The present report is a result of a series of groundbreaking Participatory Assessments (PAs) with children living in refugee and returnee situations in Southern Africa, which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) carried out between 2005 and 2007. Its aim was to address the following questions: how children are being treated, how they perceive the violence with which they are often faced, how they cope, and what suggestions they have for improving their situation. The holding of such assessments forms part of UNHCR’s strategy for Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming (AGDM), the overall aim of which is to promote gender equality and the rights of all refugees.