Eurochild Plan aligns children’s rights with EU policies

Eurochild has adopted a new strategic plan aimed at ensuring children’s rights are a core consideration of EU member states policies.

The Strategic Plan of Eurochild for 2019-2021 sets out how this EU-supported network of children’s rights champions can influence legislation across the continent.

It also builds on Eurochild’s work in the last year to increase engagement with a diverse membership. The General Assembly in April saw 18 new members join the movement, which now numbers 171 members across 34 countries.

Decision-making

Increasing child participation in the decision-making process has been another vital strand of Eurochild’s work, which says it has changed the way it works by organising events and providing more opportunities for children’s voices to be heard.

The Eurochild Children’s Council, a voluntary group of children aged 13-17 years, has attracted much attention, in particular from Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament President Tajani. He will host an annual event in the European Parliament plenary on Universal Children’s Day, November 20.

Eurochild will also continue its efforts to end child poverty, which currently affects more than one in four children in the EU (Eurostat, 2016). The network will also continue to seek an end to institutional care for all children and to bring greater visibility to children’s rights in political discourse.

Recognition

Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General of Eurochild, said: “With the recognition of child poverty in the European Pillar of Social Rights, increasing dialogue on children’s rights in the European Semester, we are optimistic about the future. We, the children’s rights community, see great potential at this juncture, as EU institutions and member states prepare to negotiate a new financial framework for the coming years. Investing in children has to be the way forward.”