SECURE – Safeguarding and Empowering Children on the Move in Child Protection Centers at the Southern European

Protection and safeguarding actions to prevent violence and abuse against children in residential care, especially unaccompanied migrant minors and girls, through staff training, child-centred tools, and inclusive care models.

Context

The project was developed in response to the urgent need to strengthen the protection of children and adolescents living in residential care settings, particularly unaccompanied migrant minors arriving at the southern borders of Europe, who are among the groups most exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Despite the existence of child protection systems, many residential care facilities continue to face significant structural and operational challenges, including insufficient resources, inadequately trained staff, and weak or inconsistent safeguarding protocols, all of which compromise children’s safety and well-being. Girls are especially vulnerable to gender-based violence and abuse.

In this context, the SECURE project was created to promote safer, more inclusive, and child-friendly residential care environments in Italy, Greece, and Spain through a rights-based, participatory, and intercultural approach. The project addresses the need to strengthen the capacity of care systems and professionals to prevent violence and ensure effective child protection by co-designing safeguarding tools, delivering specialized staff training, and implementing awareness-raising activities targeting both professionals and children. Through close collaboration between child rights organizations and public authorities, SECURE aims to address critical protection gaps and foster child-centred models of care that uphold children’s rights, safety, and well-being.

Objectives

To identify gaps and risks in current safeguarding approaches from the perspective of children and adolescents and professionals and design context-specific solutions.

To ensure safe, protective, and emotionally supportive environments in protection centres for unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, through the implementation of tools that promote respect for their dignity, well-being, and rights

To enhance professional capacity in protection centers of southern Europe through training on child safeguarding, gender sensitive care, and the use of safeguarding tools and mechanisms.

To promote awareness-raising and social education processes that foster violence-free environments based on children’s rights, encouraging solidarity, inclusion, and the commitment of civil society to a culture of protection and positive treatment.

Activities

Mapping of relevant policies, standards, procedures, and safeguarding models currently implemented in national protection centres and residences of Greece, Italy and Spain.

Interviews and focus groups with children, adolescents and professionals, living or working in the protection and residential centers, to gather insights of safeguarding mechanisms.

Co-design workshops with with children, adolescents and professionals, living or working in the protection and residential centers to develop a Child Safeguarding Framework.

Capacity building for Professionals Working in Child Protection Centers to enhance their ability to effectively safeguard children and promote a culture of wellbeing.

Capacity transfer for child safeguarding Contact Points in Italy, Spain and Greece.

Awareness-raising workshops with children and adolescents to provide them with essential knowledge about their rights and available safeguarding mechanisms.

Transnational exchange workshop in Greece for the sharing of good practices among project countries.

National events and European webinar to present results and recommendations. .

Resources

Preliminary Research and Best Practices Analysis in Greece, Italy and Spain

Tools to Promote Safe and Protective Environments in Protection Centres Training Plan for Professionals and Awareness raising workshops for children and adolescents

Training plan for professionals that cover topics of child protection laws, gender sensitive care, intersectional and migrant perspectives and how to address safeguarding concerns.

Training plan for children and adolescents that contain child-friendly language explaining right to protection education, and participation, step-by-step instructions on child safeguarding with practical examples to help children understand it

Impact

970 children and adolescents in residential care, especially unaccompanied migrant minors, will have participated in project activities, increasing their awareness of their rights, safety mechanisms, and opportunities for meaningful participation.

220 professionals working in residential care and child protection services will have strengthened their competencies in child safeguarding, intercultural communication, trauma-informed care, gender-sensitive approaches, and violence prevention through dedicated training and exchange activities.

30 Protection centres in partner countries will become Contact Points by adopting and testing structured safeguarding practices, improving institutional capacity to detect, prevent, and respond to violence against children

Safeguarding tools, participatory materials, and child-friendly resources will be co-designed and piloted together with 50 children/ adolescents and frontline professionals to improve institutional responses to violence and protection risks.

3 national events in Greece, Italy, Spain to engage public authorities, NGOs, and child protection stakeholders increasing coordination and the sharing of good practices across the EU.