Council of Europe: Ombudswork for Children

Summary: Speech by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe at a conference on Ombudswork for Children held in Athens from 29 - 30 September

“To what extent do European and other international instruments rely on ombudspersons for the protection and the promotion of children’s rights ?”

Protecting children’s rights in Europe: dependent people need independent institutions

Each time we discuss the creation of an institution or a legal instrument which would specifically address children rights issues, there are voices who challenge their need because of the existence of broader human rights mechanisms and provisions. You are certainly not the audience who would have to be convinced of the need of specific measures for children. They are dependent people whose rights are ignored and violated and this without them having a real chance to report the facts, prosecute the offender or claim compensation and legal redress for the suffering.

Children are indeed holders of human rights but do not have the right to vote, do not participate in policy making and have very limited access to justice, information and advice. The truth is that children very much rely on what individuals - parents, teachers and friends - and independent institutions such as ombudspersons as well as non-governmental organisations can do for them. Children are dependent human beings who need independent institutions.

You came here to discuss Ombudswork for children. I shall therefore devote the following minutes to explain the extent to which the Council of Europe instruments rely on ombudspersons. I shall talk to you on the assumption that ombudspersons are truly independent institutions with the mandate to protect and promote human rights.

As you know, the Council of Europe was founded in 1949 in the aftermath of the Second World War. Its statutory aim is to “achieve a greater unity between its members”, which today includes 46 member states. Since 1949, the Council of Europe has been building a united Europe based on three fundamental pillars, which are our shared values: human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Our ambition is to build a space of democratic security in which 800 million people (including 150 million children) can feel safe, happy and at home.

The Council of Europe works to protect children against all forms of violence. Its work has contributed to revealing the extent of violence against children at home, at school, in residential institutions and other places. We have broken down the wall of silence and this greater awareness of the problem has shown the magnitude of what remains to be done in both preventing violence and eliminating it.

The various bodies and institutions working within the Council of Europe contribute in different ways to achieve its aims.
We, at the Council of Europe, dispose of sophisticated and useful tools, namely:
- standard setting,
- monitoring,
- policy development,
- technical assistance and co-operation and
- awareness-raising, training and capacity building.

Ombudswork for children is relevant for most – if not all- activities developed within the Council of Europe in the above areas.

Let’s look first at our standard setting activities.

The Council of Europe’s most important asset is probably its capacity to set standards. Most European standards concerning children’s rights have been consolidated thanks to Conventions, Recommendations and Resolutions adopted within the Council of Europe framework.

Before coming here, I examined in detail the texts of those conventions which are of particular relevance for children, such as: Cybercrime, exercise of children’s rights, Social Charter, European Convention on Human Rights. My conclusion is that, unlike the role of NGOs which is being increasingly recognised, and rightly so, ombudspersons are not yet identified as a formal partner in the negotiation, implementation and monitoring of standards.

NGOs very actively participate in the negotiation of our conventions. I still remember the crucial role played by Amnesty International in the negotiation of our Convention against trafficking in human beings and I expect NGOs to be also very active during the on-going negotiations that will lead to a new Convention against sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

NGOs’ role in the implementation of our legal instruments includes their recognition as real partners of national authorities in policy making, data collection and awareness raising. I am convinced that the increasing role of ombudspersons at national level will soon be followed by its recognition in international texts. One of our most recent legal texts, the Committee of Ministers Recommendation on the Rights of Children living in residential institutions (adopted in 2005), already refers to Ombudspersons for Children when explaining the Child’s right to make complaints to an identifiable, impartial and independent body.

The absence of a formal reference to ombudspersons in Council of Europe conventions should not be seen as an obstacle to co-operation between the Council of Europe and independent institutions. This co-operation is of particular interest in the context of our monitoring activities, to which I shall now turn, Ombudspersons can provide useful advice for individuals or groups of individuals who wish to bring complaints before the

European Court of Human Rights. In certain circumstances, ombudspersons can be invited to provide information to the Court which contributes to the analysis of issues raised. Under the

European Convention on Human Rights as amended by Protocol 11, Article 36(2) explicitly provides for third party interventions from “any person concerned who is not the applicant” at the invitation of the President of the Court. This provision has not been widely used so far, but there is no reason that it should not change in the future.

The implementation of several of our human rights mechanisms is monitored by independent groups of experts who can ask and receive information from national authorities, institutions and NGOs. For example, the Advisory Committee established under the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities, includes ombudspersons amongst the institutions to contact and meet when assessing the situation in a given country. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture may also “communicate freely with any person whom it believes can supply relevant information”. The monitoring mechanism established by the Convention against trafficking, yet to enter into force, foresees co-operation with independent national experts, national authorities and the civil society. The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also carry out thematic or country-specific monitoring exercises in which ombudspersons’ input can be extremely important. Last, but not least, I would like to mention one of the organisers of this conference, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. I believe that the Commissioner is both a natural ally for national ombudspersons and a perfect ambassador of ombudswork.

The role of ombudspersons for children in policy making at the Council of Europe has been until now relatively limited. This role depends on the extent to which ombudspersons succeed in influencing the discussions in our steering committees on Education, Youth, Social Cohesion, Human Rights, Legal Co-operation, etc. The issues discussed within these steering committees include the rights of children with disabilities, integration of migrant’s children, education of Roma children and positive parenting, to name but a few. I shall conclude this quick survey of the Council of Europe tools by noting that Ombudspersons’ potential role as partners in our assistance and awareness-raising activities should be further explored and developed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are many opportunities for involving ombudspersons in Council of Europe work and they should be used more systematically. The increasing recognition of the unique role of ombudspersons at national and regional level should be properly reflected in international texts and processes. I am convinced that the Council of Europe and the European Union should promote and support independent institutions, make better use of the results of their work and involve them in their activities related to human rights. For this to happen, countries should provide for this institution to meet a few essential criteria. Ombudspersons should have the mandate to protect and promote human rights, be completely independent, properly funded and established through legislation. I am convinced that ombudspersons for children represent a real added value and an important complement to broader ombudswork.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In spite of all our past efforts, the rights of children are violated on a daily basis in all member states of the Council of Europe and new forms of violence against children are emerging.

For this reason, the heads of state and government of the Council of Europe renewed in 2005 their commitment to fully comply with the obligations set forth in United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. They asked the Council of Europe to implement a child rights’ perspective in all of its activities and to effectively co-ordinate all child-related activities within the Organisation.

They also decided to launch a three-year programme of action to address the social, legal, health and educational dimensions of the various forms of violence against children. The result was the new transversal and priority programme “Building a Europe for and with children” (2006-2008), which has been designed to complement United Nations efforts to promote children’s rights and eradicate violence against children.

This new programme is paying particular attention to the role of ombudsmen for children. One of our main objectives is to help states in the preparation of national strategies for the protection of children’s rights. We shall therefore assess existing legal and institutional frameworks at national level. We shall look into the role of co-coordinating bodies, ombudspersons, observatories and research institutions, their respective mandates and the way they work together and cooperate with other partners such as NGOs. We will promote participatory processes for decision making, monitoring and implementation of children’s rights policies and I hope to count on ombudspersons’ support in this respect. Our programme will also pay particular attention to vulnerable children - notably children with disabilities, children living in poverty and children without parental care. It will promote children’s access to information and children’s participation in decision making processes.

I am personally committed to the promotion of ombudsmen for children. I believe that this institution is one of the pillars of the building we are designing. I welcome in particular the steps made by the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children towards a more structured and active role at the international level. I believe that as a NGO, ENOC should have a participatory status within the Council of Europe and establish its secretariat in Strasbourg, so that the natural attraction which exists between ENOC and our Organisation is formalised and starts bearing fruit.

The Council of Europe and ombudspersons share the objective to defend, promote and extend human rights. When it comes to protecting the rights of children, we have a clear responsibility to act and perform. If we work together, we can only be more effective and I believe that we should adopt a more strategic approach to our partnership.

Here and today, we have the opportunity to launch a new alliance – for a better childhood for every child in Europe.