Migrant children – whether accompanied (by family members, trusted adults, or by a group of teenagers and young people whom they met along the way) or unaccompanied /separated from family and friends – are regarded as vulnerable. This vulnerability can be situational and/or inherent in their status as children. Therefore, it is important for those responding to the needs of child migrants to recognize their agency and listen to them.

Funded through the Migration Resource Allocation Committee (MiRAC), the regional project “Contributing to address the needs of migrant children at borders in Europe” aims to enhance capacities of different stakeholders involved in the field of child protection in the context of migration across the European Economic Area (EEA+ Region).

The project will be articulated around the following components:

  • Capacity building of IOM staff through a training on essentials of child protection in the context of migration
  • International exchanges through a consultation workshop for the development of a toolkit with practical recommendations and promising practices for the protection of migrant children at borders in the EEA+ Region
  • Development of a practical guidance tool on how to address the needs of children at borders to support practitioners working in the field of reception at borders
  • Delivery of a training of trainers package, building on the guidance tool, on how to support migrant children at borders while addressing their specific needs

Target beneficiaries include IOM Country Office staff in the EEA+ region, national authorities and national frontline workers working in the field of child protection and border management, and migrant children crossing an international border within the EEA+ Region.

For further information on the project, see Project Flyer

Publication
10 Nov 2023
Working with Migrant Children at the Borders of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom: A Toolkit for Front-line Workers