Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The Fund aims to further boost national capacities and improve procedures for migration management, as well as to enhance solidarity and responsibility sharing between Member States, in particular through emergency assistance and the relocation mechanism.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The objective of the topic is to stimulate and support capacity building and the sharing of experience among national authorities and other stakeholders on how to conduct age assessment in line with the multi-disciplinary approach required by Article 25 of the Asylum Procedures Regulation (2024/1348). (’APR’).
The number of migrant children arriving to the EU unaccompanied or separated from their parents has been again on the rise over the last years. Upon arrival on EU territory, it is important to promptly identify among the migrants the children who are travelling unaccompanied or separated from their families. When unaccompanied children are not identified promptly after arrival, they may face inadequate reception conditions, not receive the specific representation and support that they need, or they may even face administrative detention in relation to their migration status, along with adults. They will also be at greater risk of falling into the hands of traffickers or becoming victims of crime or exploitation.
The identity and age of migrant children is often unclear, as many arrive without documentation. Determining the age of the person is essential in order to be able to channel the person to the appropriate procedure and reception. When there are substantiated doubts about an applicant’s age, the authorities may carry out a so-called “age assessment” – defined as “the process by which authorities seek to establish the chronological age, or range of age, of a person in order to determine whether an individual is a child or not”. The surge in the arrival of unaccompanied migrant children in the last few years also had an impact on the way in which age assessments were carried out in the Member States. Α sufficient coordination mechanism on national level for taking into account the input from different experts should be in place while implementing the multidisciplinary approach.
Despite the existing guidance on age assessment, it is clear from the Member States feedback that for a more harmonised approach across the EU and for getting Pact-ready, further support for building capacity and enhancing knowledge about multidisciplinary age assessment is needed.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should include activities aimed at increasing the capacity and knowledge amongst relevant actors, such as the determining authorities within the meaning of the APR, but also other bodies and professionals conducting age assessments and otherwise being involved in any way in the age assessment process (for example, guardianship services, insofar as guardians must assist the persons during the age assessment procedure):
- Capacity building for offering training to multidisciplinary teams combining professionals from various fields (e. g psychologists, education or child protection specialists, social workers, cultural mediators, paediatricians etc.) who will be tasked to carry out multi disciplinary age assessment under the new requirements of the Asylum Procedure Regulation 2024/1348.
- Developing training modules and/or (physical presence or online) knowledge sharing platforms for professionals conducting age assessment under the multidisciplinary method.
- Study visits and exchange programs for allowing peer to peer learning of national authorities or other entities involved in applying the multi-disciplinary age assessment method;
- Developing recommendations, guidance, SOPs and/or workflows for national authorities and professionals responsible for applying the multi-disciplinary age assessment method that are consistent with the EUAA guidelines;
- Developing practical non-invasive age assessment tools, including introducing new (digital) tools that could be used in age determination process, while maintaining Hight ethical standards (e.g age-assessment checklists, interview techniques tailored to minors, tools for cognitive testing or developmental assessments etc).
- Conferences/workshops/seminars/thematic meetings to advance the knowledge about the multidisciplinary age assessment methodology or relevant methods, and to facilitate communication between different stakeholders involved in age assessment.
The list above is not exhaustive or cumulative, and proposals may include other actions beyond those listed above: Proposal should clearly lay down how the actions will serve to build capacity, enhance knowledge and increase the exchange of good practices among national authorities in the EU about multidisciplinary age assessment methods. Good practices, trainings and any other relevant activities referred under this topic should relate to one or several areas where support is need – see illustrative list mentioned in the descriptive part above.
The proposed activities should exclusively focus on the multi-disciplinary method and the use of non-invasive methods of age assessment.
Additional considerations:
The European Commission welcomes:
- proposals with broad geographical scope engaging applicants from relevant partners from national, regional and local levels across the EU.
- proposals involving applicants from more Member States than the minimum number identified in the eligibility criteria, as long as they are relevant for the design of the action.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
90%
Thematic Categories
- Migration and Citizenship
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- International Organisations
- Local Authorities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities: be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)), excluding Denmark
- non-EU countries:
- countries associated to the AMIF (associated countries) or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature
Consortium composition – Proposals must be submitted by:
- minimum three applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from at least two different participating Member States.
- Affiliated entities and international organisations cannot be counted for reaching the minimum number of participating Member States
- There must be at least one national authority in charge of age assessment per participating Member State (the determining authorities with the meaning of the APR, e.g. responsible ministry/body entrusted by the competent authority’s mandate, depending on the national structure)
- the following entities can NOT apply as coordinator or co-beneficiary: profit making entities
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Interior
Contact persons
Doris Constantinou
Administrative Officer
Telephone: 22 409904
Email: dconstantinou@moi.gov.cy
Christina Hadjieconomou
Administrative Officer
Telephone: 22 409944
Email: chadjieconomou@papd.mof.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
For help related to this call, please contact: HOME-AMIF-UNION-ACTIONS@ec.europa.eu