent years as evidenced, for example, in the responses to child migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in all parts of the world. The Covid-19 pandemic may be another such moment.
At these times, all systems for the protection and welfare of vulnerable populations come under enormous stress. Pressures are intensified in contexts where populations with limited incomes or access to basic sanitation and health care are crowded together in slums or camps, spread out along migration routes, isolated in remote rural areas or at risk in dangerous worksites. Children are always found in such settings. Schools should be a place of safety and protection but do not always afford these opportunities. Young people without families, schools, education or jobs lack access to support or essential services and are at heightened risk of exploitation.
The global system for the protection of children inevitably comes under additional critical scrutiny at such times. 30 years after the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the arrangements in place to protect children at risk of harm or violence and to guarantee their rights may be at a critical juncture. On the one hand, commitments have been strengthened in recent years with the integration of relevant targets into the Sustainable Development Goals, along with agreements such as the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees. Through stronger champions and advocates, better data, and the ability to monitor change, such steps may lead to some progress towards achieving the goals for children outlined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. (UNICEF 2018)
On the other hand, the global security, development and humanitarian landscapes are increasingly disruptive and complex, altering the environment for millions of children today. The number of political conflicts has increased; every seven minutes it is estimated an adolescent is killed due to violence, and almost one in five homicide victims worldwide is a child – an estimated 70 per cent of whom are adolescent boys (UNICEF, 2017). Environmental and climate related disasters increasingly drive displacement. Over 650 million children under the age of 16 are made invisible through lack of a birth certificate or identification that might give them access to basic services and underpin their rights. The number of children in migration flows, in refugee camps, lacking access to immunization or health care, shows the world yet again the need for better protection mechanisms and for policies and advocacy for children and young people that are rooted in good research and data.
Every child deserves to be protected, and to enjoy the full range of rights to which she or he is entitled. And yet, our knowledge concerning children’s experiences and perspectives is often limited by their invisibility. At the same time, the same children may become hyper-visible at certain moments, their images and experiences used as part of a larger political project. The case of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi is one example: Images of his body washed up on a beach in Turkey in September 2015 sparked public outcry and turned the world’s attention albeit temporarily to Europe’s migration dilemmas involving children. Less attention is paid to other – equally tragic or desperate experiences. Indeed, categories concerning protection – and that establish whose lives do not even merit being accounted for (Pickering and Cochrane, 2013)—continue to hinder our ability to understand and fully address the needs of children and young people.
Yet invisibility can also give young people space and propel them towards personal projects that allow them to fulfill their goals. Despite the barriers that prevent them from accessing adequate protection and care, education, health services or employment, many refugee children across Europe choose to disappear from reception centers or shelters (Humphris and Sigona, 2016). Young people walk out of protection systems when unable to obtain legal status in time or access resettlement and family union procedures. Notwithstanding the risks these actions pose to their individual safety, including exposure to exploitation and abuse, young people have legitimate reasons to take actions to fulfill their life projects and those of their families. Our ability to support them depends in turn on improved data and understanding of their aspirations and the pressures they face.
While the protection of all girls and boys is a core component of programming by organisations such as UNICEF and child-focused NGOs, this task requires the collection and analysis of quality data and evidence. Research can dispel myths and anxieties surrounding young people -- particularly those around children whose experiences have been systematically sidelined or purposely excluded from the protection agenda -- and can lead to the development of more effective protection strategies. Empirical, mixed-methods research and data that are intersectional, child-, gender- and culture- sensitive and that recognize young people’s experiences as legitimate forms of knowledge can reduce the significant gap on the scholarship on children, while exposing the structural contexts leading to their in/visibility.
