INTRODUCTION 1 1.5. Objectives of the Practical Guide A. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE of this Guide is to enhance the conditions of deprivation of liberty for children by providing monitoring bodies with a practical tool that will contribute to the improvement of their capacity to effectively and adequately prevent any risk and forms of abuse or violations of the rights of children deprived of liberty; and to reinforce the dignity and the respect of the fundamental rights of children deprived of their liberty. B. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE: ʺʺ To emphasise the relevant international and regional standards that relate to the rights of children deprived of their liberty and to independent monitoring of places where they are held for any kind of reasons; ʺʺ To raise awareness of the different mechanisms regarding the important – preventive and protective / investigative – role they can play in monitoring places where children are deprived of their liberty; ʺʺ To identify the basic principles of monitoring and the practical aspects of deprivation of liberty of children to focus on when performing the visits; ʺʺ To provide practical and methodological guidance to effectively prepare, conduct and follow up the monitoring visits of places where children can be deprived of their liberty; ʺʺ To highlight how monitoring reports and effective recommendations can prevent any form of abuse of children’s rights and initiate changes within institutions through a process of constructive dialogue; ʺʺ To promote effective communication and cooperation between national, regional and international monitoring bodies regarding the monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty of children. 21