The OSCE commitments recommend the appointment of “a legal guardian and/or legal representative at all stages of the child’s assistance, (re)integration and/or return”.237 While not mentioned in the UN Trafficking Protocol, the Legislative Guide to the Protocol encourages states to consider appointing, as soon as the child victim is identified, a guardian to accompany the child throughout the entire process until a durable solution in the best interests of the child has been identified and implemented. If possible, the same person should be assigned to the child victim throughout the entire process.238 In addition to the above, the Council of Europe Trafficking Convention requires that, as soon as an unaccompanied child is identified as a victim, a legal guardian, organization or authority be appointed to act in the best interests of the child.239 EU legislation also requires that a guardian be appointed to an unaccompanied child “where appropriate”,240 as well as to other children in cases when the holders of parental responsibility are unable to ensure the child’s best interests or to represent the child.241 Return as a durable solution The ultimate aim in assisting a child victim is to find a durable solution that addresses all their protection needs, taking into account the child’s views.242 A durable solution is a long-term arrangement for a child victim, and can include local integration, return to the country (or place) of origin or resettlement in a third country.243 The first step in finding a durable solution is to look at the possibility of family reunification.244 To honour the non-separation standard stipulated in the UNCRC,245 all efforts should be made to return the unaccompanied or separated child to her or his parents, except in cases when continued separation would actually be in the child’s best interests.246 To help states balance the child’s best interests with other factors, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has clarified that, in exceptional cases, return to the home country may be arranged also on the basis of rights-based considerations that override the best interests of the child, but only after carefully balancing the child’s best 237  2005 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan, Rec. 6. See also ICMPD TRM Guidelines, p. 37. 238  For more additional guidance on the responsibilities of guardians, see UNODC Legislative Guides, op. cit., note 229, para. 4.2. See also General Comment No. 6, para. 231. 239  EU Trafficking Directive 2011/36/EU, preamble para. 24 and art. 10(4)(a). 240  EU Trafficking Directive 2011/36/EU, art. 16(3). 241  EU Trafficking Directive 2011/36/EU, art. 14(2). 242  CRC General Comment No. 6, para. 79. 243  UNICEF Trafficking Guidelines, pp. 3, 28. See also UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR Guidelines on Determining the Best Interests of the Child, May 2008; and Field Handbook for the Implementation of the UNHCR BID Guidelines, UNHCR, 2011, pp. 50-52; 244  CRC General Comment No. 6, para. 79. 245  Art. 9 of the UNCRC. 246  CRC General Comment No. 6, paras. 81, 82. 72 Part 2: Explanatory Report to the Principles