Supporting the empowerment and transition to autonomy of unaccompanied and separated youth in Belgium

The programme in Belgium led by the King Baudouin Foundation supports civil society organisations and public bodies with the aim to empower unaccompanied and separated youth in their transition to more autonomy and inclusion within the Belgian society.

In 2015, 5047 unaccompanied and separated children and youth were registered in Belgium, compared to 1780 the year before. The high arrivals have contributed to a situation that puts the inclusion of the children and youth into the Belgian society at risk. Individualised support responding to the needs of this vulnerable group has received less priority in a situation of emergency. Increasingly, unaccompanied and separated youth are pushed towards autonomy due to the lack of available places in reception structures. This leads to a transition towards a (semi-) autonomous living situation and housing which may be much too early for the youth concerned. The lack of specific social support in this critical period of their life can put them at risk, in a situation of marginalisation and/or exclusion from the system altogether.

Responding to the needs of unaccompanied and separated youth in Belgium, the programme aims to strengthen civil society organisations and the umbrella organisations of public centres for social welfare who have been identified as playing a key role in empowering unaccompanied children and youth in their transition to autonomy as follows:

• Strengthen and scale up the capacities of civil society organisationsin empowering the unaccompanied and separated children and youth in their transition towards autonomy.
• Raise awareness among the local public centres for social welfareto the necessity of a specific support and empowerment of this vulnerable group.
• Encourage the communication of good practices and the sharing of information between the public centres for social welfareon the issue of the support of unaccompanied and separated youth.
• Strengthen the capacities of the public centres for social welfarein their activities in supporting unaccompanied and separated children and youth in the transition towards autonomy. Train professionals who work with this vulnerable group with the aim to develop knowledge, skills and tools on the issue.
• Encourage partnerships between public institutions and civil society organisationson the issue.

Three projects led by five organisations are supported with funds of together 690,000 EUR in 2016-2018:

“Guidance for unaccompanied and separated children and youth towards autonomy”, Led by Mentor-Escale

“Eligo Plus”, Led by Minor-Ndako

“Supporting the empowerment and transition to autonomy of unaccompanied and separated children and youth”, Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten (VVSG), Union des Villes et Communes de Wallonie (UVCW), Brulocalis.