830 refugee children from Ukraine were registered in Primero during the first week after launch

BUCHAREST, 3 August 2022 – After the launch of Primero one week ago – the internationally known child protection case management software – so far 830 children fleeing the war from Ukraine to Romania have been successfully registered in the platform. Primero is an open-source software helping outreach workers identify and register refugee children and to refer them to specialized services as needed. Primero also allows the early identification of potential situations of abuse, neglect or trafficking, and to adopt all necessary measures to secure and protect the rights of the child.  

Most of the children registered in the first week were in the counties of Timiș (93), Arad (84), and Sector 2 of Bucharest (82 children registered). A total of 37,000 Ukrainian refugee children are estimated to be presently in Romania. Some children came with their families, some with other persons except their families or even unaccompanied.

Using Primero, the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption is enabled to rapidly identify, register and monitor all children coming from Ukraine to Romania, either when temporarily living in the country or simply transiting.

"Using the Primero app, the information about organized accommodation places or communities hosting families with Ukrainian children or Ukrainian children accompanied by adults other than their parents will be centralized.

In addition to identifying and registering Ukrainian refugee children in Romania, the application allows access to essential child protection services, including monitoring and family reunification services, so that we can help these children get as easily as possible through this traumatic experience in their lives", said Gabriela Firea, Minister of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities.

„Since the first days of the war, UNICEF has been working closely with the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equality of Oppotunities and the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption to ensure refugee children are adequately protected. Introducing Primero is one critical step in providing children and their families with the protection and the services they need since registering and monitoring children is an important piece of this work. Jointly with our many partners, we will continue to support the authorities throughout the crisis”, said Gabriel Vockel, UNICEF Representative a.i. in Romania.

The Primero team in the field comprises so far 317 trained users, responsible for the identification and registration of children.  Also, 47 county coordinators help generating county-level reports. The identification and registration will only be conducted based on consent. After the initial evaluation and assessing the risk level, each child is referred to the institutions that can provide the needed services, such as county directorates for children protection, directorates for social protection, immigration authorities etc.