In light of children’s rights being completely disrespected in court proceedings, and the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their protection, the WAVE Network recognises the need to tackle the institutional capacity of different actors regarding child safeguarding policies. Therefore, the project “Safeguarding and Empowering Children” has been launched and it will last for the next two years (2022, 2023). 

WAVE members involved in the current project are the Autonomous Women’s House Zagreb (AZKZ) from Croatia, the Women For Women Together Against Violence Association (NANE) from Hungary, the Central Information Office of Autonomous Women’s Shelters (ZIF) from Germany and the Women’s Rights Foundation (WRF) from Malta. WAVE will furthermore include the expertise of Missing Children Europe, on a consultancy basis. 

Within the project “Safeguarding and Empowering Children”, a comprehensive child safeguarding framework for women’s specialist services (WSS) will be developed, which can be adapted to different national contexts. Also, it aims to strengthen international movement-building for more child-friendly custody proceedings in courts.  

The project goal is to secure that children are safe and can thrive whilst their mothers get supported by WSS and once they are ready to move on to a new life. Moreover, the aim is to raise awareness of a wide range of stakeholders from relevant sectors of activity (protection and social services, judiciary, and police among others) of children’s safeguarding and its effective implementation.

For more information on the project, feel free to contact Branislava Aradjan, WAVE Youth Ambassador Coordinator branislava.aradjan@wave-network.org