Final conference SUN project – Sofia

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On March 13, the final conference of the European SUN project took place in Sofia, in which Nidos has been involved for the past two years. Colleagues Mascha van Lith and Germa Lourens attended on behalf of Nidos, along with a staff member from the Dublin unit of the IND, a state counselor from the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State, and an immigration lawyer from the Netherlands.

The SUN project has worked over the past two years to safeguard the rights of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) based on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The focus was on raising awareness of the EU Charter among various professionals working with UASC through the development of a practitionar’s handbook and national training sessions.

During the final conference, held in the beautiful auditorium of the Faculty of Law at Sofia University, various topics were discussed related to the fundamental rights of UASC, as described in the EU Charter, and several interesting lectures were presented. For instance, the Dutch state councilor at the Council of State, gave an insightful lecture on the role of judges in protecting the rights of UASC, and Germa shared her work on how judges should engage more with UASC during the appeal phase of their asylum procedure. A pilot program on this is currently running at the court in Amsterdam. Other topics discussed included the protection and risks for UASC under the new European Asylum and Migration Pact, ensuring safety for UASC, the importance of considering the child’s perspective, and, as part of that, listening to the opinion of the child about their own situation.

All in all, it was a valuable conclusion to the project with a great contribution from Nidos!

   

Thematic meeting on the right’s of the child to participate

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On the 24th of October a thematic meeting took place in the context of the European project “SUN”. This project is about protecting the rights of unaccompanied and separated children on the basis of the EU Charter. During this interactive meeting we launched the practical manual on the EU Charter that has been developed in collaboration with all project partners and we zoomed in on an overarching theme, namely Article 24(1) EU Charter: the importance of the child’s position in accordance with his/her age and maturity.

There were interesting discussions about the difference in approach of children by judges in family law and alien law. Also a behaviroal scientist of Nidos gave a presentation on how to talk with children. From which age can you talk with children? What are important verbal and non-verbal aspects?

“The question is not whether children have an opinion, but how we can communicate with children to find out their opinion or obtain that information”

In the end, an alien lawyer gave insights in jurisprudence on the best interest of the child and child participation. She talked about difference in theory and practice and set out some interesting cases for discussion.

Published: SUN Practitioner’s Handbook on Safeguarding UASC Rights

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The Practitioner’s Handbook on safeguarding unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children’s (UASC) rights is finally released. It has been developed under the SUN project and promotes the effective enjoyment of rights stipulated in the CFREU by UASC. It reflects the years-long practical and academic experience of project partners Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR in Bulgaria (lead organization), ARSIS in Greece, Terre des Hommes in Romania, Nidos in the Netherlands, Sirius Network, based in Belgium, Volontarius in Italy, and Comissió Catalana d’Acció pel Refugi (CCAR) in Spain. The handbook has been translated in 7 languages:

Newsletter SUN project January 2024

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SUN Newsletter January 2024
SUN is reaching the first year of the project, and significant milestones have been achieved in its development. These last months have been characterized by a detailed assessment of the training needs related to safeguarding the rights of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU). The SUN consortium has actively exchanged knowledge and best practices through exchange visits, fostering collaboration. Additionally, partners have been actively involved in the planning of the Theory of Change for the project. These efforts have laid a strong foundation for SUN activities, and we are eager to continue our dedicated work towards protecting the rights of UASC.

Download the newsletter and the report here:

Nidos is partner in a new project: SUN

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  • dateJune 21, 2023
SUN Project: Safeguarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children’s Rights through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR is the leading organization in the Safeguarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children’s Rights through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (SUN), funded by the Citizens, equality, rights, and values (CERV) Program of the European Commission, which started on…

Short film on intercultural mediation now available

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  • dateApril 20, 2021
Inspired by the experience of other European countries, Nidos piloted an intercultural mediation programme under the first phase of the Resilience II project in 2016. In the past few years, Nidos has further shaped the project. Would you like to learn more about the intercultural mediation programme? The following film produced within the project has […]

The PROUD project has now officialy been launched

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  • dateNovember 11, 2020
The PROUD project (Promoting Supported Independent Living as an alternative care practice for unaccompanied children) is a European project, funded by the AMIF Programme (Transnational actions for Integration of Third-Country Nationals in the EU Member States and supporting legal migration) for the 2019- 2021 period. The project will be implemented in Greece, Germany, Spain and[…]