Protecting the Best Interests of Children

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) carried out “Best Interest Procedure Training” on 16-17 March 2023. Specific to Istanbul, the program; organizations operating in the fields of protection, social cohesion and humanitarian aid, and expert lawyers working in the field of child protection on behalf of the World Academy for Local Government and Democracy (WALD).

On the first day of the training; the areas of responsibility and activities of UNHCR Turkey office and Istanbul Field office, international protection and general principles, and identification of vulnerable groups were discussed. In addition, concepts, legal frameworks, interview skills, best interests procedures, assessments and determinations within the scope of child protection education were evaluated.

On the second day of the training; the topics of the Best Interests Determination (BID), Comprehensive Best Interests Assessment (BIA) and UNHCR Cash programs were elaborated by UNHCR Istanbul Field Office experts via focusing on the six basic principles determined and internalized by UNHCR for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. The training given by UNHCR Istanbul Field Office experts was concluded with simulations of case studies