The Special Representative collaborates closely with the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental human rights organisation counting 47 member States. The Council of Europe was a major contributor to the preparation of the UN Study on violence against children and, since 2006, has consistently included the elimination of violence as a priority of its transversal programme “Building a Europe for and with children”. A Europe free from violence against children is one of the five strategic objectives of the current Council of Europe Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2016-2021).
According to the Strategy, "In its efforts to address violence against children, the Council of Europe will continue to act as a regional driver of initiatives to promote the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence against Children and to support the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children".
The Strategy includes action to:
promote an integrated approach to the protection from violence,
to combat sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and trafficking as well as to eliminate corporal punishment, bullying, cyberbullying, gender-based violence and to protect children from violent extremism.
The Special Representative regularly and strategically engages with the various Council of Europe bodies and institutions, including its Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and several intergovernmental and monitoring bodies. The richness of Council of Europe contribution to the elimination of violence against children includes several legally binding treaties, policy guidelines and recommendations, monitoring of States compliance with international standards, training and capacity building programmes and two major campaigns (against corporal punishment and against sexual abuse).
The result of this work is made available at the Council of Europe website: www.coe.int/children
The Special Representative works with the European Union, with a view to advance the development of the European Union strategy on the rights of the child, under preparation by the Commission, and the further implementation of the 2007 European Union Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child and its strategy to fight violence against children.
The promotion and protection of the rights of the child is one of the objectives of the EU on which the Treaty of Lisbon has put further emphasis. Notably, Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union explicitly requires the EU to promote the protection of the rights of the child.
On 15 February 2011, the European Union established an Agenda for the Rights of the Child, listing 11 actions that the Commission would take over the coming years. The initiative aimed to reaffirm the strong commitment of EU institutions and Member States to promoting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of the child in all relevant EU policies and to turn them into concrete results. In the future, EU policies that affect children directly or indirectly should be designed, implemented, and monitored taking into account the principle of children’s best interests.
In November 2010, the Special Representative met the Vice President of the European Commission, Viviane Reding. The meeting was a strategic opportunity to address areas of shared concern, including the inclusion of children’s protection from violence in the above-mentioned strategy on the rights of the child, the consolidation of legislation and other actions for the protection of girls from harmful practices, and the safeguard of the rights of child victims of incidents of violence.
In the framework of the partnership developed with the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency, the Special Representative participated in the conference on the theme “Ensuring justice and protection for all children”, held in Brussels on 7 and 8 December 2010, and organized with the Belgian Presidency of the European Union. Attended by a vast network of Government officials, academics and child rights experts, intergovernmental and civil society, the meeting gave prominent attention to violence prevention and the promotion of ethical and child-sensitive approaches to counselling and support for child victims of violence.
Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021)
Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2012-2015)
Council of Europe Strategy - Building a Europe for and with children (2009-2011)
Council of Europe Guidelines on child friendly health care (2011)
Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child friendly justice (2010)
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation on alternatives to the immigration detention of children (2014)
Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation on Children’s Right to physical integrity (2013)
Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation on Education against violence at school (2011)
Parliamentary Assembly Recomendation on Children who witness domestic violence (2010)
Council of Europe Conferences
Conference on "Preventing sexual abuse of children" (2013)
The role of international cooperation in tackling sexual violence against children (2012)
Stepping up progress in combating violence against children (2012)
Launch of the council of Europe campaign to stop violence against children (2010)
European Union
European Union Agenda for the Rights of the Child
European Union Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child
European Union - Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage
Violence against children with disabilities: legislation, policies and programmes in the EU
European Convention on Human Rights
European Social Charter (Revised)
European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
European Convention on the Adoption of Children (Revised)
Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
Convention on Cybercrime
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
"1. Recalling its Conclusions on the “Agenda for Change,” the Council notes that the promotion of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and good governance and of inclusive and sustainable growth are the two basic and mutually reinforcing pillars of the EU’s development policy. The Council reaffirms the EU’s commitment to promote all ...
Stockholm, 30-31 May 2016 - On the year of the tenth anniversary of the UN Study on Violence against Children and as the implementation, follow-up and review...
The vision and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development will be at the heart of the annual gathering of regional organisations and institutions convened by SRSG Santos Pais.
Organised in cooperation with the Council of the Baltic Seas States, the meeting will focus on opportunities to support the implementation of Agenda 2030 and progress towards its violence against children-related targets and goals.
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The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, with the support of UNICEF Innocenti, have convened a global expert’s consultation to discuss the growing impact of bullying and cyber-bullying on children.
The consultation aims to identify specific gaps and weaknesses of existing data and agree on recommendations on what type of data should be collected to support policy making and...
