With and for children

The 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted November 20 1989 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, ratified by 47 Member Countries of the Council of Europe, was an occasion for renewed attention and commitment by the body in Strasbourg as regards the promotion and protection of the rights of children. Still today, said Nils Muiznieks, Human Rights Commissioner at the CoE, on the occasion of the International Day on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, November 20, the Convention “remains the most important international document on the rights of children in the world”. “Since its adoption – Muiznieks said – significant progress has been made by the Member States of the Council of Europe. However, many Countries still appear to “ignore its obligations as relates to the rights of minors”. A Europe tailored to children’s needs. “The Council of Europe is intensely working to ensure that governments may respect the rights of minors in compliance with its own standards and those of the United Nations”, said Regina Jensdottir, coordinator of the CoE Department for the Rights of Children which developed a dedicated Strategy and cooperates with governments and NGOs to put an end to all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation of children, in an interview on the Youtube channel of the CoE. The UN Convention, she said, “which is the backbone of our work in favour of the rights of children”, was the inspiration of all actions and projects of this body and has contributed to “the shaping of the CoE agenda on these themes”. Jensdottir thus referred to the Convention of Lanzarote on the protection of children against exploitation and sexual abuse, signed October 25 2007, ratified by 34 CoE Countries, signed by the remaining 13, and emphasized that its priorities include the elimination of all forms of violence – sexual exploitation, corporal punishment – and the promotion of services and systems suitable for minors, securing their the rights in vulnerable situations and encouraging their participation. Among the initiatives of the CoE figure short films such as “The Lake” to help children who are victims of abuse within the family break the curtain of silence, and “Beat Bullying”, to counter the phenomenon of school bullying. For the coordinator of the Rights of the Child Division it is also important that States implement a form of justice tailored for the child before, during and after court proceedings, as indicated in the Guidelines adopted by the Committee of Ministers of November 17, 2010 under the Program of the Council of Europe “Building a Europe for and with children”. At the same time it is necessary to listen to the opinions of children and adolescents, encouraging their participation and involvement in decisions that concern them. The expert firmly rejected corporal punishment, no longer allowed as a disciplinary measure only in 25 CoE Countries. The Council of Europe will now begin to prepare the next 2016- 2019 Strategy on children’s rights. Among the main challenges figure the right to equal and secure Internet access. The risks of the web. In this regard, ahead of the Day, Stella Kyriakides – general rapporteur for children at the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) – warned against the risks of surfing the web and stressed its “tremendous opportunities” in the learning and development processes as well as also the “insidious dangers”. “It’s important – was her warning – to remain vigilant in order to ensure that children are not exposed to potentially harmful information, and to the virtual or real assaults of those who abuse of the anonymity offered by these technologies”. The right of every child is thus also to be protected from sexual abusers online that manage to have direct access to children and adolescents through chats, blogs and social media. “Sexual violence – said Kyriakides – also comprises the creation, publication, access and downloading of sexually explicit images of minors”. Equally harmful are easily accessible pornographic materials online, “that expose children to a large amount of contents that are inappropriate for their age, thereby altering their perception of sexuality”. Minors, concluded the rapporteur, “are not small adults, they need to be recognized as bearers of their own rights, to be protected and be happy here and now”.