World Children’s Day is an opportunity for advocating, promoting and celebrating children’s rights. Such rights include safeguarding the specific needs of child applicants for international protection. Age assessment process can be a useful and valid instrument to ensure the right to identity.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the Children’s Right Division of the Council of Europe (CoE) have jointly developed an Animation on Age Assessment for Children (watch it here) aiming to inform children and young persons about the process of an age assessment, their rights and obligations, in a child-friendly manner.
Hearing and integrating the opinions of youth has been a priority in the development of the animation which is aimed at educating youth on both their rights and obligations during the age assessment process in Europe.
This animation is also a tool to support European national authorities when informing children and young persons of the possibility of having their age assessed. Understanding the process of age assessment enables children and young persons to make informed decisions and helps to remove their potential feeling of insecurity or discomfort in participating in this additional process.
The animation is currently available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. In addition, the animation will be translated into Arabic, Pashto, Dari, Tigrinya, Somali and Punjabi with the support of the Council of Europe.
While the animation is shared with National authorities, the final target group is youth in need of information on age assessment and what it entails. The animation encourages youth to ask questions on all matters of their concerns including the age assessment process.
Background Information:
Since its establishment, EASO has been supporting and developing practical cooperation on issues related to persons with special needs. Identification and response to the special needs of vulnerable persons is further integrated in all EASO activities, including in particular training, quality support and country of origin information. More information can be found here.
This cooperation between EASO and the Council of Europe is framed by the principles established in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union (23 May 2007) whereby the cooperation between our two organisations include “the protection of persons belonging to national minorities, the fight against discrimination, racism, xenophobia and intolerance, the fight against torture and illtreatment, the fight against trafficking in human beings, the protection of the rights of the child, the promotion of human rights education and freedom of expression and information” (para. 21). In this respect, our organisations are inextricably linked by the common values and mission they share for the protection of the rights of the child in the context of migration and asylum.
easo.europa.eu
