Member

The General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection was established with the Presidential Decision 77/2023 (Government Gazette A' 130/ 27-06-2023) to which the services of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors of article 39 of the P.D. 106/2020 were transferred and falls under the responsibilities of the Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum. The General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection, as the competent authority for all the issues regarding the unaccompanied minors in the country, has as its strategic objective the planning, implementation and supervision of the National Strategy for the protection of unaccompanied minors, as well as other policies and interventions to ensure the protection of unaccompanied and separated children, third-country nationals or stateless persons who are in Greece. Its responsibilities regarding unaccompanied minors include: - Management of accommodation and relocation requests for unaccompanied minors: It coordinates the referral, accompaniment, and integration procedures of minors into accommodation facilities. It manages the requests for accommodation and especially the process of finding accommodation positions suitable for the needs of each minor. It initiates, registers and implements quality standards for procedures with regards to unaccompanied minors in Greece. It coordinates all necessary actions for the implementation of initiatives and programs for the reception and hosting of unaccompanied minors in Greece, in the context of international treaties and other joint international initiatives, such as the voluntary relocation program. - Conduct and evaluation of hosting facilities and supervised apartments for minors. In relation to this area, it has the following responsibilities: It defines quality standards of operation for hosting facilities and supervised apartments. It also monitors the implementation of quality standards and conducts on-site inspections in collaboration with state and other organizations. It develops and implements tools and methods to evaluate the quality of service provided to minors in the context of their accommodation. It designs and implements interventions to improve the quality of service provided to minors. It also supports service providers and staff in their roles. It maintains the register of hosting centers and supervised apartments for unaccompanied minors. - Support with regards to social integration of unaccompanied minors: It plans, implements and evaluates programs and actions in collaboration with government and private organization to ensure and facilitate the integration of unaccompanied minors in Greek society. It identifies and applies efficient solutions with regards to finding family members of unaccompanied minors, as well as procedures for family reunification, voluntary return to their home countries and relocation to other countries. To this end, it collaborates with competent authorities, international organizations and certified organizations in Greece. It designs and implements campaigns in order to raise awareness for the issue of unaccompanied minors in Greece and highlights the importance of the protection of unaccompanied minors. It collaborates with other competent services with regards to actions for reception, integration and protection of unaccompanied minors. - Safeguard of the institutional protection of unaccompanied minors. In relation to this key area: It coordinates the action plans and services of government and private organizations with regards to key focus areas such as accommodation, health, education and employment. It designs the legislation context, instructions, procedures and practical processes that relate to identify areas of improvement and develop further the existing context of intuitional protection of unaccompanied minors. It proposes legislative and administrative measures that assist in the implementation of the National Strategy for unaccompanied minors. It proposes deliberations for issues that pertain to the protection, social integration and the protection of the well-being of unaccompanied minors. It collaborates with local and central government authorities for the implementation of the objectives of the National Strategy for unaccompanied minors.