11 April 2016: For many fleeing conflict and living in refugee camps, the absence of war and freedom from fear of violence may be the most obvious contrast to life at home, however camp life can be far from safe.
Kakuma camp in North East Kenya is one of the largest refugee camps in the world, and home to 186,000 refugees and asylum seekers from 21 countries. Over half of them are children. Hundreds of cases of sexual violence are reported each year and tensions mirroring ethnic divisions in home countries can spill over into violence in the camp.
Similarly, harmful traditional practises such as child marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) which may be prevalent at home, continue to be practised in the refugee camp, violating the human rights and wellbeing of children who have already experienced so much hardship.
UNICEF and its partners, the UNHCR and Lutheran World Federation (LWF), are working with adolescents aged 15-25 in the camp to run community-led advocacy programmes addressing these threats to children’s safety. Read more.
