UNICEF: 19 mln children internally displaced in 2019, highest number ever

An estimated 19 million children, more than ever before, are living in displacement within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019 – some of them for years, UNICEF said in a new report today.

The report, ‘Lost at Home,’ looks at the risks and challenges internally displaced children face, and the urgent actions needed to protect them. As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, these children are among the most vulnerable to its direct and indirect impacts.

According to the report, there were 12 million new displacements of children in 2019, 3.8 million of them were caused by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million by disasters linked mostly to weather-related events like flooding and storms.

Through the report, UNICEF calls for strategic investments and a united effort from governments, civil society, private sector, humanitarian actors, and children themselves to address the child-specific drivers of displacement, especially all forms of violence, exploitation, and abuse.