Justice and Consumers

The report from the 2020 European Forum on the rights of the child is available now. Between 29 September and 1 October 2020, more than 300 experts connected from all over the world to participate in an online, interactive event under the theme of this 13th edition: ‘Delivering for children: towards the European strategy on the rights of the child’.

"I think this survey is a fantastic idea, thank you for taking the time to listen to us, because I feel that our age category is being forgotten in times of corona, so thank you again." said a 16 years old girl who participated in a survey done in Flanders, Belgium. Read more about this survey, other reports and studies documenting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the rights of the child.

“Child Compass 2030" was published on 20 November to celebrate the World Children's Day. The publication brings a family perspective to policy-making based on the interrelated well-being of children and of their parents. The Child Compass 2030 calls on the European institutions to invest in child well-being and to shape a healthy society, environment and economy fit for children.

The 24th annual meeting of ENOC took place on 16 and 17 November 2020 online. It was dedicated to discuss child rights impact assessment (CRIA). "CRIA is a process, tool and report which supports a systematic assessment and communication of the impact of a proposal or measure on the rights, needs and interests of children and young people. CRIA focuses on how children's rights may be affected by the decisions and actions of governments, institutions and others in the areas of law, policy and practice." The Newsletter contains useful information and announcements from the network itself, as well as updates on European and international activities in the field of the rights of the child. It also provides updates on ENOC members’ activities and collects the latest relevant publications.

The Initiative, which brings together over 30 civil society and philanthropic organisations, has produced its new publication. The Initiative sets out to ensure that children’s rights are at the heart of the two global compacts on migration and on refugees in practice and to create a continuum of care, protection and support for all migrant and refugee children. Through this new publication it aims to support governments, within and outside of Europe, in the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) in a way that is child and gender sensitive.

Missing Children Europe launches its ChildRescue app, an innovative application in Belgium and Greece (other European countries will follow) calling for the public to contribute to finding missing children in Europe. ChildRescue is an innovative platform to effectively reduce the time it takes to find a missing child. It further helps resolve the disappearance of children in migration fleeing to Europe.

ChildHub Academy has opened the online course within the framework of the Building Relationships through Innovative Development of Gender-Based Violence Awareness in Europe (BRIDGE) regional project. The course is designed for professionals who come into contact with children and youth on the move. It focuses on building the knowledge and capacity to prevent, identify, and respond to gender-based violence (GBV). The course is free and self-paced and available in English, Dutch, French, Greek and Romanian. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion from ChildHub.

The new free mobile application Missing Alert App is now available to the public, actively supporting the quick recovery of missing people in Greece. The application enables all citizens to contribute to the search of missing people in real time. Furthermore, it may be used to protect relatives – children, as well as adults – who run a high risk of going missing, thus broadening the social circle of solidarity and support. The app is managed by the specialized team of the organization The Smile of the Child, which is responsible for any information, evaluating it to make the most of the potential for the immediate recovery of the missing person.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin participated in the Girls Takeover event organised by Plan International on 7 October. For one day, the Prime Minister’s seat was taken over by a 16-year-old girl. In the Girls Takeover, which is part of the celebration of the UN’s International Day of the Girl, girls around the world step into the shoes of leaders in different sectors of society.

The book presents a compilation of scientific papers presented during the conference ‘Safeguarding Children’s Rights in Immigration Law’, organised by the Institute of Immigration Law and the Department of Child Law of Leiden Law School, at Leiden University in November 2018. It shows the diversity of issues related to immigration and children, including family reunification, detention, participation, human trafficking and the rights of siblings in the context of migration, as well as the significance of regional legal systems and infrastructures for the protection of children on the move.

The report looks at countries’ progress towards the SDGs aimed at ending violence against children. It collates inputs from over 1000 decision-makers in 155 countries who assessed their violence prevention status against the evidence-based approaches. The report shows that while many of the participating countries are taking some action, government officials from these same countries acknowledge that their efforts are clearly insufficient to achieve the SDG targets. The report concludes with recommendations for boosting INSPIRE implementation efforts and accelerating national progress.