This capacity building package was developed in the frames of the UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) initiative, implemented by the Child Protection Hub for South East Europe and Terre des hommes Regional Office for Central and South East Europe (Tdh) in its role as coordinator of the ChildHub.
The purpose of the initiative was to build the capacity of those responding to the refugee and migrant crisis to be able to address child protection concerns within the unique settings of the largely transit countries, in particular Croatia, Serbia and the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (tfYROM) This effort was a recognition that the normal understanding and methods for working with refugee and migrant children are made especially difficult where large populations are on the move and spend relatively short periods of time in country.
Overall purpose & objectives of the training:
• Meet immediate capacity needs regarding child protection including awareness, key actions and approaches for both response and
prevention.
• Increase confidence and awareness in working with refugee and migrant families, including helping to reduce burnout and stress.
• Create a harmonized approach and understanding of child protection among all actors.
• Clarify roles and mandates, and create an opportunity for networking, with to view to enhancing interagency cooperation and collaboration (both on site, across site and across borders).
• Help contribute towards identifying further development needs and strategy / plans for capacity building.
Structure of the course
To accommodate the expressed desire for flexibility, rather than developing a one-day course where learning is incremental and linear (i.e. flows logically from session 1 to the end of the day), four discrete ‘blocks’ were developed around thematic areas (identified through the scoping mission as capacity building needs). While each block stands alone, and can be run separately, the blocks are
linked and so together form an integrated package of training.
Core modules
The four core modules, equaling one full day of training are:
BLOCK A: CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
Includes proactive engagement, building trust, understanding cultural differences, recognizing our behaviours and how these effect dynamics / working with others.
BLOCK B: IMPACT OF BEING A REFUGEE / MIGRANT ON CHILDREN
Includes recognizing impact of being a refugee or a migrant on children and distinguishing this from signs of abuse etc., clarifying what is child protection in emergencies), basic assessment / identification of children at risk, recognizing limits of safe working
for those on the move.
BLOCK C: WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF CHILDREN
Includes roles and mandates of agencies, when / how to make referrals, sharing information, across agencies and sites and supporting each other.
BLOCK D: SAFEGUARDING
Includes preventative actions to avoid abuse / limit the potential for child protection concerns to arise and avoiding separation.
Each block lasts for 1 ½ hours and can be taken in any order. Structuring the course in this way means that the training can also be run over a number of sessions rather than having to dedicate a whole day to training.
Optional additional module: psychological first aid (PFA)
It includes understanding PFA, identifying key actions and responses within PFA and appreciating limits of safe working in context
of the migrant and refugee crisis.
The publication is available for download below in 5 languages: English, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian and Slovenian.