Reuniting unaccompanied children and families in Mozambique: an effort to link networks of community volunteers to a national programme

This article describes Mozambique's effort to respond to the needs of one group of vulnerable children: children who have been separated from their families as a result of the current emergency. It begins with a brief overview of Mozambique's policy for "unaccompanied children', a term used to underscore the fact that most of these children have been separated from parents and extended families and are not orphans per se. It examines initial efforts to implement this policy through the development of a national tracing and foster care programme, and subsequent attempts to link these national responses to networks of community volunteers throughout the countryside. Mozambique's experience is discussed in the light of its potential to inform programme development for unaccompanied children in other war-affected countries. -Author