CRINMAIL Violence Against Children Issue 15

11 April 2006 CRINMAIL Violence Against Children Issue 15

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- Council of Europe: Building a Europe for and With Children [conference report]

- The African Child Policy Forum Announces its 2006 International Policy Conference: Violence Against Girls in Africa [event]

- Keeping Children Safe - Child Protection Toolkit [Reports]

- The Minimum Standards on Consulting with Children [Reports]

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This list is the primary means of communication for NGOs interested in the UN Study on Violence Against Children and for the Subgroup on Children and Violence. Updates are sent approximately once a month. Please feel free to forward these updates to others who may be interested.

If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.

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Council of Europe: Building a Europe for and With Children  [Conference Report]

[Monaco 4 - 5 April] - A European programme to end violence against children was launched last week at a conference organised by the Council of Europe and the Principality of Monaco. The event was attended by some 250 participants, including children and young people from across Europe and Central Asia.

The aim of the conference was to look at children’s rights from a legal standpoint, including existing structures, instruments, tools and training programmes needed to support member states. The second was to look at violence against children, with the outcome of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children as basis for action. 

The conference was opened by Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe who said that states in the region had taken measures and made headway in the protection of children’s rights, however law was not an end in itself but a tool for achieving children’s rights. 

"In our building work, law is a very important raw material, but it alone cannot bear the full weight of our home… We must establish institutions, devise policies, invest in research, education, training and awareness-raising, and develop new tools with which to meet new challenges - and that is also the role of the Council of Europe!", she said. [full speech]

This project being launched, she explained, was Europe’s response to building a Europe for and with children. Europe had some very good human rights standards, but as was seen at the Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children that took place in Lubljana in July 2005, violence persists in every member state of the Council of Europe.

This project is the operational phase: “we have a precise idea of what needs to be done: promoting children’s rights and eradicating violence”.  It is a campaign to help States abide by their commitments, in all sectoral policies with integrated strategies to help protect children. Addressing the young participants, she said: “This is a subject on which I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we genuinely want to build a Europe WITH children. The bad news is that we don't know how to go about it."
 
The children and violence project is based on four pillars: Protection, prevention, prosecution and participation:

- Protection: children who are in extreme distress or in danger requires both emergency measures and long-term policies capable of tackling the roots of the problem. The protection of children at risk because of difficult economic, political and social situations should be enhanced through policies in the fields of social cohesion, education, youth and culture.

- Prevention: in the context of the programme "Responses to violence in everyday life in a democratic society" (2002-2004) twelve principles were identified that should serve as guidelines for national and local policies aimed at preventing and reducing violence. Over the coming three years, application of these principles and assessment of the outcome will be tested. The aim is to propose model violence prevention strategies to national authorities.

- Prosecution of those responsible for violence: an end to impunity, with development of penal law, provision of compensations for victims. The drafting of an international legal instrument against sexual exploitation is a major step.

- Participation: By 2008, the Council hopes to have developed methodologies, tools and networks capable of guaranteeing effective participation by children, including those who do not attend school or who are socially excluded. 

[See also, the Programme "Responses to violence in everyday life in a democratic society" and detials of the Programme of Action]

HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover, who is also President of the NGO AMADE, made an opening statement saying she was ‘a militant for the promotion and protection of children’s rights’, furthermore she said ‘we are not here today to think and talk some more, but to cooperate and set clear action points’.
 
Jean-Charles Gardetto, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly Sub-Committee on Human Rights, said it was time to give children and young people political visibility. He said this European programme would give a face and voice to children.
 
Children needed to be heard at national level and thus the important role played by National Ombudsmen for children and the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC). He suggested that perhaps there should be a role for a European Ombudsman for Children, to work alongside the Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg but who would focus solely on promoting children’s rights, knowledge of them, advise member states, evaluate impact of policies on children and put children’s best interest at the center of policies.
 
Ms Anissai Temsamani, member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, said that perhaps children should have their own European Network for sharing information. This network could cooperate in close collaboration with the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights.
 
Ms Maria Calivis, UNICEF Geneva Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonweatlh of Independent States and the Baltic States, said that although many legal safeguards are in place to protect children, their views have not often been translated into concrete actions and there has been little accountability.
 
More importantly, she explained, the most vulnerable children are still being failed by the system, including children from different ethnic groups, children in residential institutions, and unaccompanied children, to name but a few.
 

Children and Young People Present their Recommendations

Prior to the conference, the 15 young participants, from 14 countries in the region, spent two days preparing for their contributions. They focused on the rights to protection from violence and their right to participation.
 
The rights that they felt were the least respected in Europe included:
- Protection from sexual abuse and exploitation, particularly because of taboos, or religion, early and enforced marriages, etc.
- Discrimination on the basis of skin colour, nationality, religion or those from minorities
- Lack of protection from corporal punishment, must be legislation against this and monitoring systems where children can get help.
- Freedom of expression and opinion, young must be given a place in decision making at all levels.

 Panel 1: Promotion of children’s rights, awareness raising and information, designing a European Strategy

Philip D. O’Brien, Regional Director, UNICEF Geneva Regional Office, introduced this discussion by suggesting a focus on the following three areas: the most vulnerable groups of children, developing good child protection systems, and data collection and indicators.
 
Also important is to see how the reporting process to the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be used for public awareness campaigns on children’s rights. This would include public debates on the issue, making sure budgets were allocated, and ensuring there is available, gender-specific data on children. He also emphasised that it was important to engage with the media, as it is not just a force for bad, as some might argue, and needed to be used as a channel for good for children.

Tirill from Norway, who spoke on behalf of young people, gave some ideas and examples for awareness-raising campaigns, specifying that there is a need for national, global and local campaigns. She suggested new technologies could be used as young people start using these at a young age. For instance, campaigns could make use of mobile phone technology, text messaging and the Internet. Partnership with media should be developed, such as putting adverts on television, setting up telephone helplines, online chat rooms, etc.
 
Ms Josiane Bigot, Judge and President of the children's rights organisation Themis, said the process needed to be accelerated so that children can ‘use’ courts to claim their rights. The problem is that national remedies must have been exhausted before one can use a regional mechanism. She also said the we had to be ‘vigilant’ when referring to children’s rights, that we are not in fact using them to our own benefit. The child’s right can be taken by adults, for instance, when parents separate, or when children are placed in residential care, this is a right for adults, it is not respecting children’s rights, they are an excuse for adults to use in their own interest.
 

Mr Patrick Trousson, Coordinator of the child rights project at the European Commission, said there were 50 different instruments that were dealine, either directly, or indirectly with children’s rights, however there was a lack of cooperation within the European Commission. There was also a need for synergy between the different institutions from where a strategy for the 12 action points could be established, for the short, medium and the longer term.  

Mrs Bigot added that “the rights of the child are not just rights for those children who suffer most, but for all children. We have a lot to do to accept this. It is very easy to cry for the child victim, but actually putting the child at the centre of our policies and our protection systems is another matter. It is always up to the child to adapt, we rarely adapt to the child”.
 
Ankie Vanderkerckhove, Belgian Children’s Rights Commissioner (Flemish Parliament) explained the political independence of ombudspersons and one important advantage for them which is that their role is to focus on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, a challenge at the same time is that politicians and Members of Parliament had a tendency to change every four or five years, and hence the need to start working with them from the beginning each time, especially as many do not know about different Conventions. 
 

Mr Trousson ended by saying that the EU was planning to establish a European Children’s Rights Day, no dates had yet been chosen, but it seems it will be in the second half of the year.

See http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7931

 

Day 2

Speaking at the launch of the programme ‘Building a Europe for and with Children, last week in Monaco, Jaap Doek, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child declared that “Violence is the universally practiced violation of children’s rights. It has a negative impact on the enjoyment of education, health, freedom of expression, play and recreation, and for children in conflict with the law.”
 
Although there is an impressive set of mechanisms developed by the Council of Europe for the protection of children, Doek commented that: 

“What I am missing is the sense of urgency that I think is essential. The violence action plan is a well-appreciated document, containing a rich set of actions, but it is only meant for generating discussions, and must be followed by a White Paper. I am not sure that all the ambitious plans will have survived the discussions by the end of 2008. Will we be able to pull together a long-term strategy for ending violence against children by then? All members of the Council of Europe will have ratified the CRC for ten years by 2008 and therefore committed themselves to ending violence. I do understand that policy-making can sometimes be cumbersome and that fighting sexual exploitation has been a priority in this region, but if we are still talking about ‘breaking the walls of silence’ by then, I will be wondering what States parties have been doing”.

Speaking about priorities for combating violence against children, Doek said that “the first priority is prevention. The second priority is prevention, the third priority is prevention.”  He recommended the following measures to create a non-violent culture in which to bring up children, including:

  • All forms of violence must be prohibited by law and confirmed as a serious violation of children's rights, this should include violence against children in institutions and corporal punishment
  • All children are entitled to the most effective forms of protection and immediate intervention if violence has occurred. 

He went on to say that “Law does not change attitudes, but shows levels of respect. Changes to legislation must go hand-in-hand with awareness-raising and training of all those who work with children, developed in close consultation with parents and others.”
 
He stressed that other activities to protect children from violence should not be suspended while policies are being drafted. The UN should appoint a Special Representative to monitor, support and promote the implementation of such measures, saying that without it, momentum will be lost. The Council of Europe and the European Union should fully support the recommendations of the Study and the appointment of a Special Representative but at the same time, in close cooperation, appoint a Regional Special Representative, for at least five years.
 
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Highlights from the roundtable discussion on priorities and strategies for a Europe free of corporal punishment

Françoise Tulkens, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, said that States must abolish all forms of punishment, whether physical or mental, in all places where children live and the formulation of prohibition must be explicit so that courts can express this, followed by penal or criminal sanctions and these must be applied.
 
She said it was positive that a third of Member states (of the Council of Europe) have abolished corporal punishment, however there are some shadow areas that remain; for instance in families where it is socially acceptable to use corporal punishment, or in schools where it is ‘used’ in the name of discipline.
 
She continued by admitting that one cannot change society by law and that the primary questions are not legal, but social, economic and cultural. All actors should be supported: parents must be given support in parenting, those working in the education system should be trained in positive discipline, and the media should play an essential role in helping to create a culture of non violence and respect. She ended by saying that of course, children should be involved every step of the way. 
 
Martin from Slovenia and Ellena from the United Kingdom represented the young people’s views and recommendations regarding corporal punishment:
 
Within the family, schools, and in the community:

  • every country should have laws to ban corporal punishment and it should be implemented
  • there should be awareness raising campaigns, educational seminars, and parents need to learn and all staff who work within the education system must be informed about alternative solutions
  • children must be informed about where to go to report violence. These places should be safe and confidential
  • monitor work of institutions by independent bodies
  • media is a powerful tool and we should ensure that children and young people are not unfairly portrayed
     

Ms Helena Bargholtz, Member of the Swedish Parliament; Chair of the Sub-Committee on Children, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe talked about Sweden’s experience as the first country in the world to prohibit all corporal punishment of children.

In 1979 a provision was added to the Parenthood and Guardianship Code which now reads: "Children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing. Children are to be treated with respect for their person and individuality and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other humiliating treatment".

She said that now attitudes are clear: “you bring children up not by hitting, but by using words. I am quite optimistic about this all through Europe. Sweden had all the same debates before it was banned and now we still need to work on this because there are new parents and families coming to Sweden who do not know about this.”
 
She also explained the sorts of campaigns that were necessary at the time in Sweden, for instance, brochures were sent to all parents, there were notices on milk cartons, adverts on television, etc.

Furthermore, the ban on corporal punishment is in parental law (i.e. civil law), its purpose is to emphasise beyond doubt that the criminal code on assault covers physical punishment, although trivial offences remain unpunished just as trivial assaults between adults are not prosecutable.

A detailed research review of the effects of Sweden's ban has been carried out by Professor Joan E Durrant, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Family Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Download here.

Peter Newell, Coordinator of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children said that this was a difficult issue because of the personal aspect  Children rely on parents for development, have no way for seeking.

“We need to be impatient,” he continued, “and aim to achieve prohibition within the 3 years of this programme. States have to go ahead of public opinion…. The law should be used as an educational tool, it must satisfy children’s rights, but also send the message within the family.
 
Within the context of the UN Study, all nine regions produced recommendations to call for a ban on corporal punishment and children were very influential in achieving this as States cannot deny the importance of this as children were there. Furthermore, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro who is leading the Study has indicated in speeches that he intends to recommend a universal ban. He is going to need support from states that have achieved this.
 
Report submitted for the Europe and Western Asia Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children, taking place in Ljubljana from 5 to 7 July 2005. "Too Many Children Denied Human Right To Equal Legal Protection From All Violence In Europe And Central Asia" here.

See also individual reports for each state [pdf format], with details of laws relating to corporal punishment in the home, schools, penal system and alternative care settings, as well as summaries of prevalence research and extracts from recommendations made by human rights treaty bodies.

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Highlights from the roundtable on sexual exploitation in cyberspace

Ms Carmen Madriñan, Executive Director of ECPAT said that the ability to harm in the virtual world is very different from real world, therefore what is need is appropriate responses. Furthermore, the internet had indeed facilitated the distribution of images, but this also means that there is a demand, therefore it is necessary to educate so that it is publicly unacceptable to harm children. “ We cannot wait for international legislation and larger processes to happen, we must focus attention to support working at community levels and involve different sectors, parents, teachers, police, social workers, etc.

See ECPAT’s submission to the UN Study “Violence Against Children in Cyberspace”.

Mr. Tim Wright, United Kingdom Home Office explained how dealing with this issue required new ways of working. To deal with this, three steps were needed:

1. A clearer understanding of risks, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the internet and how it is used

2. We must find the balance between the internet as a force for good and evil, internet allows law enforcement to make real progress, we have come a long way, with models such as ‘grooming legislation’ in Scotland

3. International partnerships are essential – and not domestic national plans, as one might get sidetracked in producing plans rather than ‘doing’. Good practice must be quickly harnessed and shared.
 
Mr Hamish McCulloch, Assistant Director, Trafficking in Human Beings, ICPO-Interpol gave the law enforcement perspective and highlighted the very important role played by police officers, for instance, in identifying abusers who make themselves known only through the internet. However in order to do this, information exchange is essential in order to get the full picture. Secondly, the internet has no boundaries, therefore measures must be international.
 
Thirdly, it is important to remember that the majority of children whose images are on the internet, are being abused in their homes and/or by people they know. Child protection training must therefore be extended not only to schools, but also health workers, police, and parents and children.

Recommendations from young people:

  • Adults must be aware and raise awareness, by involving and consulting with children, this is particularly important for those who work with children, there should be criminal records checks for instance.
  • Schools should organise meetings for parents, explain what children and young people are doing and how, and young people should be trained on how to stay safe, for instance not revealing where they live if they chat online.
  • Children must do peer to peer training and campaigns

Rachel O’Connel; psychologist, Cyberspace Research Unit, University of Central Lancashire, recommended that making well-being online should be mandatory in the school curriculum, but there should also be education and training for parents and young people so that they know what they need to do to be safe. Complaints that are brought to the attention of law enforcement agencies must be taken seriously and followed up, and industries involved in the Internet business should abide by some minimum standards and be ready to report on illicit activities.

For more information, visit: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/host/cru/ See also: The Council of European Convention on Cybercrime, which has been signed by 50 states, but only ratified by eight.

Closing session 

Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, who just took up his post on 3 April, gave a closing statement for the conference where he confirmed his strong commitment to children’s rights.

Mr. Hammarberg was most recently the Secretary General of the Olof Palme International Centre in Sweden, a former Secretary General of Save the Children Sweden and member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and a former Secretary General of Amnesty International.

In opening he said : "The time has come to move from rhetoric to enforcement. Violence against children must be stopped. It just is not acceptable that children are beaten and battered by adults, very often by those whom they trust most. Neither can we tolerate that children are exploited in pornography or subjected to physical sexual abuse."

Mr. Hammarberg, who is also co-founder and supporter of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, said that corporal punishment was clearly a sensitive and personal issue, as most adults were hit as children, and unpopular for politicians to talk about, and much easier to focus only on extreme forms of violence to children and on violence by children. 

"However, we cannot hide behind the right to privacy to justify corporal punishments", he said, "Concerns for the child welfare cannot stop at the front door of the child’s home or school. All children have the right to be educated in an environment free of violence."

He continued to say that this new programme was of paramount importance if there was to be a world where people respect each other, "where there is tolerance and where conflicts are resolved by peaceful means, we should take strong action. That is what the present generation of children is expecting for from us. We should not disappoint them."

Finally, he ended by saying that "Participation should take place in the family and other living arrangements, in schools, in the community but also in larger fora, within the Council of Europe, for instance. We must create opportunities for children and young people to play an active role in shaping policies. If we are serious about working for children, we should work with them. "

Read his full statement or more about his election to the Council of Europe here 

All information related to the UN Study on Violence Against Children and Europe is available here.

See http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7941

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The African Child Policy Forum Announces its 2006 International Policy Conference: Violence Against Girls in Africa [event]

[ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA February 15, 2006] – In South Africa, a child is raped every 15 minutes. Three million girls suffer genital mutilation every year in Africa. In Botswana, girls under the age of 14 are twice as likely as boys to contract HIV…the list could go on and on.
 
The African Child Policy Forum will hold its 2006 International Policy Conference on the African Child: Violence Against Girls in Africa on May 11 and 12 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Speakers from the African Union, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and members from Pan-African policy makers will join women’s-rights and child-rights organisations, as well as child survivors of violence, in this major two-day conference.
 
“The widespread problem of violence is a hidden one in Africa because of the very nature of the violence being committed,” says Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director of the African Child Policy Forum. “The work of the Forum leading up to the conference, and bringing together organisations, governments and children at the conference, will create dialogue and in-turn, initiate real actions that cast a spotlight on this problem.”
 
The objective of the conference is to contribute to the ongoing international effort to effect attitudinal and policy changes toward violence against girls, by providing a platform for like-minded organisations to work together and initiate an Africa-wide movement against all forms of violence. The conference will ensure that African views and positions, especially regarding girls, are reflected in actions and resolutions taken by the African Union and the United Nations. The conference will address the complex problem of violence against girls in Africa and feature a powerful and diverse group of policy makers, human rights activists, prominent Africans, African youth and international journalists.
 
Just a few of the presenters who have been invited to participate in the conference: H. E. Joaquim Chissano, Former Head of State of Mozambique; Prof. Paulo Pinheiro, the Secretary-General’s Independent Expert on Violence against Children; Dr. Yakin Erturk, UN Special Rapparteur on Violence against Women; Ambassador Salamata Sawadogo, Chair, AU Commission on Human Rights and People’s Rights; Mr. Jean Baptiste Zoungrana, Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; and Prof. Jaap Doek, Chair, of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
 
A forthcoming announcement by The African Child Policy Forum will confirm the list of prestigious speakers.
 
This conference has elicited considerable interest. The conference is largely funded by Plan International and is being organised in partnership with the AU, UNECA, UNICEF, UNFPA, and Save the Children Group. 
 
Prior to the conference, the Forum will produce a poll-based report on current perceptions and experiences of violence against girls in Africa. The outcome of the conference will be a declaration to stop violence against girls in Africa that will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly and used as a vehicle for campaigning African governments to develop effective policies and programmes to address the problem.
 
For the most recent schedule of presenters and topics, please visit: http://www.africanchildforum.org/events_coming.html.
 
ABOUT THE AFRICAN CHILD POLICY FORUM

The African Child Policy Forum is an independent, pan-African advocacy organisation working for the realisation of children’s rights. Founded in 2003, the Forum is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Its mission is to contribute towards the development and implementation of effective laws and policies to put African children on the public agenda. To this end, it will provide support where the political will exists and exert pressure where it is absent. The rights and welfare of children are at the heart of our work, in our programmes and our projects. Programmes such as The Children’s Legal Protection Centre, which provides protection and free legal support to abused children, children in high risk situations and those in conflict with the law, is just one example of the many programmes the Forum provides.
 
The Forum has no political or religious affiliations. While the Forum is cognizant of world thinking and development, it has an African-driven and children-driven agenda. The organisation is on the front lines as it deals with the profound issues affecting the children of Africa. The Forum’s Executive Director is Assefa Bequele, Ph.D., former Special Representative of International Labour Organisation of the United Nations and a member of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. 

More information about the event

See http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7855

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Keeping Children Safe - Child Protection Toolkit [report]

The Keeping Children Safe Coalition has developed a set of tools to help organisations working in developing countries to keep children safe.

Over recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the global nature of child abuse, and growing acceptance of the potential risks to children of adults working in positions of trust. Greater attention, therefore, has been paid to how aid and development agencies ensure that children they are in contact with are kept safe from harm. As a result, many agencies are now putting in place policies and procedures designed to protect children and keep them safe from harm.

However, many agencies are still not sufficiently aware of the importance of building protection measures into their work. Even agencies that have taken steps to address this are discovering the real challenges of making their agencies ‘child safe’. All are looking for practical guidance, tools and support materials to assist them in overcoming a host of obstacles that confront them in tackling child protection issues in their work.

For aid and development agencies that have contact with children, some of the key issues and challenges include the fact that:

  • Protection systems in many countries are often weak, and leave agencies and staff facing complex child protection dilemmas.
  • Children in emergencies are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
  • There is little common understanding across agencies of child protection issues, standards of practice, or the organisational implications of these.
  • There are huge difficulties in operating child protection policies in the many different legal, social and cultural contexts in which agencies work.
  • Children may be at risk of abuse and exploitation, not only from individuals in the communities where they live, but also from agency staff, volunteers or other representatives.

For these agencies, and for the sector as a whole, there is a need to develop a common understanding of child protection issues, develop good practice across the diverse and complex areas in which they operate and thereby increase accountability in this crucial aspect of their work.

Keeping Children Safe: A Toolkit for Child Protection will help agencies to:

  • recruit staff safely
  • strengthen policies and procedures that prevent abuse within agencies –
  • help them deter, detect and respond to abuse
  • increase staff confidence to deal with child abuse concerns when they arise
  • create child safe environments
  • keep children safe beyond agency boundaries
  • ensure increased protection for children around the world
  • integrate child protection into all areas of operation.

The toolkit is based around agreed standards that require staff and other agency representatives to receive an appropriate level of training, information and support to fulfil their roles and responsibilities to protect children.

Members of the Coalition include: the Consortium for Street Children, EveryChild, NSPCC, Oxfam, People in Aid, Plan, Save the Children, International Federation Terre des Hommes, Worldvision and the Oak Foundation.

See http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7819

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The Minimum Standards on Consulting with Children [Reports]

The following Minimum Standards on Consulting with Children have been developed as a multi-agency tool to support the participation of children at the East Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children, June 2005.

Multi-agency collaboration to facilitate meaningful participation of children from the East Asia Pacific region at international and regional events started in 2000 with the UN Special Session on Children.  Subsequent research evaluation focusing on the participation of children and young people from this region concluded that although children are being seen and heard at conferences, they are not involved in the decision making process. Analysis pointed to the need for a more systematic approach to the selection, participation and follow-up of children. 

The Minimum Standards on Consulting with Children mark the first step in the process of developing this systematic approach.

In August 2004 a one year project was initiated to develop minimum standards and an accompanying set of guidelines; and to implement an evaluation of their use.  Documents from this project are included in this package:

Minimum Standards: this document consists of 27 policy statements on children’s participation.  The standards are based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as principles of participation.  They outline what is meant by meaningful, good quality children’s participation in order that children have a genuine opportunity to express their views and to be involved in the UN Study on Violence Against Children and in particular the East Asia Pacific Regional Consultation for the Study.
 
Protocol: a package known as the ‘Protocol’ is annexed to the Standards that includes guidelines, forms and briefing papers that help to implement the Standards.  The Protocol acts as procedure for the policy and is designed to be a practical tool for those facilitating the participation of children (particularly at the national level). Documents in the Protocol are specific in nature and are relevant to the regional context.

Evaluation Project: evaluation of the Minimum Standards concluded that although use of the Standards significantly affected the participation of children at the Regional Consultation, Standards were not sufficiently monitored or enforced.  Informed by the evaluation process, the Standards and the Protocol have been revised into the present form – where, in particular, mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation have been strengthened.

The revised Minimum Standards are a step in the process towards developing generic structures to facilitate meaningful consultation with children.  The next stage is to widen the scope of the Standards and develop a broader tool, useful for policy formation and practical application in the many different settings where children are currently being consulted.

For more information, visit also www.childrenandviolence.org

See http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7932

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