The ongoing conflict, poverty and lack of opportunities have driven many Somali children from their homes. They hope to find better lives elsewhere and set out to find work or an education. Far too often they face dangers during their travels. The children moving alone are particularly under threat. They are vulnerable to different forms of violence and exploitation as they embark on dangerous migration routes in search of alternative livelihoods.
The conflict has displaced 2.6 million people across Somalia and separated numerous children from their families and friends. The longer a child is separated from her or his family, the more difficult it is to locate them and the more at risk a child is to violence, economic and sexual exploitation, abuse and potential trafficking. In 2018, 2,300 Somali children, some as young as 8, were recruited into armed forces and groups – the highest number in the world. Many of these children were exposed to sexual and gender-based violence. Hundreds of others were maimed and killed.
TALO aim to keep families together and provide support to family-based solutions that are alternatives to the detention of displaced children. and provide interim care, mental health and psycho-social support, family training and reunification, access to education or vocational training, safe water, and medical services for children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups in Somalia. TALO also empower children and youth who are uprooted, give them a voice, and ensure they find innovative solutions to problems, affecting their communities, to make sure internally displaced children are protected and that their rights are respected. TALO promotes child-friendly spaces where children can play, and mothers can rest and feed their babies in public and private schools and gardens.
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