UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) on Monday welcomed the non-binding Global Compact for migration, just agreed on in Morocco, as an "historic achievement for migrant children and States."

"For the very first time, children are being recognized as central to migration management," said Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy, in a statement issued at UN Headquarters in New York and at the compact meeting in Marrakech.

The formal title of the overwhelmingly-approved accord is the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and it is to be presented to the 193-member UN General Assembly for endorsement Dec. 19.

"Without creating new obligations, the Compact provides states with a critical tool to better meet their existing legal obligations to protect, integrate and empower all children," he said in the statement. "It also helps provide millions of children and young people affected by migration with the chance to fulfill their potential."

Chandy said that by putting in practice Compact measures, "states can better address the causes that uproot children from their homes, provide migrant children with better access to education and health services, and offer them stronger protection from exploitation and violence."

Through the Compact states can achieve stronger results in keeping families together and tackling xenophobia and discrimination, Chandy said.

"Today, more than 100 countries still have policies of migration detention for children," he said. "Imagine if alternatives to migration detention for children were adopted globally and the number of detained children fell from a million today to zero. Imagine if we could close the gap in access to education and health for migrant children so that such inequities did not exist."

The challenge for UNICEF is to move beyond just "acknowledging the vulnerabilities of migrant children to maximizing their roles in spurring development and broader prosperity," he said. "We need to do a better job of engaging them and listening to their voices, needs, concerns and aspirations for the future."

"Children and young people can -- and must be -- part of the solution to make migration safe for everyone," Chandy said. Enditem

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