DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (DCI) - Belgium | Practical Guide AUTHORS & PROJECT This Practical Guide was written by Sarah Grandfils under the supervision of Benoît Van Keirsbilck, Director of Defence for Children International (DCI) - Belgium and president of DCI-International. The redaction was moreover supported by the expertise of the 14 partners and associated partners from across Europe and the multidisciplinary team of 11 high level international experts of the EU funded project “Children’s Rights Behind Bars”. Members of the team of DCI - Belgium have also strongly contributed to the conception and the elaboration of this Guide, in particular Andrea Salcedo Caja and Pierre-Yves Rosset. This Guide is the main outcome of the project “Children’s Rights Behind Bars”. The origin of this project derived from the statement that monitoring mechanisms that carry out visits to the different kind of places where children are deprived of their liberty (in Europe), had no child specific Guidelines that could be used as a particular reference in the preparation, implementation and follow up of their monitoring visits. The project therefore aims to provide monitoring professionals with a practical and methodological tool that is specific to children and to places where they are deprived of their liberty. In order to conceive this Guide in the most pragmatic manner possible, the project was designed so that it began with field research conducted in parallel in 13 EU countries and in Serbia to get an overview of practices and functioning of existing monitoring and complaint mechanisms. This research study resulted in 14 national reports as well as a European overview summary thereof. The Guide is therefore based on these achievements and on the expertise, multidisciplinary competences, reflections, and work carried out jointly by the whole project team at three international seminars and through numerous exchanges between partners and the contributions of experts throughout the project. Defence for Children International (DCI) - Belgium is the lead partner of this project. The purpose behind the work of DCI-Belgium is to protect and defend children’s rights in Belgium as well as in other countries working together with the national sections comprised of a network of 47 partners through-out the world and other associated members. DCI main actions include: training, education and awareness raising; taking action when children’s rights are being infringed and provide oversight and monitoring on Belgium’s respect for the fundamental rights of children. Their main fields of intervention are: juvenile justice and children’s access to justice; children’s deprivation of liberty; rights of children on the move; children’s right to participation and to freedom of expression. All outcomes of this project are available on the website: www.childrensrightsbehindbars.eu 4