Whereas an established system of international protection and assistance is in place for persons who flee across borders, responsibility for addressing the plight of the internally displaced lies first and foremost with the state concerned, which more often than not proves unable or unwilling to do so, thereby raising the need for outside concern and involvement. Though recent years have witnessed heightened awareness of the plight of the internally displaced, greater attention still needs to be paid to the especially vulnerable among them, in particular the large numbers of children who have special protection and assistance needs. In the course of displacement, children often become separated from their communities and families. Deprived of the protection and care that these social structures provide, they are more vulnerable to physical attack, sexual abuse, forced recruitment and enslavement. Internally displaced children also typically are at greater risk of malnutrition and disease, while almost inevitably suffering acute psychological trauma.
Education is an area where the impact of internal displacement upon children is particularly severe.
Educational facilities may simply not exist in internally displaced persons' camps or settlements. Where they do exist, they are frequently under-resourced and often limited to primary education. Moreover, internally displaced children may be prevented from attending school by fees or material requirements that their families cannot afford or because they have had to assume responsibilities essential to ensuring their families' survival. They may also suffer discrimination in accessing local schools or their families may have lost the documentation that may be required to do so. Compounding these concerns, schooling for internally displaced children often is not considered a priority in emergency response but, rather, a secondary need to be addressed only in the post-conflict phase.