M.A.P.NET: Improved reception and protection system for unaccompanied and separated children at risk of trafficking and exploitation

M.A.P.NET is a partnership between Sicily, Puglia, Marche and Lazio involving eight bodies, institutions and civil society organizations with a common goal: developing a specific host system, able to respond effectively and timely to the needs of children at risk of trafficking.

The adoption of tools for identifying and taking care of migrant girls and boys at risk of trafficking are crucial to put in place the necessary protective measures: from the moment of arrival, the team must be able to recognize possible indicators of trafficking. Through a systematic action, M.A.P.NET supports the various actors’ work involved in this process: municipal structures and reception centres’ operators, volunteer guardians, teachers and students who welcome migrant children, young people in solidarity groups who are active at a local level, representatives of the municipal administrations and relevant authorities as well as sNigerian civil society representatives, important reference points for effective actions of prevention.

The project carries out an integrated approach focused on the training of about 400 operators, capacity building in supporting local governments, the experimentation of new model of reception for girls in particular, the exchange of practices and methods, networking and monitoring.

The project partners are also involved in a programme of action/research run at an inter-regional level and disclosed at national level whose objective is to enhance the dynamics and methods of intervention in the field and evaluate the action impact and its capacity of multiplication.

Project partners: Associazione Migralab A. Sayad Onlus, Associazione Penelope Coordinamento Solidarietà Sociale, Comune di Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Comune di Messina – Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali, Comune di Milazzo, Comune di Palermo – Assessorato alla Cittadinanza Sociale, Gruppo Umana Solidarietà