Every child and every teenager who arrives in Italy seeking refuge must be protected. As minors, each of them has the right to be supported by a guardian who supervises and guarantees respect for the rights attributed to them by law.

Before the Law No. 47/2017 was instituted, this task was generally entrusted to the institutional guardian, who could be the Mayor of the municipality where the minor had been accepted, the Councilor or other institutional actors. The institutional guardian, however - due to the high number of minors that he or she was often called to support - was not always able to guarantee an accompaniment based on an in-depth knowledge of the child.

Law no. 47/2017 has introduced - on the basis of previous good practices spread in some parts of the national territory - the figure of the voluntary guardian, calling on private citizens to fill this role in a more direct and effective way. The voluntary guardian is in fact called to be the new point of reference for unaccompanied foreign minors, facilitating their growth in the host society and overseeing the protection of their rights.

More than 3,000 people have already manifested their will to become voluntary guardians and dedicate part of their time to improving the life of one of the almost 19,000 unaccompanied foreign minors present in Italy.  This guide was designed to provide support to them as well as any future volunteers.