A review of the literature on sexual and reproductive health of African migrant and refugee children

Abstract

Plain language summary Child migration is increasingly becoming a common feature of many African countries as children migrate within and away from their countries of origin in search of better livelihoods due to widespread poverty, instability and rapid urbanisation. Many of the migrating children have little or no education and limited employable skills, thereby exposing themselves to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) risks. This paper is a scoping review of existing literature from 2000 to 2019 to document relevant findings on SRH of African migrant and refugee children. The review identified migrant children within refugee camps to experience overcrowding and sexual exploitation amidst limited and underutilized reproductive health services. Language barriers are also key obstacles against young migrants’ access to SRH information and services as these services are delivered in local languages unfamiliar to them. Child migrants continue to suffer from cultural practices including genital cutting with serious reproductive health implications. SRH risk factors of unaccompanied migrant minors remain as a gap in the review and, therefore, more SRH studies on unaccompanied child migrants are needed. Attention should also be paid to the different dimensions of SRH challenges among child migrants to reflect gender differences, whether documented or undocumented, within or across national borders, and within or outside refugee camps for better understanding. In conclusion, child migration in Africa will continue to be economic-driven and will expose the actors to diverse sexual and reproductive health risks. Further in-depth quantitative and qualitative research is required to inform relevant policies on child migrants’ SRH.

Keywords

• Child migration
• Sexual health
• Reproductive health
• African migrant
• Refugee children