Information Documents
SG/Com(2008)1036 (restricted) 15 September 2008
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Communication from the Secretary General
and the Deputy Secretary General
to the 1036th meeting of
Ministers’ Deputies (16 September)
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Communication from the Secretary General
1. Meeting with Mr Alexander G. Zvyagintsev (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation) – Strasbourg (10 September)
On 10 September, I met Mr Alexander Zvyagintsev (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation). Mr Vladimir Zimin (First Deputy Head of the General Department of International Legal Co-operation, Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation) and Ambassador Alexander Alekseev also attended the meeting. We discussed the conclusions of the Conference of Prosecutors General of Europe held in St Petersburg on 2-3 July and several current issues.
2. 18th High-level 2+2 Meeting between the Council of Europe and the OSCE
– Brussels (15 September)
On 15 September, together with Mr Carl Bildt (Chairman of your Committee and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden), I attended the 18th High-level “2+2” meeting between the Council of Europe and the OSCE.
2. Council of Europe Open Day (21 September)
On 21 September, to mark the European Heritage Days, the Council of Europe will hold its open day on the theme “People meeting people”. The new Agora building is the venue, where staff will be present from 9 am to 6 pm to tell visitors about the various Council of Europe programmes and campaigns.
4. Future visits
United Nations General Assembly, Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations and Extraordinary meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Council of Europe member states – New York (23-24 September)
Conference of International Courts and Tribunals – London (6 October)
Communication from the Deputy Secretary General
1. Conference on “Building a Europe for and with children: towards a strategy for 2009-2011” and official contacts
– Stockholm (8-10 September)
On 8-10 September, I travelled to Stockholm to participate in the Conference “Building a Europe for and with children: towards a strategy for 2009-2011” organised under the auspices of the Swedish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. During your last meeting, Ambassador Per Sjögren, Ambassador Irma Ertman and I briefed you on the outcome of this Conference and you received copies of the conclusions of the Conference. Ambassador Claudine Gastaud also participated actively in this event. The Conference brought together more than 300 participants – from members of governments to NGOs, from university professors to specialists, from children to representatives of international institutions, from ombudspersons to representative of local authorities.
For my part, I closed the Seminar on “Violence against children: linking international co‑operation to national strategies” which was one of the three Seminars preceeding the Conference. I then opened the main Conference together with Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden, Mr Göran Hägglund (Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden), Ms Beatrice Ask (Minister of Justice of Sweden) and Ms Nadine Morano (State Secretary responsible for Family Affairs of France representing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union). I also closed the Conference together with Ambassador Per Sjögren. All my speeches and interventions are available on the web site, together with the Conference materials and all other speeches delivered.
I was very pleased that, during the Conference, Her Majesty Queen Silvia and more than 20 members of governments of our member states signed the postcards which symbolise our – and especially their – commitment to eliminating all forms of corporal punishment of children.
In the margins of the Conference, Her Majesty Queen Silvia reiterated to me her support for our action in favour of children’s rights and in particular supported the rapid entry into force of our Convention against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children. She also emphasised the need for training of legal professionals.
I also had the opportunity to discuss co-operation between the EU and the Council of Europe regarding children’s rights with State Secretary Morano. I understand that an Informal Conference of Ministers responsible for Family Affairs will be organised by the French Presidency on child-related issues on 18 September, and I trust that the Council of Europe will be associated with this event.
I had a bilateral meeting with Ms Nyamko Sabuni (Minister for Integration and Gender Equality of Sweden) with whom I discussed questions related to Roma women and the fight against all forms of violence against women. Minister Sabuni was specifically interested in discussing the issue of how the majority of the population of a country interacts with the minority Roma population.
I had a bilateral meeting with Ms Beatrice Ask (Minister of Justice of Sweden) with whom I discussed amongst other issues the ratification by Sweden of a number of Council of Europe Conventions, the future Council of Europe guidelines on child-friendly justice and notably the issue of the age of criminal responsibility (which is also relevant in the context of the revision of our Convention on the transfer of sentenced persons) and the scope of the future Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence. I was pleased to hear the intention of the future Swedish EU Presidency to work closely with the Council of Europe in the field of justice and home affairs.
I also had a bilateral meeting with Mr Göran Hägglund (Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden) – our main partner in the co-organisation of this event. I thanked Minister Hägglund for the excellent co-operation the Council of Europe Secretariat has had with his staff. We then discussed specific issues, notably the follow-up to this Conference and the adoption of the Stockholm Strategy, the issue of violence at school and the first Ministerial Conference of Ministers responsible for Social Cohesion to be held in 2009 in Moscow.
I should like to thank the Swedish authorities for having placed children’s rights so high on their agenda and for the excellent organisation of this Conference. My special thanks go to Her Majesty Queen Silvia, the four members of the Swedish Government who participated in this event (and particularly Minister Hägglund and his staff) and Ambassadors Sjögren, Ertman and Gastaud for their contributions. It is now for the Committee of Ministers to move this agenda forward by adopting the Stockholm Strategy.
2. Meeting with Mr Alexander G. Zvyagintsev (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation) – Strasbourg (11 September)
On 11 September, I met Mr Alexander G. Zvyagintsev (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation). We discussed in detail the follow-up the Council of Europe is currently giving to the Conference of Prosecutors General of Europe which took place in St Petersburg on 2-3 July, notably concerning the role of public prosecution outside the criminal law system and the follow-up of this Conference in the Council of Europe.
3. Funeral service for Mr Georg Kahn-Ackermann – Munsing (12 September)
On 12 September, I attended the funeral service of the former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Georg Kahn-Ackermann, with whom I had the privilege to work in his Private Office. On this occasion, I paid tribute to his work and commitment to the Council of Europe on behalf of the Secretariat.
4. United Nations Internet Governance Forum
– Hyderabad, India (3-6 December)
This is to inform you that the Council of Europe has been invited, as in previous years, to participate in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which will take place in Hyderabad, India, from 3-6 December 2008. I will address the IGF at the opening ceremony and we are organising a number of events, some of which in partnership with other international institutions or organisations. Following broad-based consultations through the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group, the IGF’s proposed agenda for the Third Meeting of the IGF will be as follows: (a) Reaching the next billion; (b) Promoting cyber-security and trust; (c) Managing critical Internet resources; (d) Taking stock and the way forward; (e) Emerging issues – the Internet of tomorrow. The overall theme of the meeting will be “Internet for all'”. The Council of Europe’s Secretariat contribution will soon be available on our web site with the reference SG/Inf(2008)14.
5. Future visits
Hearing on human trafficking “Who is fighting trafficking – who is not?”
– European Parliament, Brussels (8 October)
8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth – Kyiv (10 October)