By Gbenga Sodeinde
Heritagenewsng reports that the European Union and UNICEF are joining efforts to improve access to justice and support the provision of child protection services for 41,389 children on the move, child victims of violence, abuse and exploitation, and children in conflict with the law in a three-year program. (2021-2024) covering Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria.
“The protection of children’s rights is essential to ensure that children grow up with the best possible opportunities and can look forward to their future with confidence. Better access to an adapted justice system can make a real difference in the lives of many vulnerable children. For the European Union, protecting children on the move, regardless of their status or stage of the journey, is a priority”, says European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
“Access to justice is a major issue for children on the move and other vulnerable children in West Africa. The practice of detention continues despite the fact that it is contrary to the rights of children and evidence that it has negative effects on the development of girls and boys. The detention of children, whether they are traveling alone or with their family, is never in their best interests and is a violation of their rights. Therefore, it should be avoided at all costs.
UNICEF is working with government authorities and other partners to reimagine justice for children in West Africa to strengthen the capacities of national authorities and civil society to rapidly identify, refer and support unaccompanied and separated children ( including those who move); and strengthening justice systems in favor of a child rights approach that includes alternatives to detention for all children,” says Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Thanks to the European Union grant of €7.89 million and in collaboration with regional, national and subnational authorities, communities, service providers, families and children themselves, UNICEF will promote the provision of multisectoral services to children in contact with the justice system, including access to friendly justice with a rights approach.
The three-year program is expected to:
Help ensure that laws and policies are in place to prevent the detention of children in transit for immigration purposes and the unnecessary pre- or post-trial detention of children in transit and other vulnerable children.
Improve access to appropriate family and community care and guardianship mechanisms for unaccompanied children/adolescents on the move and other vulnerable children.
Improving access to quality, age-appropriate, gender-sensitive and child-friendly justice services for children in detention, children in conflict with the law and children at risk or who have experienced violence, abuse and exploitation, including children on the move and vulnerable children.
Strengthen the capacities of child protection service providers, frontline community actors and frontline workers to facilitate access for unaccompanied children, including children who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence, to basic services that focus on your specific needs. Many children on the move are unaware of their rights and of existing support networks.
They experience language or other barriers that make them even more vulnerable, while separation from their parents or caregivers creates additional challenges to their ability to access justice. Many of these vulnerable children are at particular risk of pretrial detention, incarceration with adults, and exposure to violence and abuse, including psychological or sexual.
As of October 2021, an estimated 11 million children were on the move in West and Central Africa, including 7.6 million internally displaced persons, 1.2 million refugees, and 2.2 million international migrant children.
Credit: NNN
