In October 2019, the Office of the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees (SRSG) will publish a compilation of promising practices on migration-related child-friendly procedures entitled “Promoting child-friendly approaches in the area of migration: standards, guidance and current practices”. The publication highlights international and European standards on child-friendly practices in the context of migration featuring concrete examples of initiatives, programmes and procedures that serve to implement these standards. The analysis suggests that often there is a gap between the standards set by the various instruments and the reality on the ground. The compilation is composed of four comprehensive themes: elements of procedures concerning entrance and identification, child-friendly asylum and migration processes, special protection measures, and durable solutions. By highlighting promising examples, the compilation could underpin support for the existing child-friendly interventions and prompt action to follow illustrated the good examples.

On 30 September - 1 October 2019, in Strasbourg, the Office of the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees will participate in the Council of Europe Programme on Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) second working group meeting developing a new training course on the alternatives to immigration detention. The course is elaborated under the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting refugee and migrant children in Europe (2017-2019) and complements the previous course on refugee and migrant children, which has been launched in the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece and France. It will further be launched in Italy and Turkey. The upcoming HELP course on alternatives to immigration detention is funded by the Action plan.