Between 2017 and 2020, IOM has provided direct assistance to 3,746 migrant children, including 1,205 Unaccompanied or Separated Children (UAS).
These children on the move, mostly originating from West Africa, may be migrating with their family or alone to reach North Africa, the Middle East and Europe, but most often are returning to Niger after a failed migration experience.

IOM works closely with the juvenile court system in Niger to ensure that the protection and rights of migrant children are upheld, including the best interests of the child. Beyond direct assistance and care, IOM's child protection assistance aims to support and strengthen the institutional capacity of the state in Niger to protect children on the move. It is within this framework that IOM organized a capacity building training on 25 - 27 May 2021 for 11 juvenile judges, 5 magistrates and 6 prosecutors of courts located along the migration routes.

The training was based on a needs assessment among judges in juvenile courts and key actors in child protection. It accompanies the launch of a recently published Guide on Child Mobility for Juvenile Judges in Niger. The objective of this guide is to provide a centralized reference point to assist children on the move, in particular unaccompanied migrant children.

"We wanted to create a practical tool that would inform any newly appointed judge about the protection of children on the move, within the migration context in Niger, to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children are taken care off in line with relevant laws to ensure their protection," explained Eva Pons, IOM’s Protection Officer in Niger.

The training, organized at the National School of Judicial Training of Niger aimed both at disseminating the guide and at promoting the exchange of good practices among magistrates.
"Since I was appointed, I have received little training on child protection and there is no platform for exchanges between juvenile judges," notes one of the juvenile judges participating in the training.

“Unaccompanied migrant children are a vulnerable group, facing many dangers such as human trafficking, sexual abuse, forced labour and exploitation to name only few. They deserve special attention and protection” stressed M. Moussa Tsahirou Tchida, Vice Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. “Tragedies such as the death of 52 children in the Sahara desert in 2013 in Niger remind us of our responsibility and of the need to protect migrant children” he added.

This initiative is carried out within the framework of the project "Protection and assistance to vulnerable children and migrants returned from Algeria to Niger", financed by the Government of Italy in support of the Directorate of Judicial and Juvenile Protection of the Ministry of Justice.

For more information, please contact Dorothée Thiénot at IOM Niger, Tel : +227 80 06 65 89 / Email : dthienot@iom.int