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The European Children’s Network (EURONET), representing 35 children’s rights national and transnational NGOs from across Europe, is pleased to announce the launch of its new website: www.europeanchildrensnetwork.eu. The European Children's Network is a coalition of networks and organisations campaigning for the interests and rights of children (defined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as all persons under 18 years of age). They share a common concern that children's rights should be taken into account in all EU legislation, policies and programmes which have an impact on children's rights. The website aims to keep individuals and organisations working for children’s rights up to date and informed on all of EURONET’s work in this field. This includes, but is not limited to, important child rights-related news, events and legislative proposals taking place in the EU. On the new website, you will find information about the European Children’s Network as an organisation, how to become a member, and who its current Member Organisations are, with information and links to their work at national level. Incorporated into the website is information related to EURONET’s EU policy areas and activities. It is actively working with the EU on children’s rights issues. These include the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the EU Treaties and the Fundamental Rights Agency: EURONET welcomes the Communication “Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child” in which the European Commission announced that it would develop the first-ever European children’s rights strategy. In the continued absence of a legal base for children’s rights in the EU Treaty, the proposed Strategy is crucial to support the efforts to protect children and promote their rights at the EU level. The European Children’s Network was closely involved in developing the ideas in this document, which drew heavily on the recommendations of children’s NGOs. EURONET continues to cooperate with EU institutions and partner organisations to ensure that the forthcoming Strategy leads to concrete change for children. Part of this strategy is to involve children in the consultation process. EURONET, in collaboration with UNICEF, organised a conference on the Communication in Florence in November 2006 resulting in a Florence Call for Action. All the papers presented at the Conference can be found on the new EURONET website now. EURONET contributed positively towards the inclusion of references to children’s rights in the European Constitutional Treaty. EURONET and its German Member organisation are currently in contact with the German EU Presidency on the freshly started debate on the Constitutional Treaty and will keep on campaigning for the safeguarding of children’s rights in any new EU Treaty text. EURONET works in cooperation with other children’s organisations towards the inclusion of children’s rights in the work programme of the on 1 March 2007 to be established Fundamental Rights Agency. EURONET’s work with the EU Presidencies is centred around ‘L’Europe de L’Enfance’ meetings, which are high level national civil servant or Ministerial meetings with responsibility for children’s rights, as well as ChildONEurope (the European Network of Observatories on Childhood) and other meetings with a focus on children’s rights. EURONET is also involved in policy activities related to children’s participation, discrimination, and poverty and social exclusion. The EURONET report “What about us? Children’s Rights in the European Union: Next Steps” develops a coherent children’s rights policy focusing on all aspects of EU internal actions affecting children’s rights, including violence against children, child health, environment, education, media and internet, residential care and adoption, asylum and migration, etc. One of the website’s many new features is that it offers immediate access to all of EURONET’s newsletters, reports, policy documents and other publications since 1997. The website also has web pages devoted to providing the latest EURONET and child rights-related news, upcoming events, and additional links for more information on the European Union, the United Nations, the EU Presidencies, and non-EURONET publications. The website has a child-friendly page, which aims to involve children and young people and includes child friendly versions of the UN Convention on Children’s Rights and of the Communication towards a Strategy on Children’s Rights. It also includes reports of children’s consultations that EURONET has held with them in the past. For French speakers, there is a webpage with information, publications, and links to the websites of EURONET’s French-speaking members. Publications which have been translated in other EU languages can be found in the publications library. The new website also includes a Members-Only section, which provides current European Children’s Network members with access to internal documents. The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) is hosting the website of the European Children’s Network and is providing a direct link to the website on its homepage starting Tuesday, 30 January 2007.