Call for good practices on child-friendly migration-related procedures

The Council of Europe is committed to assisting its member States build strategies to respond to the problems affecting refugee and migrant children, with a special focus on those who are unaccompanied or have been separated from their families. The Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019) outlines concrete actions to be undertaken, grouped around three pillars. The actions under the first pillar are aimed at ensuring access to rights and child-friendly procedures.

In this context, the Office of the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees will prepare and publish a compilation of good practices on migration-related procedures that are child-friendly.The Council of Europe is therefore calling for examples of good or promising practices, methods and tools used to make migration procedures (more) child-friendly. The practices received will support the preparation of a handbook aimed at helping states and relevant stakeholders develop and implement child-friendly procedures for refugee and migrant children. Moreover, responding to this call will give states and other relevant stakeholders the opportunity to publicise their good practices, resulting in increased attention for and possible adoption of the practice in other Council of Europe member States. 

The practices may relate to procedures of institutions or organisations covering all stages of the migratory process within Europe, in particular:

1.       Identification

2.       Registration

3.       Best interests assessment and determination

4.       Age assessment

5.       Relocation / Resettlement (internal and external)

6.       Child protection and access to substantive rights (accommodation, education, health and care)

7.       Support for especially vulnerable children, especially victims of exploitation and abuse

8.       Guardianship

9.       Legal representation

10.   Asylum or other migration-related applications

11.   Family reunification

12.   Returns

13.   Durable solutions, including local integration and transition to adulthood

14.   Other law-enforcement procedures (restrictions on liberty, involvement in criminal justice proceedings, border control, etc.)

15.   Administrative and judicial appeals (on asylum and other migration-related applications)

Respondents to the call should demonstrate how their practice is “child-friendly” and relates to criteria such as: the child’s best interests; respect for dignity, integrity, identity and private life; inclusion; non-discrimination and gender equality; participation; child-friendly information; appropriate assistance/representation; accessibility; appropriate environments; a multidisciplinary approach, etc.

Respondents to this call are kindly requested to fill in the template attached to this call in English and to email it to [email protected]. It is important to provide as detailed and concrete information as possible on the practice(s), preferably accompanied by references to further documentation, such as websites, reports, videos, social media accounts, etc. If possible, please provide translations into English or French of accompanying documentation (or a summary thereof). The Council of Europe has discretion to determine which of the practices submitted will be included in the compilation.

The deadline for responding to this call is 30 September 2018.

Please direct any questions concerning this call to [email protected].

Template: call for good and promising practices, methods and tools

used to make migration-related procedures more child-friendly

A.     Details of reporting agency/organisation

Full name of agency/organisation:           Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Character:

☐ Intergovernmental Organisation

☐ Public Authority/Service 

☐ Local Authority/Service

☐ Non-Governmental Organisation

☐ Other (please specify)                          Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Country/Countries where it is based       Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Person filling in the template                      Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

(Title, Name and SURNAME)                      Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Role/Position                                                     Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

E-mail                                                                    Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Telephone                                                          Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

B.      Good Practice[1] (every agency/organisation can report up to 3 good practices, filling different templates for each of them)

Title of good practice

Full name of agency/organisation responsible:   Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Description of good practice (up to 300 words)

Explain why you present this practice as being child-friendly and a good practice (up to 100 words)

Please specify which of the following migration-related procedures the good practice is most closely related (you can fill up to 3 of the following boxes referring to different categories of procedures, ranking them as 1 (most related), 2, 3.

Rank	Identification
Rank	Registration
Rank	Best interests assessment and determination
Rank	Age assessment
Rank	Relocation/Resettlement (internal and external)
Rank	Child protection and access to substantive rights (accommodation, education, health and care)
Rank	Support for especially vulnerable children including  victims of exploitation and abuse
Rank	Guardianship
Rank	Legal representation
Rank	Asylum or other migration-related applications
Rank	Family reunification
Rank	Returns
Rank	Durable solutions
Rank	Other law-enforcement procedures (restrictions on liberty, involvement in other criminal justice proceedings, border control, etc.)
Rank	Administrative and judicial appeals

Which of the following criteria are being met by your practice, regarding its child-friendly character (please tick)?

☐	Consideration of child’s best interests
☐	Provision of child-friendly information and material before, during and after the procedure
☐	Communication in a language well understood by the child
☐	Urgency, in terms of access to procedures and their duration
☐	Respect for dignity, integrity, identity and private life of the child
☐	Accessibility, in terms of adaptation of procedures to make them suitable for children’s age, maturity and physical, intellectual and emotional abilities
☐	Participation, including the right to be heard and have access to remedies
☐	Improving empowerment and coping strategies
☐	Appropriate assistance / representation
☐	Appropriate environments, including material conditions and care
☐	A multidisciplinary approach
☐	Supporting relations with other children in local communities
☐	Promoting non-discrimination and gender equality
☐	Other (please specify) Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Please answer the following questions::

Who is delivering and/or responsible for implementing the practice?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Where exactly is it being implemented (country/districts/cities, etc.)?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
How is it funded (if by several sources, please provide estimated percentages)?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Is this practice still at pilot level?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
How long has this been implemented (last 6 months/more than 1 year/2 years)?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
How many children have been reached (1-20/20-50/50-100/over 100)?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Is the practice addressed to the general population of migrant/refugee children or to specific categories (please mention)?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Has this practice been evaluated? Please explain and provide relevant links to evaluation reports if available.	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Have children participated in planning and/or evaluating this practice? Please explain.	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Is this practice included in published reports? Please provide links or attach relevant documents.	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.
Has this practice been presented to/shared with other agencies/organisations abroad?	Cliquez ici pour taper du texte.

Please explain any challenges or difficulties experienced in the implementation, expansion or improvement of this practice.

Thank you for your participation in this survey. Your contribution is highly appreciated. You will be informed about the progress and publication of this project in due course.