Return Counselling of Children and Their Families

The Return Counselling Toolkit is a capacity-building instrument aimed at providing a harmonized and coherent approach to return counselling, based on key migrant-centred principles while protecting migrants’ rights. Mindful of the specific needs and rights pertaining to children, this additional module on counselling children and families further complements the first five modules of the Return Counselling Toolkit. It provides specialized guidance on how to prepare and deliver return counselling to accompanied, unaccompanied and separated children while upholding child rights and safeguards.

The module has been developed in collaboration with UNICEF and Save the Children and represents a collective effort to promote rights-based and child-sensitive return counselling for children and families. The module targets a wide range of stakeholders involved in the direct provision of return counselling assistance at various levels and stages, and it also provides useful insights to professionals supporting migrant children and families in return processes.