Justice and Consumers

The roadmap for the EU strategy on the rights of the child is online. This is the first consultation document on the strategy opened for public comments. Feedback will be taken into account in further works on the strategy. The second stage of the public consultation - the questionnaire will be open later during summer. Please stay tuned and check your inbox for our next newsletter and the webpage https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say Please contribute and disseminate. Thank you.

Within an Erasmus+ project awarded last year, END FGM Youth Ambassadors are developing their very own Youtube video series, developing the content, filming, editing and subtitling a series of videos to talk to other youth about topics such as GBV, bodily integrity, FGM, consent, engagement with youth, etc. The very first video was launched 2 weeks ago on the End FGM EU Youtube channel. and there will be one video launched every two weeks. Stay tuned for more and subscribe to the End FGM European Network Youtube Channel and check their Twitter account @ENDFGM_Network

End FGM European Network recognises the critical role of engaging youth from FGM-affected communities in tackling FGM within Europe and indeed globally. In the movement to end FGM, young people struggle to be truly at the centre. They are often seen or heard but not really listened to. Youth are rarely provided the opportunity to shape programmes and activities concerning them, with tokenism being a sad reality and a hindrance for everyone concerned. In cooperation with the Members who are part of the Network’s Youth Engagement Working Group (APF - Portugal, AkiDwA - Ireland, Equipop - France, FORWARD - UK, TERRE DES FEMMES - Germany, National FGM Centre - UK), the Youth Ambassadors and Integrate UK, EndFGM developed 5 Principles for Effective and Meaningful Engagement of Youth:Communicate appropriately with young people; Build youth leadership; Safeguard youth; Listen to young people; Foster empowerment of young people.

The project is implemented by Terre des hommes Foundation Romania in partnership with: Terre des hommes Foundation Hungary, Fundación Secretariado Gitano in Spain, and Afeji in France. Through this partnership, the MISTO AVILEAN! project aims to ensure non-discriminatory and non-disruptive education for Roma children engaged in migration.

Gender ABC is an EU funded project managed by the End FGM European Network in partnership with four other organisations: Terre Des Femmes (Germany), AIDOS (Italy), Médicos del Mundo (Spain) and APF (Portugal). The project aims at giving a comprehensive education around GBV on 12 different topics put together in 18 modules adapted to primary and to secondary schools. The modules are adaptable, flexible and child-friendly for different national and local contexts.

Launched on 1 June, a leaflet produced by children for children was made available online. It presents the key rights that children have in the digital environment and can claim from governments, schools, business and other stakeholders, and points to possible action that notably adults must take to ensure that children stay safe while using digital technology. The leaflet and its way of presenting these rights to children have been designed in collaboration with a group of children who were consulted in the publication process.

The campaign shows commitment of cities to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights at local level. Mayors and deputy mayors are pledging with concrete measures and financial investments to implement actions that are making the EPSR reality at local level. Eurocities invited mayors and deputy mayors to pledge to act on the principles of European Pillar for Social Rights in line with a city's strategic objectives. If the city is already delivering inclusive social policies to achieve social rights, these efforts can be highlighted through a pledge to one of the principles of the Pillar. Is your city interested to join the initiative? Or is your city already one of the 27 signing cities but you wish to sign a new pledge on another principle? Your city is very welcome to join this campaign and become a ‘champion city’ on the EU Pillar of Social Rights.

OUR research, OUR rights - Ending violence against children through the lens of child researchers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil,Indonesia, Nicaragua, Romania and Sierra Leone. The child researchers explained that: "The aim of these child-led research projects was to understand children and young people’s perceptions about violence against children as described within the SDG (16.2) that seeks to end violence towards us. We wanted to understand how violence is happening in our schools and communities and its effects on children’s lives. This objective was selected by us, the child researchers, in a collective way, and we found a way to agree on which topic to focus. We wished to explore issues concerning violence against children and young people because these are important for us and we feel like sometimes our views or priorities are not always taken into account by adults’ research projects."

Eurochild’s Annual Report of 2019 reflects on the key activities and achievements of the network, which spans 34 countries with its almost 200 members. The report, divided in two sections based on Eurochild’s strategic plan of 2019-2021, showcases the work and achievements aimed towards ‘The change Eurochild wants to see’ and ‘How Eurochild contributes to making that change happen’.

This report presents the findings on how cities deliver early childhood education and care and tackle child poverty, in line with principle 11 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. It provides: an overview of city competences; trends and current social challenges at local level; good practices from city measures; obstacles that prevent cities from doing more or implementing better policies; and policy recommendations for cities, member states and the EU.

In 2019, the 116 000 European hotlines for missing children answered 55,284 calls covering 7582 cases. The majority of new cases concerned runaways with 55%, just under a fourth (23%) were parental abductions, and a small portion of cases reported, over 3%, concerned children in migration. MCE warns that the current COVID-19 crisis increases the risks for all three categories. Quarantine measures led to increased domestic violence which are the major risk factor for running away. Border closures caused new cases of international child abduction and have led to delays, in ongoing and new cases. Social distancing measures further limit migrant children’s access to care and support services, and risk separating them from ill parents or caregivers, making them more vulnerable to traffickers. The annual report by Missing Children Europe (MCE) encourages EU Institutions, Member States, foundations and individuals to support hotline services during these challenging times.

In May 2020 the Centre for Children's Rights, Queens University Belfast in collaboration with a coalition of international NGOs and agencies, launched a global survey for 8-17 year old's to get their views and experiences of ‘Life under Coronavirus’. The aim of the survey is to find out how children feel, whether they are able to learn and play, see their parents, stay in touch with their friends, if they can access reliable information and support, and if they are healthy and safe in these challenging times. The survey is the first global survey of children’s views and experiences of COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions and is available in many languages (see below). It was developed with 270 children from 28 countries and an international advisory group of 18 children and young people and is currently available in 22 languages.