Action
UNICEF Romania is appreciated as an ‘honest’ broker, sometimes required when bringing together government and non-governmental organisations, private and public institution donors, assistance agencies, children and decision-makers. In this context, at the request of the Ministry of Justice, UNICEF played a unique role in helping to develop consensus and advancing an agenda for justice for children in Romania. At the same time, UNICEF was asked to leverage the use of EU funding allocated for the reform of the Romanian juvenile justice system, by providing up-to-date evidence-based information in child-related justice areas. Some significant achievements were presented as contributions for system reform in four other countries, as models of good practice (technical round table organised by UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS with participants from 13 countries), and representatives of regional and global partners and international experts will share recent experiences and propose recommendations on the reform of Juvenile Justice in CEE/CIS for the coming years.
Technical assistance for system strengthening
Following a strategic planning process, UNICEF contributed to the following reform outputs:
- “Practices and Norms in the Juvenile Justice System in Romania” situation analysis;
- New legislation package on the Promotion and Protection of Child Rights, including specific chapters on justice for children and secondary legislation represented by Minimum Standards of Care for Children in Conflict with the Law and Below the Age of Criminal Responsibility as Specialized Residential Services and Day Centre;
- The National Strategy for the Promotion and Protection of Child Rights and Operational Plan includes strategies and activities to contribute to the reform of the juvenile justice system;
- Guide on Institutional Practices Developed in Juvenile Cases;
- “Children in Conflict with the Law – Country Analytical Report” prepared by the National Institute for Statistics as part of the 2006 MONEE data collection.
Capacity building of professionals in various sectors
UNICEF’s objectives in this regard included strengthening the capacity of juvenile justice professionals to apply international juvenile justice standards, and the capacity of such professionals and National Authority staff to apply a ‘restorative justice’ approach. Three types of training took place: training specifically on restorative justice; training of judges, and local inter-sectoral training designed to promote team-work and develop awareness of international standards and best practices.
