Written by Min Jee Yamada Park, IDC Asia Pacific Programme Officer
IDC, together with the Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration (ADFM), co-convened a virtual regional roundtable on mainstreaming child protection in the context of international migration. The roundtable was part of a series of ongoing peer learning initiatives under the Regional Platform and Program of Learning on Action on Alternative Care Arrangements for Children, launched in November 2019 at a 2-day meeting in Bangkok.
The virtual roundtable was attended by 35 participants from government ministries, civil society organisations and international agencies from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand. Participants provided regional and national level updates including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants discussed the importance of mainstreaming child protection to ensure more effective and holistic responses to children in the context of international migration, noting the increased protection challenges faced by children during and as a result of the pandemic. Discussions then centered on further areas for peer learning, including case management practices; access to education for refugee and migrant children; and ways in which governments and civil society organisations have partnered in providing alternative care arrangements for children and their families.
A summary of the virtual roundtable, along with agenda and participants list can be found here.