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| Current Issues | No.62 October 2011 |

Migration and the Protection of Minors, in particular children in sports
Speech for the Joint Meeting of the EPAS Governing Board and Consultative Committee, Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 7 June 2011)
The United Nations Children`s Fund, UNICEF, is the leading advocate for children`s rights, active in 190 countries through country programmes and national committees. UNICEF`s mission is to advocate for the protection of children`s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We work for the Millennium Development Goals and for the progress promised in the United Nations Charter. We work to hold everyone accountable to the promises made for children.
UNICEF has long recognised that there is great value in children`s sport and play, and has been a consistent proponent of these activities in its international development and child protection work. Sport can be a vehicle to promote peace, reconciliation and capacity-building. UNICEF believes that through sport, recreation and play, children and adolescents learn to exercise judgement and think critically while finding solutions to problems.
Sport promotes the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play, teaching teamwork, self-discipline, trust, respect for others, leadership and coping skills. Essential to ensuring that children develop into responsible and caring individuals, sport and recreation help young people meet the challenges they face and prepare them to assume leadership roles within their communities. In times of conflict, post-conflict and emergencies, sport, recreation and play can provide children and adolescents with a sense of hope and normalcy.
During recent years, however, it has become evident that sport is not always a safe space for children, and that the same types of violence and abuse sometimes found in families and communities can also occur in sport and play programmes. Regrettably, research evidence indicates that sport is not immune from issues such as sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, bullying, physical violence and commercial exploitation. The evidence of violence against children in sport is undeniable.
There is a need for balance between individual rights and adult and state responsibilities in sport. Too often, children with exceptional athletic potential are treated as adults. This has serious consequences for the realisation of their human rights and their access to legal processes and mechanisms of protection and defence – which might be more accessible to them in non-sporting contexts.
The issue is whether children and young people in sports are regarded as athletes first and children second. The visibility and commercial rewards of competing at the elite level might exacerbate emotional abuses because gifted young athletes are increasingly pressured to train harder. Parents, and caregivers have consistently emerged in the research literature as one of the most significant positive influences on children`s play and sport. There are cases, however, where parents put excessive pressure on their children to excel, through abusive and violent behaviour towards children. As children`s involvement in elite sport grows ever more intense, some may be drawn into using performance-enhancing drugs, or doping, to improve their performance. Some have argued that sport is a form of social control and a tool for positive socialisation, but it is not clear that sport necessarily diverts youth from using drugs.
Trafficking in the context of sport involves the sale of child athletes, usually across borders and for profit. This has been described as a new form of child slavery that leaves players in a precarious legal position. There are known cases of child trafficking in baseball, football and in use of camel jockeys, but finding systematic data on the practice is a challenge. Unofficial, and therefore unregulated, football training centres test young players, who are then recruited or discarded. These players may become involved in illegal migration or be traded from club to club. In the worst case scenario, they end up in some European country with no resources, no support, and become involved in illegal activities in order to survive.
After years of denial, most sport agencies in industrialised countries have recognised that sexual violence against children in sport is an issue they need to address. Studies suggest that talented athletes at or around puberty who have not yet achieved elite status are more vulnerable to sexual abuse by an authority figure. The perpetrators of sexual violence against children in sport have been identified as primarily authority figures, particularly coaches, but also team doctors, physiotherapists, trainers and counsellors.
Sport generates billions of Euros and receives considerable media attention. Yet, violence prevention, child protection, and measures to safeguard the well-being of children are generally not embedded in sport delivery systems. Many industrialised countries have yet to recognise the need to strengthen child safety and violence prevention measures within sport. There is also a lack of coordination between governments and sport NGOs on the subject of violence against children in sport. To address these gaps, steps need to be taken in broad categories such as improved data collection and knowledge sharing; strengthened structures and systems; increased education, awareness-raising and training; and creating of ethical guidelines and codes of conduct.
Until recently, few of the international organisations and Sport for Development Organisations had introduced explicit measures to protect child athletes from violence. A number of violence prevention initiatives have been introduced in international sport, some of which apply to child athletes. Nonetheless, Sport Associations need to clarify the objectives of codes of conduct aimed towards preventing violence against children in sport. National governing bodies of sports or clubs should define and raise standards of conduct associated with violence against children. These include the modalities of their sending scouts abroad in search of young talents, the information provided to the families, the organisation of trips for try-outs, the negotiation of contracts, the return to their country of origin of young players who were not successful with a sport club, and many more aspects.
Education on topics such as neglect, physical and psychological abuse, trafficking and exploitation in sport is lacking for several key stakeholder groups, including athletes, policymakers, support personnel, officials and sport managers. In addition, the child athlete`s voice is still largely unheard. Those charged with policy responsibilities for children and young people need information on children`s rights and protection in sport. UNICEF advocates for strong regulations, monitoring and reporting, as well as efficient grievance mechanisms available and accessible for children.
As previously said, sport generates billions of Euros and therefore attracts dubious individuals willing to go to great lengths to exploit this potential. Children and their families – especially those from the South – can fall prey to such schemes. For that reason, UNICEF welcomes the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport`s Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to member states on protection of minors and youngsters against issues related to migrations in sport. There is certainly a need for more regulations, monitoring, and implementation in the field of migration in sport. UNICEF was pleased to see that the proposed guidelines cover a wide spectrum of situations such as the massive drain of talent from Southern countries; the exploitation of the vulnerability or inexperience of young sportsmen and women by agents, clubs, intermediaries or even families; and human trafficking.
Indeed, when considering the topic of migration in sport and the protection of minors and youngsters, it is not enough to focus on taking appropriate measures to prevent the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form. States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child also agreed to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
UNICEF wishes to join forces with the Council of Europe and relevant stakeholders in addressing these issues. In relation thereto I would like to highlight a recent related initiative. Since June 2010, UNICEF, Save the Children and the United Nations Global Compact have been leading an initiative to develop a set of Principles for Business on Children`s Rights. The principles build on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, International Labour Organisation Conventions, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as the Global Compact Principles. These principles call on business everywhere to respect and support children`s rights and avoid complicity in children`s rights abuses. The principles are also relevant to the activities of sport clubs and associations.
With reference to the latter, UNICEF also just developed technical guidance notes on required standards of care and protective systems to address the vulnerabilities of children recruited to European Football Clubs and Academies. UNICEF will use these technical guidelines and other protective recommendations to support international sport clubs and associations in the development of their understanding and analysis of the risks and protection issues raised by current processes intrinsic to the recruitment and relocation of child athletes.
UNICEF has over the years built a solid relationship with government officials and a variety of partners in the world of sport. Through these contacts, UNICEF can sensitise and advise decision-makers, major sport associations and clubs on the need to take measures for the prevention, identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment. UNICEF will also gladly bring its expertise on children`s rights and the circumstances leading young athletes from the South to risk everything in the hope of a better future in Europe.
In conclusion, UNICEF expresses its strong support for the Recommendations on the protection of minors and youngsters against issues related to migration in sport, and is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with the Enlarged Partial agreement on Sport and the Committee of Ministers in the path leading to the implementation of the Recommendations.

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