Europe Group: Have Your Say

YOU and THE EU: Having your say on the European Union and Children's Rights

Welcome!

What is this all about?

In February 2006 Save the Children (SC) members in Europe initiated a Child Participation Project (capacity building and advocacy), the aim of which is to take advantage of specific opportunities within the EU and among SC members to highlight the importance and benefits of children’s participation. Activities so far include consultation with children on two key EC policy documents and the European Parliament’s Report on the Rights of the Child; organisation of an online live debate with Commissioner Wallström; a training on child participation for EU officials; facilitation of children’s participation in the European Parliament Hearing on the Rights of the Child; and advocating meaningful and safe children’s participation with the European Commission in collaboration with the NGO Action Group on Children’s Rights.

The main forthcoming priorities are children’s participation in the European Forum on the Rights of the Child and the consultation on the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child.

Recent events and publications

"You could always begin by listening to us" - consultation with children and young people on the EU’s forthcoming strategy on children’s rights. Read more and download the report here: http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/where_we_work/europegrp_adults.html

European Parliament Hearing on the Rights of the Child – On 17 April, the European Parliament held a public hearing on the EU strategy for children's rights. The hearing was organised as part of the preparation of the European Parliament's response to the Commission Communication "Towards an EU strategy on the rights of the child". Representative of EU institutions, international organisation and NGO's exchanged views with MEPs. Child participation was a recurrent topic during the hearing. Mieke Schuurman, Secretary General of the European Children's Network (Euronet) talked about "child-proofing" all EU policy from the beginning. Children are rights' holders and their best interest should be taken into account when policies and programs are designed. Several participants regretted that children are often mentioned as "the future" and as passive victims. Commissioner Fratini said: "Children should no longer be addressees of policies but protagonists". He also announced that the first European Forum on children rights, co-organised by the Commission and the Council Presidency will take place in Berlin on 4 June. Save the Children took part in that hearing and facilitated the participation of Stine Birch and Georgiana Savalache, two young girls from Denmark and Romania . Stine and Georgiana presented projects they have been involved in to illustrate what children can achieve. They explained how they are involved in decision making and how they would like to be involved in the EU decision making. Stine and Georgiana's presentations are available here. Clare Feinstein, speaking on behalf of Save the Children presented the findings of an online consultation of 7-17 year-olds. She said that the main concerns of children were "violence in all its manifestations: bullying, child abuse, and sexual abuse". Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, presented results from the UN Study on Violence against Children, saying that violence against children persists "in all settings and in every region of the world". Professor Pinheiro strongly urged for the "prohibition of all types of violence against children" including corporal punishment by 2009. Other subjects affecting children, such as child poverty were mentioned. Finally, the fact that children rights which are clearly recognized in the UN Convention on the rights of the child are not mentioned in the EU Treaties shows how crucial it is to have an EU "global strategy" for children's rights.

"Have Your Say on the future of Europe" – consultation with children and young people on the European Commission’s "White Paper on a European Communication Policy". Read more and download the report at http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/where_we_work/europegrp_recentEvents.html

Live online debate with European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström and children from all over Europe - The debate was organised in November 2006. You can listen to it in one the EU's official languages click here.

Coming soon

A training resource on children’s participation based on a training for EC staff

Forum on the Rights of the Child - children's participation in the EU Forum on the Rights of the Child

If you have any question about those events, please contact us at info@savethechildren.be