On 11-12 October the Council of Europe organised a two-day workshop on effective guardianship, bringing together around 30 participants from national authorities.

The participants included representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Office of the Human Rights Defender, self-government bodies from several communities in Armenia, and civil society representatives.

The workshop aimed to improve the understanding and implementation of guardianship for children, including unaccompanied and separated children.

It covered key topics such as international and domestic legal frameworks regulating guardianship, its procedural application in Armenia, and specific considerations in migration and post-crisis contexts.

A particular emphasis of the discussion was on the "best interest of the child" principle and on the co-ordination among state authorities involved in guardianship processes.

Through this initiative the Council of Europe aimed to strengthen co-operation between relevant authorities on protecting vulnerable children while also ensuring effective application of the European human rights standards on guardianship.

The workshop was organised within the framework of the project “Protecting the Rights of Armenian Children in Post-Conflict Context”, which is part of the Council of Europe comprehensive response package to the refugee influx in Armenia in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan 2023-2026.