The Regional Child Protection Operational Note has been developed by IOM and UNICEF’s Regional and Country Offices in North, West and Central Africa as a collaborative inter-agency and cross-regional endeavour within the framework of the sixth phase of the IOM Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) for North Africa, a regional initiative funded by the European Union through the Directorate‑General for Migration and Home Affairs and the Italian Ministry of Interior.

The Regional Child Protection Operational Note is a multifaceted, dynamic and practical tool to help stakeholders and child protection practitioners in North Africa and key countries across the migratory route, such as the Niger and Mauritania, to improve the protection of children on the move with a focus on cross‑border coordination and continuum of care.

Based on the inter-agency child protection case management guidance and key child protection frameworks the note will assist front-line and child protection practitioners on mechanisms to case transfer, service mapping and understanding legal frameworks for child protection along the route, it includes a series of thematic focuses on cross‑border coordination and continuum of care, the right to identity and birth registration, the best interests of the child and legal guardianship, sustainable solutions, alternative care and child smuggling and trafficking – it stock takes and includes best practices and operational resources across the tool to help practitioners in their day to day work and cross-border cooperation for the protection of children on the move.