This chapter consists of three training sessions and focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an international treaty that sets out the human rights of children. 

You will explore the meaning of the UNCRC for the guardian and the child and learn to use the convention as a guide for assessing the child’s situation. This will help you to ensure that your actions and decisions as a guardian are based on the rights of the child.


This chapter consists of three training sessions and focuses on the mandate and tasks of guardians of unaccompanied children. 

You will become familiar with the guardian’s role as an advocate for the rights of the child. The guardian acts as a link between the child and relevant state agencies and services. 


This chapter consists of two training sessions and focuses on different assessments and decision-making processes that an unaccompanied child may go through from their arrival in a country to the identification and implementation of a durable solution. 

You will get to know the guardian’s role in promoting the best interests of the child in the context of administrative and judicial proceedings and formal decision-making processes. 


This is the final chapter of the training programme for guardians of unaccompanied children and consists of two training sessions. It explores support networks for guardians and clarifies the role of guardianship authorities and other competent authorities responsible for the organisation and supervision of guardianship services.

You will explore the topics of administration, accountability, professional and ethical standards for guardianship services, and the continuous learning and development of guardians.

This section is dedicated to trainers working with the trainers' manual for guardians of unaccompanied children and the associated training and learning platform. 


Guardianship Wheel is a systemic resource centre that provides information for trainers and trainees, and acting guardians. The interactive resource centre complements the training programme: each ‘wheel’ corresponds to a training session and facilitates access to background information, further reading and supporting material related to the themes addressed in the session.