12 Oct 2010
Warsaw, October 8, 2010:During the first part of the ‘Review Conference’ ahead of the OSCE Summit, held in Warsaw, the Alliance Expert Co-ordination Team submitted aStatement on Child Protection, during the Working Session on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, with Particular Focus on Trafficking in Children.In the statement Alliance members called on governments toimplement a child rights approach to child trafficking, enhance child protection to respond to the specific needs of vulnerable and excluded children, ensure the appointment of an independent guardian and provide free legal assistance to victims, strengthen identification mechanisms by training of professionals, and implement a durable and safe solution for each child based on individual case assessment
The Session was moderated by Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE’s Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. In her introduction she pointed out that trafficking in children was a priority for the OSCE in 2010 and the discussions on this subject will continue in Astana. She pointed out that identification of victims needs to be improved since not all forms of trafficking are addressed and that often, children are treated as adults, despite the states’ obligation to do the opposite when in doubt.
Severine Jacomy-Vite, child protection specialist of UNICEFintroduced the topic reiterating that the differentiation between ‘deserving trafficking victim’ and ‘undeserving illegal’ child should end, while focus should be on children on the move, working children and children in formal care as most at risk of trafficking. She promoted a‘family-centered support’ or community-based services as a solution and called on both NGOs and governments to treat children as agents and ‘ask them’ in the process of determining their best interest.The statements of the session are available at the OSCE website here.
