Children in Conflict and the Refugee Crisis

The Children and Childhood Network Annual Lecture for 2016 will be given by Prof Ravi Kohli, Professor of Child Welfare at the University of Bedfordshire.

To be followed by a cheese and wine reception in the Cloisters of Highfield House.

Title of Lecture: Liquid children: reflections on the movements forced migrant children make towards their 'best interests'

Abstract: For children who move from their countries of origin to new countries, there are many risks, challenges and opportunities. In this presentation, I explore the notion that children who are forced migrants move in three dimensions. Firstly, they make journeys across geographical spaces. Secondly, they move across time, getting older as they go, amassing experiences and memories of where they have been. Thirdly, they move psychologically in different directions, arranging their stories of who they are, what happened to them, and how they came to be asking for sanctuary. These movements in inner and outer worlds require energy and will in order to feel coordinated and harmonised, and to settle in a country where protection is present legally, practically and psychologically in the short and long term. Yet the management of these movements is seldom possible without the orchestrated commitment of helpers, whose ethics, skills and expert knowledge need to be deployed carefully to assist children on the move. The purpose of assistance is itself about ensuring such children can generate a sense of being ‘at home’ in safe and durable ways wherever they are located in countries of life long settlement. So, I consider how the fluid nature of their circumstances can be given some solid hope within the meaning of Article 3 of the UNCRC. In that respect, I examine how practical projects help them to rebuild an ordinary future, after their extraordinary journeys, within contexts that are both protective and dangerous.

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

Free parking (only after 4:00pm) is available immediately nearby (Hallward Library and Millenium Gardens area - see map). Highfield House is building no.10 on the University Park campus map.

General Visitor information

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

No, but it is a useful reference for directions and timings.