UNHCR Best Interests Procedure Guidelines, Assessing and Determining the Best Interests of the Child (UNHCR BIP Guidelines)
Child Identity Protection warmly welcomes the revised version of the UNHCR BIP Guidelines as an extremely important tool for assessing and determining the best interests of the child. It is filled with importance guidance notably meeting the child’s identity needs including “sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion and beliefs, cultural identity and personality.” In considering the child’s development and identity needs, a strong emphasis is made on understanding the child’s family environment, family relations and contacts. The Guidelines note “the feeling of being wanted and valued is the basis for a healthy emotional life. Such feelings are rooted in family relations and broaden as a person matures into increasingly larger circles that encompass relatives, peers, the community and society. The need to feel valued grows into a need to belong to social groups and have a place in society. It is therefore important to prevent possible uprooting effects of the BIP, in particular a BID decision. Continuity of contact with external surroundings, including people and places, has an extremely important psychological effect on the child’s development …”. Child Identity Protection hopes that these Guidelines will be widely used to achieve the best interests of the child, including meeting their identity needs.