The Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) approved the next Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) during its Plenary session 15 October. The next step will be the submission to the Committee of Ministers for adoption at the beginning of 2022. The Committee also examined, on 16-17 September, a Draft Recommendation relating to Human Rights Principles and Guidelines on age assessment for children in the context of migration, together with its Explanatory Memorandum, and a Draft Explanatory Memorandum of Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)11 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on Effective guardianship for unaccompanied and separated children in the context of migration. Read more.

The Committee of experts on the rights and the best interests of the child in parental separation and in care proceedings (CJ/ENF-ISE) published two feasibility studies on the protection of the best interests of the child in domestic law proceedings by public authorities to limit parental responsibilities or place a child in care, and in parental separation proceedings. These studies prepared with CDJC (European Committee on Legal Co-operation) will form the basis of the CJ/ENF-ISE further work for the elaboration of (a) non-binding legal instrument(s) in accordance with their findings and the decisions of the Committee of Ministers. The preparation of these instruments will also involve child consultations in a number of member states.

The Committee of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (the "Lanzarote Committee") is expected to adopt in the coming months its implementation report - “The protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse facilitated by information and communication technologies: Addressing the challenges raised by child self-generated sexual images and/or videos” – containing the results of its monitoring findings in respect of 43 of its 48 Parties. The report  addresses many aspects of the highly relevant issue of online-facilitated sexual violence against children and  contains recommendations to Parties on how to address the challenges and redress identified gaps. The report  also includes in its analysis the ideas and suggestions of children themselves.

The Committee also adopted 3 compliance reports in the context of the follow-up given by Parties to its urgent monitoring round on “Protecting children affected by the refugee crisis from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse". These reports concern the Recommendations on exchange of information on awareness raising (R17), on helplines to child victims (R32) and on cross-border missing children (R35). They will soon be available on the Lanzarote Committee's webpage.

Finland Barnahus "Improve access and quality of justice for children"  

The project's goal is to improve the access and quality of the justice system for child victims and witnesses of violence in Finland in line with international standards. In preparation of the kick-off meeting on 25 November 2021, a dedicated Advisory Group has been set up and bi-lateral consultations will take place with the main stakeholders of the project, namely the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Affairs and the five existing Barnahus-units in the country.

Improving the Juvenile Justice System in Slovenia 

The project "Improving the juvenile system and strenghtening the education and training of penitentiary staff in Slovenia" consists of two components: the reform of the juvenile justice system and the reform of the penitentiary system and human resources of penitentiary staff. Component I, implemented by the Children's Rights Division, aims at supporting the Slovenian authorities to pursue a comprehensive review of the national legal framework on juvenile justice with the objective to harmonise it with the latest European and international standards and good practices. In September 2021, consultations with the beneficiary, namely the Ministry of Justice, took place in view of a coordination meeting with Directorate General I and the European Commission. The first Steering Committee took place at the end of October 2021, following the kick-off meeting on the same day.

CP4Europe - Child participation

The project CP4Europe "Strengthening National Child Participation Frameworks and Action in Europe" aims at assessing and improving child participation in decision-making in 5 partner countries – Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, Slovenia – in line with European standards, in particular the Council of Europe child participation tools. At the moment, the project is being implemented at the national level through kick-off events and the finalisation of Child Safeguarding Policies in each partner country. On 21 October 2021, the Children's Rights Division hosted the 1st online High-level International Conference to promote debates about child participation in Europe.

Slovenia Barnahus - A response model to child sexual abuse

The Council of Europe - European Commission Slovenia Barnahus joint project sets to establish in Slovenia a Barnahus, the leading European response model to child sexual abuse. During September 2021, consultations with children on the premises of the Barnahus took place to ensure the architectural solutions and the furbishing of the building are child-friendly. Currently two by-laws on interagency cooperation and training for Barnahus staff are  in the process of being finalised and going through official government approval process to complement the Barnahus Law.

Combating Violence Against Children in Ukraine

The project supports Ukraine in strengthening its response to child sexual exploitation, including in the digital environment, promoting child-friendly practices with focus on ensuring the rights of child victims and witnesses in proceedings and promoting the rights of the child in the digital environment.

National Police of Ukraine participated in an online training on "Investigative Interviewing of Children”, based on the Methodological Guidelines and Investigative Interview Protocol of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development prepared jointly with the Council of Europe Experts. The Guidelines improve interviewing proceedings involving minors in accordance with the provisions of the Lanzarote Convention and other European standards on child-friendly justice and will be further be used by professionals with the support of the National Police.

In October, the project launched the HELP course "Family Law and Human Rights" in cooperation with the Coordination Center for Free Legal Aid and the National Bar Association of Ukraine.

Combating Violence Against Children in Moldova

The project supports the Republic of Moldova in strengthening child protection framework and judicial system with focus on the protection of children against sexual violence, promotion of child-friendly justice practices and the rights of the child in the digital environment.  In September, face-to-face training sessions based on the Kiko and the Hand Manual for kindergarten teachers were organised  to improve the skills of professionals to detect and prevent child sexual abuse, provide them with tools to address children, parents and kindergarten administration. In October, several workshops for professionals were organised by NGOs which have received grants within the project, as well as a presentation of the Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment.

Webinars on Children's Mental Health and Intrafamily Violence.

At its plenary session in November 2020, the Steering Committee of the Rights of the Child (CDENF) decided to organise three webinars on "COVID-19 and the rights of the child" in 2021 to provide a space for exchange on the most pressing issues in the field of children's rights, as well as to facilitate focused discussions on national good practices to address specific challenges. Following the first webinar entitled "Overcoming the challenges of education" held on 22 March 2021, the 2nd and 3rd webinars will bring together CDENF members, participants and observers with other experts for an in-depth exchange of views on each theme on 22 November at 10:30 am and 2:00 pm respectively.

High-Level Launching Conference Rome:  7-8 April 2022.

Organised in the framework of the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and hosted by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy. This Conference will provide an opportunity for high-level representatives of member states and other international organisations to express their commitment to the new Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) and present their vision on its implementation. More to come.

Recommendation CM/Rec(2021)7 of the Committee of Ministers
As some children may be particularly vulnerable to messaging by terrorist associations and groups, including via social media, the Council of Europe has recommended a set of measures to help its 47 member states better protect children against radicalisation for the purpose of terrorism. Press release.

Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
Discrimination in custody case based on mother’s relationship with another woman: X. v. Poland

ECtHR calls for less strict procedural rules for children’s testimony: R.B. v. Estonia

The Austrian authorities did not fail in their obligation under the Convention to protect the lives of the applicant and her children: Kurt v. Austria

Clear violations in stripping of contact rights from parent undergoing gender reassignment: A.M. and Others v.Russia

Ineffectiveness of an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of a child: violation of the Convention
A.P. v. the Republic of Moldova

The Children’s Rights Division launched a number of interesting publications, tools and audio-visual materials which proved highly relevant and useful for policy makers, professionals working for and with children, parents and children themselves.

• Handbook on children's participation for professionals working for and with children 
• Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment 
• Parenting in the digital age - positive parenting strategies for different scenarios 
• Kiko and the Manymes, Storybook, Guidelines for parents and TV spot (available in 13 languages)
• Animation on age assessment for children in migration and child-friendly leaflet

Some of our earlier publications continue to generate high interest and have been translated in a number of languages inter alia with the assistance and contribution of our partners.

• Kiko and the Hand (translated into Japanese; adapted guidelines for parents with children having intellectual disabilities, in Spanish)
• Learn about your rights (available in 15 languages)
• How to convey child-friendly information to children in migration: A Handbook for frontline professionals (translated into Romanian)