Eurochild: Workshop on investing in children by Solidarite Laique & Eurochild
On 22 October, Solidarité Laïque, with the support of Eurochild, organised the workshop “Investing in children: building a society sensitive to children’s rights”. The event enabled participants including young people, civil society and public administration at many levels (EU, national, regional and local) to exchange views and practices on children’s rights in the attempt to see how EU policies and instruments can support projects in France. The workshop featured three main topics: poverty and decent living conditions, education, and children’s participation.
The day began with an informative panel on the EU instruments to address poverty and promote the well-being of the child. Among other things, the panel discussed the Commission Recommendation “Investing in Children”, the work of the EU Alliance on Investing in Children and the recently published Implementation Handbook to turn the recommendations into reality for children. The French translation of the advocacy toolkit was also released on this occasion to enable civil society to get involved. Representatives from the European Commission (DG Employment and Social Affairs and Inclusion) and the Representation of the European Commission in France presented the European Semester process and the EU funds.
Parallel to the workshop, activities for children were organised. In the morning, children took part in the workshop “Respecting my rights by acting for climate” and came up with concrete ideas on how to fight climate change. The awareness-raising on their rights undertaken in the previous weeks fed into a play where they could express their points of view. A video produced by Eurochild interviewing children on their views on addressing climate change will be released in the next month.
With over one hundred people participating, the event was a real success in building awareness around the ways in which children and adults can use policies and global debates to inform and empower themselves on the rights of the child.
Read the European Commission Recommendation “Investing in Children”.
