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Summary: The Council of Europe has launched an internet portal for its programme for the promotion of children’s rights and the protection of children against all forms of violence.
This programme was set up following the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Warsaw 2005) and comprises two main courses of action. The first will focus on the promotion and protection of children’s rights from a legal standpoint. This will entail devising the structures, instruments, tools, training programmes and so forth needed to assist member states in honouring their commitments in this field. The programme will also develop new standards where existing laws are inadequate. The ultimate goal: close the gap between standards, policy principles and reality. The second course of action, under the heading “Children and violence”, will focus on specific forms of violence and where they take place – at home, at school, in the family, in resident institutions, in the community, the media or in cyber-space. Specific attention will be paid to more recent forms of violence, such as child pornography on the Internet or mobile phone harassment, which spring from the new technologies. Our objective is to help countries and local authorities develop comprehensive prevention strategies. Two key concepts for both strands Children’s rights violations will persist as long as adults continue to see children as mini persons. Children need more than care and protection; they should also be recognised as holders of legal rights. Europe should become a continent that recognises children as fully-fledged individuals. Eradication of violence against children should be based on the four pillars: protection of children, prevention of violence, prosecution of criminals and participation of children. We wish for children to become real partners in our work. Special attention will be paid to informing children of their rights and to designing appropriate tools and channels for a meaningful consultation and participation of children in all stages and projects of the programme. Information about the launching conference which is taking place in Monaco from 4-5 April 2006.