FINAL REPORT - Save the Children Italia Onlus

9. Conclusion and recommendationsAcknowledging that child trafficking is a very complex phenomenon and that it isprimarily a human rights issue, and recognising that identification and support ofchild victims and children at risk of trafficking is crucial to ensure their protection, achild rights based, multi-disciplinary and inter-agency approach has informed thedevelopment of the methodology to identified and support chid victims of trafficking inthis AGIS project. This methodology, (the AGIS methodology) presented in Part III ofthis Report, is intended to be a tool that should guide relevant stakeholders in thedevelopment of national instruments, such as protocols and operating procedures forchildren’s identification and support. The project partners conclude that these nationalinstruments should reflect the specificity of the national context where they areimplemented and that they should be constantly reviewed to respond to the changingnature of child trafficking. They are also of the opinion that national protocols andoperating procedures should be sufficiently detailed to foster comprehensiveidentification of trafficked children and believe that the methodology developed in thisproject, although complex and elaborated, could guarantee this specificity and detail.Below are presented the recommendations resulting from the experience gained within theAGIS project: “Development of a child rights methodology to identify and support childvictims of trafficking”. They are specifically focused on identification and support of childvictims of trafficking.Save the Children Italy, acting as project coordinator, shared part of these recommendationswith the Save the Children Europe Group in June 2007, who reflected them intotheir written submissions 42 presented on the occasion of the EU anti-trafficking day(Brussels, 18 October 2007).General recommendations1. A multi-disciplinary and inter-agency approach should guide the development ofidentification and support measures at European as well as national and local level.2. A child rights based approach should be used in the development of specific tools(such as Protocols and operating procedures) to identify and support child victims oftrafficking, ensuring that human rights concerns are given primary importance in thedesign of such measures, in accordance with international obligations deriving frominternational human rights standards, such as the CRC. In particular, the generalprinciples of the CRC, namely, the best interests of the child, the right toparticipation, the right to non-discrimination and the right to life, survival anddevelopment should always be respected and implemented.6. Assistance should always be provided to child victims or presumed victims,independently of their willingness to cooperate with the authorities.7. In designing support measures for child victims, special attention shall be given tothe children’s needs arising from their previous condition of deprivation and theimpact of violence, trauma and loss they may have suffered.Recommendation to EU Institutions8. Mandatory provisions regarding identification and support of child victims,including the principles detailed above in previous recommendations, should beadopted at European Union level and should reflect existing best practices in EUMember States. They should also build upon the experience of EU projects,specifically focused on identification and support of child victims.Recommendations to EU Member States9. The project partners recommend the use of the child rights based methodology ofidentification and support of child victims of trafficking developed in this project,the AGIS methodology, in the development of specific national and transnationaltools (e.g. protocols) to identify and support child victims and children at risk oftrafficking.10. Specific and detailed profiles of children most at risk of trafficking and child victimsshould be developed and constantly reviewed at national level, in the light of up-todateresearch findings on child trafficking and with the involvement of all relevantstakeholders.11. Specific indicators to identify child victims and children at risk of trafficking shouldbe developed and periodically updated at national level and with the involvement ofall relevant stakeholders.12. Clear operating procedures should be adopted at national level with the involvementof all relevant stakeholders, indicating the specific mandates and methods ofcooperation between all actors involved in the identification process of child victimsand children at risk.3. All actors involved in the identification and support process of child victims shallreceive special training.42Save the ChildrenSubmissions on KeyComponents of the EURecommendations toEnhance NationalCoordinatingMechanisms for EarlyIdentification,Assistance andProtection of the Rightsof Victims ofTrafficking, 27 June2007.4. Age assessment should always be conducted in light of the best interest of the childand by independent professionals with appropriate expertise. It should be part of abroader, holistic needs assessment of the child and physical, psychological andcultural factors should be taken into account. Furthermore, age assessmentprocedures should not be harmful. Children should be consulted prior to any ageassessment procedures and their participation should be voluntary. In case of doubtthere should be a presumption that someone claiming to be less than 18 years of age,will provisionally be treated as such. In making a final age determination, childrenshould be given the benefit of the doubt.5. Child friendly interviewing techniques of child victims and children at risk should bedeveloped and implemented during interviews.7879