European conference for the rights of the child

Sweden organised a European conference on the rights of the child during its chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The conference was held in Stockholm on 8-10 September and was hosted by Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund. The aim of the conference was to forge a common strategy for 2009-2011.

The conference started on 8 September by three preparatory seminars and continued on 9 and 10 September with the main conference. It was attended politicians and officials from the Council of Europe member states, the Council of Europe Secretariat, the EU institutions, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Nordic Council of Ministers and NGOs, about 300 participants altogether.

Main conference

The main conference started with opening addresses by Her Majesty Queen Silvia, Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund, Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask and Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maud de Boer-Buquicchio. The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union also presented a message, through Ms Nadine Morano, Secretary of State for the Family. Then the Queen and ministers from member states gave their support to the Council of Europe initiative against all corporal punishment of children - "Raise your hand against smacking".

The conference continued by, among other things, presentations of national strategies to promote the rights of the child. Participants discussed the issues raised in the preparatory seminars, such as how different forms of violence against children can be stopped, how children's participation can be promoted and principles for child-friendly justice.

The participants also discussed forms and methods of cooperation that will ensure progress in children's rights promotion efforts. Sweden eventually presented a draft strategy and the Council of Europe's future initiatives.

Sweden proposes a new strategy

Sweden wants to intensify work on children's rights in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe and therefore proposes a strategy called "Protection, provision and participation for children in Europe". The strategy will expand the Council of Europe's current programme - "Building a Europe for and with Children" - by building on the progress of the programme so far and evaluating the methods that have been used.

Sweden proposes four priority areas for the strategy:

• children's participation
• stopping violence against children
• the situation of children at risk
• the internal work in the Council of Europe and the Secretariat

The proposals in the strategy include work to promote child-friendly justice and the implementation of the 2007 Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation.

Preparatory seminars

Three preparatory seminars were held on 8 September in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Nordic Council of Ministers:

• Violence against children - linking international cooperation to national strategies
• Meaningful and sustainable child participation
• Towards European guidelines on child-friendly justice - identifying core principles and sharing examples of good practice

Violence against children - linking international cooperation to national strategies

The objectives of the seminar were three-fold: to share and discuss the examples of regional and sub-regional cooperation carried out within the Council of Europe and the Council of the Baltic Sea States; to support at international level the development of national strategies addressing violence against children; and to discuss possible Council of Europe action in 2009-2011 to eliminate all forms of violence against children.

The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden.

Meaningful and sustainable child participation

The objective of the seminar was to to identify principles and elements for sustainable and meaningful child participation through a series of case studies and the experience of governments, local authorities, ombudspersons, parliamentarians, NGOs, international organisations and, most importantly, children. The outcome of the seminar will guide the Council of Europe's future work in the promotion of child participation at both national and international level.

The seminar was organised by the Children's Ombudsman, Sweden.

Towards European guidelines on child-friendly justice - identifying core principles and sharing examples of good practice

The objectives of the seminar were to share the reports prepared by Council of Europe consultants on child-friendly justice; discuss the implementation of standards related to children in all spheres of the judicial system - civil, administratvie and criminal justice, along with general human rights; and exchange experiences and showcase good practices.

The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Justice, Sweden.