On 9-11 November 2016, the Children’s Rights Division and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, jointly with Wilton Park, are organising an international conference on Protecting children from violence: next steps for effective strategies. The conference will gather selected stakeholders at local, regional, national and international level to discuss strategic focus of actions needed to protect children from violence. The aim of the conference is to:

• Discuss outstanding challenges and next steps for action for international, European and national stakeholders to promote and support law and institutional reforms in the implementation of relevant international and European standards in this area in order to contribute meaningfully to the follow-up to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the area of violence against children and make an effective contribution towards Target 16.2 of the post 2030 UN;
• Raise awareness about the Council of Europe key standards to protect children against violence, including against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse;
• Engage policy makers (in particular parliamentarians, local and regional elected representatives) to further elaborate and work on the commitments of states;
• Identify areas in which monitoring mechanisms need to be strengthened to ensure that children’s rights to protection are effectively upheld;
• Build capacity, foster exchanges and share best practice between experts at all levels to protect children from violence in various settings.

  Report of the Conference