Strasbourg, 1 July 2014CDDECS(2014)6final

 

 

 

 

 

 

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL COHESION,

HUMAN DIGNITY AND EQUALITY

(CDDECS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opinion of CDDECS

on Recommendation 2044 (2014) – “Ending child poverty in Europe”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

At their 1198th meeting (29-30 April and 2 May 2014) the Ministers' Deputies decided to communicate the Recommendation 2044 (2014) – “Ending child poverty in Europe” to the European Committee for Social Cohesion, Human Dignity and Equality (CDDECS) for information and possible comments.

 

The CDDECS considered this Recommendation (Appendix) in its first meeting (3-5 June 2014, Strasbourg). Based on the views expressed by the CDDECS, the Secretariat prepared the attached opinion to be sent to the Committee of Ministers.

 

Reply to the Committee of Ministers

 

1. The CDDECS has taken note of Recommendation 2044 (2014) of the Parliamentary Assembly on “Ending child poverty in Europe”.

 

2. The CDDECS endorses the Parliamentary Assembly’s recommendations on the impact of budgetary restrictions on the quality and delivery of child-oriented services.

 

3. The children that are most affected by poverty in Europe today are particularly vulnerable to becoming victims of trafficking, violence and abuse. The right to education of these children is particularly exposed to violation. They also risk becoming victims of exclusion and multiple discrimination based on their economic situation and other vulnerabilities. In order to fully ensure the fundamental rights of the child, child poverty and social exclusion must be overcome by measures that are aimed directly at children and that enable their participation. In addition, attention should be paid to the economic situation of the parents. The CDDECS wishes to draw the member States’ attention to the severe and urgent nature of this issue that endangers the cohesion of the societies.

 

4. The CDDECS underlines the importance of the discussions and conclusions at the Council of Europe Conference in Dubrovnik (27-28 March 2014) “Growing with children’s Rights” on the implementation of the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2012-2015), which provided clear indications to the need for the Council of Europe to focus on the situation of children living in poverty. It notes, in particular, the recommendation “making policy makers aware of the long term impact of austerity measures and cuts on child-friendly services, and ensuring that children’s rights and welfare are not compromised in times of economic crisis” [1]..

5. The CDDECS will bring the Parliamentary Assembly’s Recommendation to the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Strategy for the Rights of Children (2016-2019) (DECS-ENF), and will encourage it to give more attention to the issue of child poverty when preparing the Strategy for the Rights of the Child beyond 2015.

 

6. Finally, the CDDECS also draws the Committee of Ministers’ attention to the recent activities of the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights in this field, in particular his issue paper on “Safeguarding human rights in times of economic crisis”[2]

Appendix

 

 

PACE Recommendation 2044 (2014) Provisional version

 

Ending child poverty in Europe

 

Origin - Assembly debate on 11 April 2014 (18th Sitting) (see Doc. 13458, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Sevinj Fataliyeva). Text adopted by the Assembly on 11 April 2014 (18th Sitting).

 

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring to its Resolution 1995 (2014) on ending child poverty in Europe, once again welcomes the commitment of the Council of Europe to children’s human rights and child protection, most recently manifested in the Council of Europe's Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2012-2015.

 

2. The Assembly notes that, in the framework of the current strategy, the issue of child poverty is covered under the third strategic objective on “guaranteeing the rights of children in vulnerable situations” as a factor rendering children even more vulnerable than they are already. The Assembly considers, however, that child poverty should be given more prominence when it comes to the implementation of the strategy.

 

3. Many child-oriented services offered at national level, including at the local level, are confronted with budgetary restrictions which may have a direct impact on the quality of such services and their delivery. In the future, the participation of children will have to play a greater role, in order to better target social services and increase their effectiveness by identifying which ones are truly needed by children.

 

4. With the purpose of reinforcing the well-being of children and the protection of their rights at the European level, the Assembly therefore invites the Committee of Ministers to:

 

1. give greater priority to the issue of child poverty when preparing and adopting the Council of Europe strategy for the rights of the child beyond 2015, in particular as regards guaranteeing the rights of children in vulnerable situations and the promotion of child participation;

 

2. invite its different governmental bodies relating to children’s rights to pay special attention to the current economic context and the particular situation of children living in poverty when implementing the current Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2012-2015;

 

3. pay the same attention to the context in the implementation of Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)2 on the participation of children and young people under the age of 18, Recommendation CM/Rec(2011)12 on children’s rights and social services friendly to children and families, and the Guidelines on child-friendly health care (2011) and on child friendly justice (2010);

 

4. invite the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to contribute to activities in this field alongside the governmental sector and the Parliamentary Assembly, given that local and regional authorities are important stakeholders when it comes to implementing social policies and services aimed at families and children.

 

 

[1] These documents can be found on the Dubrovnik Conference website: http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/children/Dubrovnik/DubrovnikConference2014_fr.asp

 

[2] CommDH/IssuePaper(2013)2 / 4 December 2013, in particular pp.23-24.