Raad van Europa: eerste verslag van de conferentie over kinderrechten in Stockholm

COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Report on high level event on child rights [publication]

A high level meeting on child rights staged by the Council of Europe opened this week in Stockholm, Sweden. The event, which aims to develop a children’s rights strategy for the period 2009-2011, focused on violence against children, child-friendly justice and child participation.

The conference, which is organised under the Swedish chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, brought together some representatives from 42 European governments, international organisations and institutions, NGOs and professional networks, parliamentarians, local authorities, ombudspersons, judges, children’s advocates and young people.

Queen Silvia of Sweden opened the event, saying that “it is not enough for us to love our children, we must treat them with care and respect…each and every child has the right to develop to their full extent, develop opinions and be listened to.”

Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund, hosting the conference, emphasised that human rights and democracy are the foundation on which the Council of Europe’s standards rest. “This is an opportunity,” he said, “to send political signals and to set priorities, including on children’s rights…Cooperation at European level is required. Children’s conditions and rights are one of the major issues for the future of Europe.”

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe took stock of progress achieved so far with the CoE’s child rights strategy, “Building a Europe for and with Children”, launched in April 2006. Mainstreaming of child rights across the Council of Europe’s work in standard setting, monitoring and evaluation and awareness raising had led to 80 child rights related activities since the strategy’s launch, she said. These had focused in particular on migration, media, family law, education, justice and disability.
She highlighted progress made on the CoE’s three-year action plan to eradicate violence against children by helping States develop national strategies against violence, raise awareness, build capacity and networking. Among other achievements, a campaign has been launched against corporal punishment of children and in terms of sexual violence, a Convention against Sexual Violence was adopted in 2007, and the entry into force of the Convention against trafficking in human beings which will also help child victims.
Children still ”the subject of plain bigotry”
Looking to the future, she said that, despite achievements, we are far from our objective:  ”Sometimes, children are the subject of plain bigotry, disguised as a cultural specificity or tradition. Very often they are not taken seriously. This is the net that has not yet been broken.”

In conclusion, she said: “Three years ago the Council of Europe adopted the programme ‘Building A Europe for and with Children’. It has had a very important and positive influence. Now it is time for the next step. The Stockholm Strategy is a strategic instrument for a more child-friendly Europe. By making a concentrated European effort, I am convinced that we can create a better, friendlier and safer Europe for all our children. But we cannot wait until tomorrow. It has to be done today.”

Corporal punishment
In June last year in Zagreb, Croatia, the Council of Europe (CoE) launched a campaign to make Europe a corporal punishment free zone. Only 18 out of 47 CoE Member States have so far abolished all forms of corporal punishment against children in law.

During this year’s child rights strategy meeting, Maud de Boer-Buqucchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, opened the signing of a petition by government representatives against all forms of corporal punishment against children, saying: “Perhaps I am boring you by always saying the same thing but I do not hesitate to repeat it again: children are not mini persons with mini human rights. I repeat this because I still see that children are being treated as inferior and there is no footnote saying that the European Convention is for adults only.”

Fifteen countries signed the Council of Europe’s petition: Serbia, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Georgia, Slovenia, Latvia, Albania, Hungary, Portugal, Bulgaria, Norway, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Montenegro. Latvia, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary and Norway have already abolished corporal punishment in all settings.

Member States and violence against children
Member States of the Council of Europe set out their national strategies to combat violence against children.

Poland declared that they had recognised the need to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment and would do so in civil law, supplementing this with widespread public awareness campaigns and support on positive discipline.
Best interests of the child

Thomas Hammarberg introduced this year’s ‘Janusz Korczak lecture’ which was delivered by Emily Logan, Children’s ombudsperson for Ireland and current chair of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC).
Korczak was a Polish writer, doctor and educationalist who spent much of his time writing about children. At age 33, he decided he would focus his work on children, which led him to work in an orphanage for the rest of the 64 years of his life in Warsaw.
Colleagues said of him that he managed “to speak to children like adults and to adults like children.” Indeed, he said we are mistaken if we think we have to lower ourselves to communicate with children - in fact we have to stretch to stand on our toes. He was exceptional in describing how children see adults.
He did not take a charitable, over-protective or over-sentimental approach to children and felt that risk-taking was one of their rights.

The Commissioner outlined what he though Korzcak would say if he were here today of the three main issues under discussion: child participation: of course! He would describe the child parliament he organised in the orphanage in which everyone took joint decisions, the children had their own newspaper, in midst of the turmoil of the time, he created a micro-democracy.

On non violence: he was totally and uncompromisingly opposed to corporal punishment, describing it as “nothing more than a dulling and stupefying means of correction.” There are many terrible things in world, but the worst thing is when a child is afraid.

On child friendly justice: the children themselves had worked out a justice system at the orphanage. They could submit complaints and there would be a proceeding which would end in an apology.

Further information

http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=18368