Iraq - 27 October 2022
UNODC conducted a 3-day capacity-building workshop on ‘Psychosocial Assessment Processes for Children and Juveniles associated with Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups’ in coordination with the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA). The workshop represented a unique opportunity to strengthen the capacity of qualified professionals engaged in supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration of children and juveniles in Iraq with regard to psychosocial assessment.
Professionals face multiple challenges in relation to the provision of rehabilitation and reintegration services, including in understanding how to prepare, conduct, coordinate and use psychosocial assessment to respond to an essential duty: that of protecting society by meeting the needs of every child.
The STRIVE Juvenile team designed a capacity-building workshop with the aim of enhancing multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder cooperation in this area. Throughout the three-day discussions, socials workers, police investigators, judges were able to work together on child and juvenile assessments; to share their experience and knowledge; and to lay the foundations for future cooperation.
Cross-coordination between agencies and institutions is crucial for the implementation of a child- and gender sensitive approach to individual assessment processes that supports effective planning for rehabilitation and reintegration.
Key learning from the workshop included how to ensure that individual assessment processes promote and preserve protective factors; and recognize children and juveniles’ specific rights, developmental stages and experiences of violence.
Children and juveniles associated with terrorists and violent extremist groups must urgently be treated in accordance with their rights and supported to rehabilitate and reintegrate so that they may become constructive citizens and, ultimately, contribute to long-lasting peace and security.
STRIVE Juvenile is a five-year project supported by the European Union that aims to address child association with terrorist and violent extremist groups and its consequences for the lives of children and society at large.
More Information
www.unodc.org/strive-juvenile ; www.unodc.org/endvac ; https://ct-morse.eu/projects/
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