Guardians – video sheds light on the needs of refugee children and their guardians

Press Release.

Brussels, 11/09/2025- Eurochild is proud to launch Guardians, a new video revealing the unique difficulties faced by unaccompanied children when arriving alone in a foreign country and by the guardians supporting them.

The video and interviews within it give voice to a guardian and a trainer from Ukraine who participated in our GUIDE Project trainings, which help guardians of unaccompanied children, especially of those with disabilities, to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to support those they care for. In the video, we hear their stories and reccomendations for better child protection across Europe.

“Many guardians feel overworked and insufficiently supported. While many EU states rely on NGOs to assist child refugees and their guardians, funding remains scarce. We urgently need more data and a better coordinated, sustainable system. Listening directly to guardians and hearing their everyday challenges first-hand has been crucial to understanding what must change.” – Davide Rambaldi, Eurochild Communications Coordinator.

“Children who arrive alone in a foreign country often face additional challenges, such as having disabilities, or as a result of trauma, developmental delays. Guardians are on the front line, often without the tools or resources they need to support those children. With GUIDE, we are working to tackle this lack of tools and training and provide a safe network for them to put the child’s best interests at the centre.” – Lyzaveta Drannikova, EASPD Policy & Project Officer

The GUIDE project specifically targets those working with children with disabilities or who are at risk of developmental delays, including children arriving from Ukraine and those evacuated from institutional care.

Watch the video on YouTube or below:

Click on CC to add subtitles in Bulgarian, English, Italian, Polish or Ukrainian.

For further information, get in touch with Davide Rambaldi, Eurochild Communications Coordinator.

GUIDE: Supporting Guardians of Unaccompanied Children (101141170).
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.