Just as gender equality issues are mainstreamed into the work of the Children’s Rights Division, the Gender Equality Division also mainstreams a children’s rights perspective into its work.

Children and young people with disabilities are at higher risk of exclusion than other children. The Council of Europe Disability Unit therefore integrates a specific focus on children and young people with disabilities.

The office of the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees protects children’s rights by focusing attention on bringing an end to the harmful practice of detaining child migrants. Another area of focus is the setting of common guidelines on age assessment procedures.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) children are vulnerable to human rights violations, and run the risk of being excluded from their families. The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOG) unit of the Council of Europe addresses the various risks and challenges these children encounter.

The Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO) addresses the ethical and legal challenges raised by developments in the biomedical field. The protection of children and minors are afforded specific attention in the various legal texts and standards created by the Committee on Bioethics.

The European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) is responsible for the standard-setting activities of the Council of Europe in the field of public and private law and fosters legal co-operation. The CDCJ recently developed a Recommendation on preventing and resolving disputes on child relocation and the Guidelines on child-friendly justice.

The Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI), which addresses issues linked to the evolution of information and communication technologies, has integrated a special focus on education for children, including with regard to online data protection. One of its objectives is to secure the rights of children and young people on the Internet.

The Council of Europe’s education programme carries out various activities which focus on the protection of children’s rights. These include activities in the area of education for democratic citizenship and human rights, training of Education Professionals (Pestalozzi Programme), Language Policy, History Teaching, and Education for Roma Children in Europe.