Coram International was co-funded by the EU’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Fund for a two-year project to develop training on child-friendly communication skills and child-rights informed practices for those working with children in justice, detention and residential care settings. These training materials are available for use, free of charge.
This project is co-funded by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union and part funded by the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust and involves partners from ten European countries:
Coram Children’s Legal Centre and Coram Voice from the UK, FICE Bulgaria, Czech Helsinki Committee, the University College Cork, Children of Slovakia Foundation, Estonian Centre for Human Rights, European Roma Rights Centre (Hungary), Fondazione L’Albero della Vita (Italy), Empowering Children Foundation (Poland), Social Educational Action (Greece), and FCYA Hungary.
International standards, and many national laws, recognise that children and young people have a right to express their views – and to have their wishes and feelings reflected in decisions affecting them.
We engaged with over 60 children when developing these materials. The image is a ‘word cloud’ showing their thoughts and experiences of communication and interaction with professionals.
Unlocking Children’s Rights is an innovative training resource, which has been successfully piloted across Europe. It enables professionals and practitioners working with children to:
- Strengthen their skills and knowledge of children’s rights
- Enable children and young people to express their views
- Communicate effectively and sensitively with children and young people in a professional context
- Ensure children participate meaningfully in decisions affecting them
The modules are all available for download below and are:
- Module 1: Introduction to child rights
- Module 2: Introduction to child development and communication
- Module 3: Communication skills
- Module 4: The child-friendly justice guidelines
Project partners
Guidance for using the training materials
Facilitator’s guide
The facilitators’ guide provides detailed instructions on how to deliver each module and activity of the training materials.
Participant workbooks and PowerPoint slides
Module IM – Introductory Module
Module 1 – Introduction to Child Rights
Module 2 – Introduction to Child Development and Communication
Module 3 – Communication Skills
Module 4 – The Child-friendly Justice Guidelines
Closing Module
Additional resources
This project is co-funded by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union.
The project is also part funded by the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust.
Please note: the contents of this publication and webpage are the sole responsibility of Coram Children’s Legal Centre and project partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.