This thesis is concerned with a 'problem' in a humanitarian context: an identified gap between the rhetoric and 'reality' of refugee children's participation in their protection and a refugee protection process that is thought not particularly participatory for the child. Through directly engaging with refugee children and humanitarian practitioners - in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, Uganda - it seeks to explore empirically the extent to which this is the case and whether refugee children's increased participation in refugee protection procedures might produce a better, safer alternative for children. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis engages critically with a significant body of academic literature on the theory and practice of children's participation as well as related literature on the conceptualisation of 'childhood' and 'the child'. It explores the ambiguity and tensions in children's participation, particularly in relation to their protection, and responds to debates surrounding participation, agency and power. It engages with the literature on forced migration, refugee camps and the construction of the refugee (child). Linking these to the debate on children's participation in protection, it explores notions of 'vulnerability' and 'agency' and the transformative potential of participation for a reconstruction of refugee children with consequences for their everyday spaces and lives.