Council of Europe adopts new Child Rights Strategy for 2016-2021

Date: 2nd March 2016
Category: General measures of implementation, General principles

The new Strategy (adopted on 2nd March 2016) guides the 47 member States of the Council of Europe to address the serious challenges facing children's rights, such as the refugee crisis, poverty and social exclusion, violence against children, discrimination and access to justice.

The Council of Europe protects and promotes human rights, which includes the rights of the child. This new document sets the priorities of the Council of Europe in this area for the period 2016 to 2021.
The Strategy identifies:

• the Council of Europe's achievements to build upon (chapter I);
• the major challenges for the rights of the child (chapter II);
• five priority areas and actions for meeting those challenges (chapter III);
• working methods to deliver the Strategy (chapter IV).

The five priority areas to guarantee the rights of the child are:

1. Equal opportunities for all children
2. Participation of all children
3. A life free from violence for all children
4. Child-friendly justice for all children
5. Rights of the child in the digital environment

Children in Council of Europe member States are entitled to enjoy the full range of human rights safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other international human rights instruments. These include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

This Strategy seeks to encompass all these categories of human rights and sets out the Council of Europe's and its member States' commitment to make these rights a reality for all children.

• Find out more about the new Strategy here.
• Download the Strategy here.