Statelessness and Young Children While we know that ~250 million children who are under five years of age, living in low- and middle-income countries, inclusive of humanitarian response settings, are at risk of not meeting their developmental potential due to a range of biological and psychosocial risk factors,4 these numbers do not account for the additional risks caused by displacement, a lack of identity or effective statelessness.5 An estimated 29 million children were born into situations of conflict alone in 2018.6 The increasing number of conflicts around the world and the impact of climate change on migration will continue to cause disruptions in communities and families, leading to more displacement.7 By the end of 2020, the number of people forcibly displaced had grown to 82.4 million: the highest number on record.8 While children account for 30% of the world’s population, it is estimated that they represent 42% of all forcibly displaced people.9 However, the data has not often been disaggregated by age, and the laws and policies that can result in de facto statelessness (ie, where an individual has no state to which they can turn, although they have a nationality) vary widely across the world and are constantly changing. 10 This lack of a national identity stands in the way of assuring fundamental rights to protection, health and education, which can have a profound impact on the developing child. Moreover, the inaccessibility of essential services such as prenatal care, nutrition and housing — which may be denied to parents based on their nationality — can impact the care that young children need to thrive. Despite the stark numbers of those affected, and the lifelong implications, attention to the rights of the youngest children who are displaced has been largely neglected. 11 UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF THE YOUNGEST CHILDREN: WHY DO THE EARLY YEARS MATTER? The building blocks for healthy brain development, influenced by our biology and environment, are established in a child’s early years, from the period of conception through to the first five years of life. 12 The progressive attainment of motor, cognitive, language and social skills and a sense of self during this period shape 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 See Maureen M Black et al, ‘Early Childhood Development Coming of Age: Science through the Life Course’ (2017) 389(10064) The Lancet 77, 77. World Health Organization, Nurturing Care for Children Living in Humanitarian Settings (Policy Brief, 10 December 2020) 1. See generally Katie Maeve Murphy, Hirokazu Yoshikawa and Alice J Wuermli, ‘Implementation Research for Early Childhood Development Programming in Humanitarian Contexts’ (2018) 1419(1) Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 9. UNICEF, ‘29 Million Babies Born into Conflict in 2018’ (Press Release, 19 September 2019) <https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/29-million-babies-born-conflict-2018>. UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2020 (Report, 18 June 2021) 9 (‘Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2020’). See also Ayesha Kadir et al, ‘Children on the Move in Europe: A Narrative Review of the Evidence on the Health Risks, Health Needs and Health Policy for Asylum Seeking, Refugee and Undocumented Children’ (2019) 3(1) BMJ Paediatrics Open 1. Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2020 (n 7) 2. ibid 68. See generally Massey (n 2). Ankie Vandekerckhove and Jeroen Aarssen, ‘High Time to Put the Invisible Children on the Agenda: Supporting Refugee Families and Children through Quality ECEC’ (2020) 28(1) European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 104. Jack P Shonkoff et al, ‘An Integrated Scientific Framework for Child Survival and Early Childhood Development’ (2012) 129(2) Pediatrics e460. 155