Eurochild: What are we proud of this year? 15 moments from 2015
1. The first European Parliament resolution specifically on child poverty since 2008, is adopted showing the clear support of the European Parliament for the need for action! 10 days later, the Written Declaration on Investing in Children, which seeks national targets on child poverty is adopted with overwhelming support – garnering 428 signatures, making it the most signed Written Declaration since 2011. We supported the gathering of signatures along with the EU Alliance for Investing in Children.
2. Eurochild breaks silos by showing how the EU’s Investment Plan can influence children’s lives in a positive way and offer potential for innovation, development and growth! We produced a paper on Child centred Investment Strategy and shared it in key meetings with EU Commissioners Navracsics (Education and Training) and Katainen (Investment).
3. For the first time, a UN resolution focuses on the importance of investing in children. The UN Human Rights Council, earlier this year, called for support for children to be cared for by their own families and communities, recognising the importance economic and social returns of such investments. This reflects the contribution of our campaign on ‘Opening Doors of Europe’s Children’.
4. 17 National Partner Networks, that represent the voice of children’s rights sector in their countries, spoke to Slovak Ministers earlier this year to demand focus on children’s rights during Slovak Presidency of the EU in 2016.
5. We made sure children don’t get lost amidst the Greek financial crisis! We co-funded a study on situation of children in alternative care and raised a Call to Action to the Greek government at a seminar in Athens, to prevent deprioritising children’s protection under the Troika deal. The study’s recommendations were supported by the Greek Ombudsman for Children and the Ministry for Labour has setup a working group to address reforms in child protection system.
Building a community of professionals that integrate children’s rights into their work
6. In Galway earlier this month, we, along with UNESCO Child and Family Centres and Council of Europe, brought together 16 national delegations of practitioners, policy makers & researchers to discuss inspiring practices of responses to the needs of families and parents.
7. We offered technical knowledge on conditional cash transfers, early childcare services and child poverty to three peer reviews hosted by Hungary, Czech Republic & Belgium. These peer reviews are aimed to help EU countries learn from each other on key issues relevant for children.
8. Several academic articles published on work undertaken by Eurochild including in high-ranking International Journal on the issues of children’s participation and decision making.
9. Euronews produced a show debunking myths around child poverty and offering perspectives of children and experts!
Giving a voice to children and young people
10. 15 children and young people travelled to the European Parliament and received a commitment from Members of the European Parliament that children’s participation will be discussed at the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights.
11. Our Children’s advisory board started actively contributing to the design of the Eurochild Conference 2016 which is now under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians!
12. Teaching advocacy to children and young people in the middle of the Alps! This year, Eurochild sponsored the participation of 5 children’s delegations, supported the preparation and promotion of the event, and held a week-long workshop on advocacy for children’s rights at CATS (Children as Actors in Transforming Society), a unique international initiative that hosts an annual meeting of children in Switzerland.
Developing the Eurochild network
13. Oak Foundation has offered Eurochild a new grant to strengthen our work on children’s and young people’s participation and membership engagement!
14. Membership of Eurochild expands to 190 members in 33 countries!
15. We prepared our work plan for 2016 in consultation with a detailed survey and consultation with our membership!
