Child consultations on the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child | Defence For Children Italia | Movimento Globale per i Diritti dell’Infanzia

Summary

Guiding the intergovernmental work of the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF), DCI Italia collaborated with the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe in the framework of Child consultations in the preparatory process of the new Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027). DCI Italia planned and coordinated the consultative process with 220 children, carried out by National Delegations in 10 Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovak Republic and Spain and produced a 60-page report with the full outcomes of the consultations.

Over the past fifteen years, we have successfully integrated consultations with children and youth as a systematic and cross-cutting element of our work, within Italy and internationally. Today, children are actively participating in our programmes, as informants, advisers, researchers and trainers. Although this remains each and every time a sensitive and challenging task, we have been able to inspire together with children significant processes of change in policymaking, research, service practice and training across many thematic fields. 

All our work in this field is based on a systemic and transdisciplinary reading of human rights principles and the rights of the child, as afforded under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Council of Europe Conventions, guidelines and recommendations.