South Eastern Europe: Regional Child Trafficking Response Programme

Child trafficking continues to be a serious concern in South Eastern Europe, with high numbers of children trafficked for exploitative purposes. Despite increased attention and responses to the issue over the past years the capacity of governments to undertake effective measures to prevent trafficking and protect children who have suffered from being trafficked remain limited. The main obstacle are weak child protection systems, lack of financial and technical resources, limited understanding of factors that make children exposed to trafficking and failure to address the root causes and the structural dimension of the problem. Save the Children in Albania is contributing to fight against child trafficking in the region by conducting the Regional Child Trafficking Response Programme (CTRP).

 

The initial phase of CTRP started in 2002 (2002-2004) and over a three-year period addressed the issue of child trafficking on prevention, identification and support to victims. Based on this initial experience, extensive qualitative research on "Risk and Resilience" was carried out in the second phase (2006-2008) of the CTRP.

Third phase of CTRP in South Eastern Europe was initiated in January 2009, building upon achievements and lessons learned from phase I and II. It is expected to end in December 2011.
With Save the Children in Albania as coordinating organization, organizations from six other countries participate in the programme: Bosnia-Herzegovina - Save the Children Norway SEE Regional Office, Bulgaria - Animus Association Foundation, Kosovo - Save the Children in Kosovo, Montenegro - Save the Children in Montenegro, Romania - Salvati Copiii and Serbia - Save the Children in Serbia.

The overall goal of the phase III of CTRP is to apply knowledge gained from the research to establish effective models of support and protection services to children at risk and trafficked children and adolescents in order to prevent violence, exploitation and abuse and minimize unsafe child migration and risks of trafficking.

 

The programme's main objectives are:

• Governments and national institutions acknowledge their obligations as state parties to the CRC and related international legislation on human rights, trafficking prevention and service provision to affected children.
• Children at risk have access to informal venues where they receive quality support from trained professionals, responsible adults, and peers and where they are invited to participate in and help design activities intended for them.
• Regional and national advocacy/communication strategies are undertaken to address unsafe child migration and trafficking.

Activities planned in the frame of phase III:

• Support to policy, advocacy and legislative reform for protection of the rights of trafficked children and children at-risk, by fostering closer links with national and local policy institutions to champion the rights of children at the macro level and making children a priority among State authorities.
• Training and capacity building of professionals and/or partners providing direct services to children at risk/trafficked children, aim at strengthening their knowledge to better respond to children in a child-friendly manner, to build trust, and fully recognize children's right to support and protection. 
• Strengthening of local child protection systems, aiming at increasing the total capacity of the community to respond appropriately to the welfare and protection of children.
• Direct support and outreach work to children living/working on the street, their families and communities, children victims of neglect and abuse and/or deprived of parental care to prevent violence, exploitation and abuse through child friendly hotlines and service provision, including drop-in-centers, shelters, psychosocial counselling and other empowering activities for children living in institutions and in refugee camps.
  
• Issue-based Peer to Peer Life-Skills sessions and training to support community participation of children/adolescents, aiming at addressing children's general need for knowledge and information that will enhance their self-confidence and resilience. 
• Monitoring and documentation of changes in the lives of targeted children.
• Advocacy at country and regional level, involving children and other key actors to further the exchange of lessons learned and share good practices.

The Child Trafficking Response Programme is currently funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Oak Foundation.

Source and more information: www.scalbania.org