ACERWC African Committee of Experts on the Rights & Welfare of the Child EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Population movement is one of the most pressing contemporary global issues. This report provides an overview of the situation of the children on the move within the African Continent. It looks at the drivers, routes and the key challenges faced by children on the move within Africa. It also provides an assessment of the extent to which African Union (AU) Member States have enacted normative and institutional mechanisms to address the peculiar needs of the children on the move. The study acknowledges that the current dominant narratives on movements focus on the negative aspects of migration – mostly pitting migrants seeking to move to developed countries. While indeed most data and studies have examined movement of migrants to the West, information is sparse on children on the move particularly within Africa. That is notwithstanding the fact that a large number of children are moving within the continent and that children are not shielded from both small-scale and large-scale movement of persons across the world, either accompanied or unaccompanied by parents or guardians. For purposes of the study, children on the move is defined as children who have moved from their habitual place of residence to another place within or outside their country, or have been entrusted by their parents to guardians (enfant confié), voluntarily or involuntarily, accompanied or unaccompanied by their parents, caregivers or families either as internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum-seekers, economic migrants or trafficked persons and who may suffer or may be at risk of suffering exploitation, abuse, neglect or violence. In line with the scope and objectives of the study, the primary focus within this definition is on children moving within countries in Africa and across the borders of African countries. In Africa, there are millions of children on the move, both within internal and international borders, with or without the company of their families. However, available research and data on children on the move is largely focused on their arrival at the end destination outside of Africa (e.g. EU). As a result, literature shows the existence of significant gaps in terms of geographic coverage with a bias towards children arriving in Europe. This renders the focus of this study largely unexplored in literature and research. Hence, adopting an exploratory research design, the study attempts to investigate and map out a problem with a view to stimulating further inquiry into the phenomenon. The study provides a preliminary but comprehensive information on the situation, nature, trends and responses to children on the move. Children on the move are entitled to fundamental rights and AU Member States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill their fundamental rights; treating them primarily as children. Some of the rights that children on the move are entitled to include; non-discrimination, best interest of the child, the right to life, survival and development, right to food, shelter, health and health services, education, name and nationality, freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and the right to parental care and protection. 4