A guide to an adolescent-led resource centre: Experiences from Kjustendil

The Guide on how to run a resource centre focuses on prevention efforts among vulnerable children and young people and their families. Children at risk and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that employment and bett er life await them in other countries. Our experience has shown that raising awareness through education, information events and school and community activities proved to be important and empowering. Yet it is only a small step to address factors contributing to trafficking. The various activities of the Resource Centre aim at increasing resilience of adolescents and equip them with knowledge about child abuse, traffickers’ scams and their rights as children. Children and adolescents learn to make a difference between safe and unsafe migration, they understand how to avoid risk areas and achieve safety in community. As a result of their visits in the Resource Centre, they re-think the value of education and the importance of school and job skills that allow them to earn income safely. This Guide aims to be a practical tool for NGOs and practitioners to assist them designing and implementing programmes that address the needs of children at risk of trafficking. The Resource Centre in Kjustendil, Bulgaria, where the model has been implemented, has shown promising results with children who have dropped schools, children from disadvantaged parts of community or simply neglected children. This experience is shared to serve as a reference for setting up support services and specificactions in other communities. It can be of use to policy makers, social workers and practitioners responsible for protecting children at risk and assisting child victims of trafficking.