Protecting and supporting internally displaced children in urban settings

Urban displacement has emerged as a new challenge in meeting the needs of internally displaced children.  Currently, more than 1 billion people under the age of 18 live in urban areas worldwide, including cities, towns and other urban settlements. By 2030, cities will contain 60 per cent of the world’s population,4 and as many as 60 per cent of all urban dwellers will be under the age of 18.5 At the end of 2018, IDMC estimated that over 41 million people lived in internal displacement due to conflict and violence alone.6 This includes over 17 million children and 5 million youth.7 Within this context of increasing urbanization, towns and cities are fast becoming a refuge for displaced populations. Urban growth can also generate new vulnerabilities for populations, for instance when urban renewal or development pushes people away from their homes to make way for construction projects.