MYCP Secures Historic Commitments on Child Detention and Migrant Mental Health at IMRF 2026
Together with UNICEF, the Migration Youth and Children Platform directly introduces adopted language into the IMRF 2026 Progress Declaration; including the first-ever commitment on migrant mental health and the first actionable language on ending child immigration detention in the history of the International Migration Review Forum.
NEW YORK — The Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP), together with UNICEF as co-organizers of the Coalition for Migration and Youth Affairs, has directly introduced consensus and adopted language into the 2026 International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) Progress Declaration; the primary intergovernmental outcome document governing global migration policy for the next four years.
The adopted language marks two historic firsts: it is the first time that Member States have committed to improving the mental health needs of migrants in an IMRF Progress Declaration, and the first time that actionable language directing concrete steps toward ending child immigration detention has been included at this level of global migration governance.
WHAT MYCP AND UNICEF SECURED
MYCP directly introduced the following language into the adopted Progress Declaration:
Paragraph 53. The full text of Paragraph 53, requesting the Secretary-General to provide practical recommendations on child-sensitive alternatives to detention that protect and respect the rights and best interests of children at all times. This represents the first actionable step toward ending child immigration detention ever included in an IMRF Progress Declaration.
Paragraph 54. A commitment to improve the "physical and mental" health needs of migrants. This is the first time mental health has been explicitly committed to in the history of the IMRF.
Paragraphs 14 and 43. Language enhancing family reunification pathways and upholding the right to family life and family unity.
Paragraph 17. The inclusion of "mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competences"; a commitment directly linked to the labour rights and economic inclusion of migrant youth.
PARAGRAPH 53 — FULL ADOPTED TEXT
The following is the full text of Paragraph 53 of the IMRF 2026 Progress Declaration, as adopted by Member States:
“We will consider, through appropriate mechanisms, progress and challenges in working to end the practice of child detention in the context of international migration. We further request the Secretary-General, with the support of the United Nations Network on Migration and other relevant actors, to include in the next biennial report practical recommendations and an assessment of progress and challenges regarding child-sensitive alternatives to detention in the context of international migration that protect and respect the rights and best interests of children at all times.”
In plain terms, Paragraph 53 directs the United Nations Secretary-General to develop practical guidance — concrete, implementable recommendations — on how governments can move away from detaining children in immigration contexts and toward approaches that are child-sensitive, rights-based, and in the best interests of the child. This is not merely a statement of principle. It creates an obligation on the Secretary-General to produce actionable recommendations that Member States can use to end the practice.
WHY THIS IS HISTORIC
The significance of these commitments is best understood in context. At the first IMRF, held in 2022, civil society organisations mounted a sustained effort to include a commitment to end child immigration detention in the Progress Declaration. Those efforts were blocked entirely. The 2022 declaration contained no actionable language on the practice, despite broad expert consensus that child immigration detention is incompatible with children's rights under international law.
In 2026, MYCP and UNICEF, with the support of the International Detention Coalition; operating through the Coalition for Migration and Youth Affairs, successfully introduced language that goes further than any previous IMRF declaration. The request to the Secretary-General in Paragraph 53 establishes a direct mandate for practical guidance, creating a mechanism for accountability that did not previously exist at this level.
The mental health commitment in Paragraph 54 is similarly unprecedented. MYCP's global consultations — conducted across five regions between 2024 and 2025 and including over 812 young migrants — consistently identified mental health as among the most urgent and consistently unaddressed needs of young people on the move. That lived experience is now reflected in binding consensus language agreed to by Member States.
The full Progress Declaration is available at: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/ltd/n26/102/78/pdf/n2610278.pdf
"I might have left detention but detention never left me”
— Joel, a child migrant with lived experience of immigration detention.
HIGH-LEVEL ROUNDTABLE: ENDING CHILD IMMIGRATION DETENTION — IT IS POSSIBLE
On 5 May 2026, MYCP convened a high-level roundtable on ending child immigration detention at IMRF 2026 alongside co-organizers including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children (SRSG VAC), UNICEF, IOM, the UN Network on Migration, UNHCR, and the International Detention Coalition (IDC). Member States and co-organizers gathered united by one clear message: no child on the move should ever be detained.
330,000children are affected by immigration detention every year on average.
The roundtable identified progress, challenges, and opportunities for acceleration in national, regional, and international implementation of GCM Objective 13 — the global commitment to use immigration detention of migrants only as a measure of last resort and to prioritise alternatives. Participants made clear commitments and pledges on advancing this agenda.
The event built directly on MYCP's sustained engagement throughout the IMRF Progress Declaration negotiations. As co-leads of the UN Network on Migration Subgroup on Alternatives to Immigration Detention with UNICEF and the International Detention Coalition, MYCP has championed this issue across every stage of the IMRF process. The adoption of Paragraph 53 of the Progress Declaration; the first-ever actionable language on child detention in IMRF history, reflects the momentum generated through this sustained coalition work.
Momentum must be sustained to end child detention and uphold the rights, dignity and best interests of children at all times. The roundtable commitments and pledges made on 5 May will form part of MYCP's accountability framework for GCM Objective 13 implementation in the years ahead.
WHERE WE BELONG — A RECEPTION CELEBRATING CHILDREN & YOUTH ON THE MOVE
On the eve of the forum, 4 May 2026, MYCP and UNICEF co-hosted a high-level reception at UNICEF House bringing together Member States, UN agencies, civil society partners, and young migrants. The event opened the IMRF week with a clear signal: children and young people on the move belong at the centre of migration governance, not at its margins.
The programme featured speeches by Tasha Gill, Head of UNICEF's Migration and Displacement Hub; Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. Agnes Chimbiri-Moldande, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations, representing the Coalition for Migration and Youth Affairs; His Excellency Ambassador Olivier Maes, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg; and Catalina Devandas, IOM Special Envoy for the IMRF.
MYCP's Global Coordinator Aryan Sanghrajka read a poem written by Amina Otman — a young migrant and poet from Nigeria — written in response to the question young migrants across Africa posed to themselves: where do we belong? A video, "Our Voices, Our Future," produced by and for young migrants, delivered their key messages for the IMRF directly to the room.
Performances from the NYU South Asian Dance Collective NASHA and migrant band DeRaiz brought the evening to life. The reception was moderated by MYCP's International Representative Jonathan Lam and Advisory Board member Francesca D'Arcy.
LAUNCH OF THE GCM FAMILY UNITY INITIATIVE
"Family unity is not just a principle — it is what determines whether young people are supported and protected, or left alone to survive systems not built for them."
On 6 May 2026, MYCP launched the GCM Family Unity Initiative at a high-level side event at UNICEF House, co-organised with OHCHR, UNICEF, IOM, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). The Initiative is a multistakeholder partnership advancing rights-based, family-centred migration pathways — and MYCP is a co-lead.
MYCP's Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, Nour Hassan, joined a high-level panel to discuss best practices and the necessity of safe and legal family unity and family reunification pathways within GCM implementation and broader migration governance. The panel included Ambassador Olivier Maes (Luxembourg), Paula Sanmiguel (Colombia), Rob Hayes (Australia), Gehad Madi, and Wendy Young of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), and was moderated by Tasha Gill of UNICEF.
The family reunification commitments secured in Paragraphs 14 and 43 of the IMRF 2026 Progress Declaration — upholding the right to family life and family unity, and enhancing family reunification pathways — form the policy foundation on which the Initiative will build. The launch event demonstrated the breadth of the coalition: Member States, UN agencies, civil society organisations, and youth advocates united around a shared commitment.
In the months and years ahead, the GCM Family Unity Initiative will mobilise States, UN agencies, civil society organisations, young people, trade unions, the private sector, and other stakeholders to protect the right to family life, advance family unity, and support concrete pledges that facilitate family reunification for migrants and their families.
BACKGROUND: THE IMRF AND THE GCM
The International Migration Review Forum is the primary intergovernmental global platform for Member States to discuss and share progress on the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM); the first comprehensive United Nations framework for international migration governance, adopted in 2018. The IMRF convenes every four years. Its outcome document, the Progress Declaration, reflects Member States' collective commitments and sets the direction for GCM implementation in the following cycle. The 2026 Progress Declaration will guide global migration governance until the next forum in 2030.
MYCP participated in the 2026 IMRF as the Migration Constituency of the Major Group for Children and Youth; the official civil society constituency for children and young people within UN migration processes. MYCP's advocacy at IMRF 2026 was grounded in a two-year consultation process: 812 young migrants, 23 consultations, five regions of the world, 65 partner organisations. The demands brought to New York were shaped directly by those voices.
Our work is just getting started…
MYCP AT IMRF 2026 — AT A GLANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MYCP extends its deepest thanks to the following for making this week's outcomes possible:
Every Member State that engaged with MYCP's recommendations and protected the rights and dignity of children and young people on the move.
Their Excellencies Ambassador Olivier Maes and Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale, Co-Facilitators of the Progress Declaration, for their steadfast leadership through every stage of the negotiations.
Her Excellency Ambassador Dr. Agnes Chimbiri-Moldande, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi, for speaking as a member of the Coalition for Migration and Youth Affairs at the "Where We Belong" reception and for her leadership on youth inclusion in decision-making.
Melanie Teff, Tasha Gill and Monica Darer from UNICEF, for partnership in the Coalition for Migration and Youth Affairs, and for co-hosting the "Where We Belong" reception and the GCM Family Unity Initiative.
Catalina Devandas, IOM Special Envoy for the IMRF, for her participation in the "Where We Belong" reception.
Jonathan Lam and Francesca D'Arcy for moderating "Where We Belong" and representing MYCP's voice throughout the week.
MYCP’s delegation to the IMRF was Aryan Sanghrajka, Laura Coburn, Yashiba Sanil, Nour Hassan, Josefina Etchenique, Feblezi Hue Bi, Daria Mierhut, Casey Cruz, Jonathan Lam & Yasmin Beldjelti, representing the voices of our constituency across the world.
MYCP’s Secretariat and #DELIVER units led our IMRF Taskforce, with our Global Coordinator leading MYCP’s contributions to the Progress Declaration and state engagement efforts on behalf of our constituency
NYU South Asian Dance Collective NASHA and migrant band DeRaiz for their performances at "Where We Belong."
WHO, IOM, IDC, UNHCR, OSRSG VAC, QUNO, APMM, R-SEAT, World Vision, CMGJ, Clinique Juridique Hijra, Samuel Hall, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Government of Canada, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, the Baha'i International Community, and KIND — co-organizers and partners across the week's events.
The 812 young migrants who participated in MYCP's global consultations between 2024 and 2025. Their voices are in the Declaration.
ABOUT MYCP
The Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP) is a space for and by young people to impact the highest levels of migration policy-making. From our establishment in 2017 in the context of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) negotiations, we grew from an informal group to a global youth movement. MYCP is now the official migration constituency of the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) – the formal and self-organised space for children and youth (aged below 30) to contribute to and engage in intergovernmental and policy processes at the UN since 1992, mandated by the UN General Assembly under Resolution 67/290 and Agenda 21
MYCP’s constituency is composed of around 10,000 network members, representing over 1.5 million young people from almost every UN Member State.
For further enquiries please contact: migrationgfp@unmgcy.org
