Brussels, 19 November – Missing Children Europe successfully completed a two-day train-the-trainer event which brought together more than 40 mediators and international family law experts from across Europe. This extensive, collaborative exchange aimed at strengthening access to mediation for people experiencing international family conflict, namely by improving collaboration across borders while prioritising the best interests of children.
Hosted in the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU, participants from ten countries came together to share best practices and methodologies on international family mediation from around the world. Notably, this included representatives from Bulgaria, France, Italy, and Poland who presented research from their respective countries, detailing progress and challenges in setting up pre-mediation desks—an essential mechanism to support families navigating complex cross-border situations.
The establishment of these desks, alongside the Train-the-Trainer event, is an important milestone for the iCare2 project—an EU-funded initiative dedicated to improving access to high-quality mediation for people experiencing cross-border family conflicts, such as international child abduction or disputes related to child custody. Through the pre-mediation desks, offering professional training to mediators, and facilitating collaboration among key stakeholders across Europe, iCare2 is offering families more effective, child-focused pathways to resolving disputes, while reducing trauma and promoting long-term wellbeing.
To this end, Missing Children Europe welcomed a diverse group of attendees, including representatives of national Central Authorities, the French Ministry of Justice, the International Social Service network, and the European Parliament’s Vice President office, alongside international family mediators and other specialised organisations active in the field of child protection across the continent.
Through the exchange of national resources, cross-disciplinary perspectives, and practical experiences, this train-the-trainer event reinforced collective knowledge and enhanced professional capacities, supporting Europe-wide efforts to advance safe, child-centred approaches to international family mediation.
To close out the event, Fiona McAuslan, the director of the Irish Family Mediation Services, had this to say: “If you want to understand where the culture of mediation and conflict resolution really comes from, it’s from knowing that – at the end of the day – there has to be conversation. It comes from the fact that it’s always the people that resolve the issues, not the issues that define the people.“
The project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Justice Programme. It is implemented by a consortium led by Defence for Children International – Italy, in partnership with Missing Children Europe, the Law and Internet Foundation (Bulgaria), Droit d’Enfance (France), the ITAKA Foundation (Poland), the University of Genova (Italy), Jagiellonian University (Poland), and Paris-Saclay University (France).