Addis Ababa - The number of children who return in Ethiopia has been on the increase in recent years. Since the start of 2019, over 2100 cases have been assisted by IOM. This is nearly double the over 1000 cases recorded in the whole of 2018.

As parts of efforts to build capacity to deal with a spike in such cases, the global interagency task force on Unaccompanied and Separated Children (IATF UASC) of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, led by IOM, organized a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for child protection practitioners on 16-20 September 2019 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The training was co-facilitated by IOM and the global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CPAOR) and supported by IOM Ethiopia in coordination with the national Child Protection Sub Cluster in Ethiopia.

The ToT brought together child protection practitioners from different geographic areas in Ethiopia coming from different entities such as government, national NGOs, INGOs and UN agencies. The training’s content is based on the inter-agency task force’s two reference publications; the Field Handbook and its accompanying Toolkit on Unaccompanied and Separated Children.

“The training has provided us with a good opportunity to understand the basic modality tools on  child protection and the practical aspects,” Sumeya Mohammed, UNHCR Child Protection Associate from the Addis Ababa Office said. According to her, the venue has also provided an opportunity to learn from the other partners working on child protection. “It has broadened my views on the other context of dealing with unaccompanied and separated children rather than the Internally Displaced Persons and refugees’ context that I am aware of,” she added.

“Minimum standards for child protection are assured when practitioners understand and implement the guidelines, basic modalities and principles, and such trainings are essential for sharing best practices compiled by major actors working on child protection in humanitarian settings.” Nadia Akmoun, Protection Officer at IOM Geneva and current lead of the UASC IATF of the Alliance CPHA.

The first roll-out of the ToT on UASC of Alliance CPHA which is being conducted in Ethiopia this month is funded by PRM as part of the project Regional Migrant Response Plan for Horn of Africa & Yemen (RMRP).

For more information, please contact IOM Ethiopia:

Alemayehu Seifeselassie, Tel: +251116611117 (Ext. 1455), Mobile: +251911639082, Email: salemayehu@iom.int