‘Global Solutions to Working with Vulnerable
Children and​ Young People’

• Sharing international insights into the inclusion of socially and emotionally vulnerable children and young people.
• Celebrating their resilience in surviving trauma, loss and displacement. 

An international conference to be presented by SEBDA and the University of Birmingham 7. 8 & 9 September 2023. The Alan Walters Building at the University of Birmingham, UK

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Context

• Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 7 (14%) 10–19-year-olds experience mental health conditions, yet these remain largely unrecognised and untreated. (WHO, 2021)
• Worldwide, about 36.5 million children had been displaced as consequence of conflict and violence as of the end of 2021. (UNICEF, 2022)
•  Nearly 3 in 4 children - or 300 million children - aged 2–4 years regularly suffer physical punishment and/or psychological violence at the hands of parents and caregivers. (WHO, 2022)

These are disturbing statistics, but they are indicative of the complex, challenging and often traumatic experiences faced by children and young people around the world that can be either exacerbated by, or lead to, educational and social exclusion. 

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Our Aims

At this conference we aim to bring together practitioners and academics from around the world to:

• share and explore the difficulties encountered by socially and emotionally vulnerable children and young people (CYP) in the current international context.
• learn about research activities and evidenced based interventions from around the world that are informing our practice and improving or challenging the experiences of this vulnerable group.
• celebrate the successes and resilience of vulnerable CYP and those who work with them in overcoming the challenges presented by the current context.
• hear about, and learn from, the lived experience of the CYP themselves as well as those who care for them.

 
Through Keynote presentations by experts in the field, the sharing of academic papers by researchers and practitioner workshops, we will explore, in relation to children and young people of all ages, such themes as:

• Mental Health
• Displacement
• The lived experience
• Inclusion

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Target Audience

This conference will be of interest to practitioners and academics working with this vulnerable group of children and young people of all ages in a wide variety of contexts such as education, health, social care and charitable organisations. 

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Organisers

This is a collaborative venture led by SEBDA and the Department of Disability Inclusion and Special Needs at the University of Birmingham with the invaluable support of UNICEF, the European Network for Social and Emotional Competence (ENSEC) and many other colleagues working in the field. See About Us for full details. 
 
References
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children

https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-migration-and-displacement/displacement/

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health 2021