EUAA's support to strengthening child protection

The EUAA is supporting Member States to align with international and European protection standards in the CEAS and through the adoption of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. The Pact emphasises the importance of effective representation and guardianship for unaccompanied children, reflecting the principles outlined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

In Greece, the EUAA is supporting the development of a comprehensive guardianship and representation system for unaccompanied children, ensuring their best interests are upheld in asylum and reception procedures in accordance with the rules of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). 

Under the 2022-2024 Operational Plan with the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (MoMA), the EUAA has contributed to various initiatives, including the harmonisation of Best Interest Procedures, the National Emergency Response Mechanism (NERM), the Mentorship Programme, referral and placement mechanism for unaccompanied children, prevention and response to violence and abuse, monitoring of reception conditions, pre-integration and mental health services. The NERM has helped thousands of unaccompanied children with access to emergency housing, legal aid, and psychological support, earning recognition as a best practice by the European Social Services Award and the European Crime Prevention Network. Similarly, the Mentorship Programme, launched with EUAA support, and led by six trained EUAA mentors who are former unaccompanied children, has empowered many young individuals by offering peer-to-peer guidance based on lived experiences. In 2024 alone, the EUAA in Greece facilitated 5 690 placements of unaccompanied children in suitable accommodation and processed 2 450 requests through NERM, while 965 children benefitted from the Mentorship Programme. 

In the Netherlands, the EUAA has been supporting the Dutch Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) in managing the reception of unaccompanied children since May 2023. Initially launched as a pilot, the project has now evolved into a strengthened collaboration. Child protection experts have been deployed to several reception facilities to enhance child protection activities, including outreach activities, case management meetings, recreational and psycho-educational activities, food and non-food items distribution, amongst other. In 2024 alone, 100 1391  children participated in 13 270 activities.

In Italy, the EUAA implemented a project to support the reception authorities with a training package including the management of Unaccompanied Children (UAC) within the reception system during 2024. Among others, the training module "Children in Asylum" was made available to Prefecture representatives and representatives of the managing entities of reception centers hosting UAC. The main objective was to increase the capacity of these authorities to ensure UAC are received in facilities that meet the appropriate standards and safeguards. Additionally, the training sessions provided an opportunity to gather feedback from participants to improve the existing tools and frameworks for managing the reception of UAC and address operational challenges. By the end of 2024, four training sessions had been delivered to 113 participants, representing 63 first line reception centres for UAC, thereby strengthening Italy’s capacity to safeguard their rights. Challenges collected during training sessions fed into the process of revision of the Vademecum on the assistance to UAC, for which a revised version is planned to be issued by the Italian government in early 2025.

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