10th Anniversary of the CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk
This anniversary marked 10 years since the work of the Expert Group became a formal entity within the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the results of which included a standing budget and a Secretariat staff. A timeline was presented showing the work that took place starting in 1998, leading up to the group’s integration into the CBSS in 2002. The timeline also marked a number of key achievements during the previous 10 years.
The group named 5 of their main events during the year as anniversary events, thereby looking forward to the future of the work rather than focusing on the past.
ROBERT – Risk-taking in online behaviour
The reports of the project were finalised, producing four publications and two online resources. This project brought new insights and extended our knowledge of risk, harm and resilience factors influencing young people’s interaction online, the nature of their online behaviour and their strategies to stay safe.
AudTrain
The first AudTrain project came to an end and the final conference was held. AudTrain guides auditing teams in assessing how the relevant international, EU and national laws and regulations are translated into practice in the day-to-day work of the child welfare facility and to which extent the internal procedures and activities are in compliance with the law. Each audit is carried out in cooperation with the staff and management of the facility and is informed by the children staying at the facility. This project developed and piloted training material on system based audits of child welfare facilities in English, Estonian, Latvian, Russian.
Children trafficked for exploitation in begging and in criminality
This Swedish Institute funded project came to a close, producing its final report. Teams consisting of one prosecutor, one police officer, one child protection worker and one NGO expert from Poland, Norway, Lithuania and Sweden have made site visits to each country, discussing and exploring how children trafficked for exploitation in begging and in criminality are cared for and how the traffickers are prosecuted in the different countries.
Mapping of the situation in the region for legal guardians
CBSS member states responded to a questionnaire sent out by the Children at Risk Unit about the responsible authority, the regulations and the support available guiding the work of appointed legal guardians. This mapping formed the basis for a meeting organised on the subject in September 2012 inviting 15 experts from the region and from international organisations and NGOs. The meeting discussed training and recruitment initiatives, and resulted in recommendations to the Expert Group on this subject.
Expert group meetings
The Expert Group met twice during the year. First in Reykjavik 11-12 September 2002, which was the groups 10th Anniversary meeting. Then in Moscow during the year 30-31 May 2013.
