A Council of Europe & ENOC exhibition

What do children really think and feel about the impact that austerity measures have on their daily lives – on how they live, study, play, communicate with friends? What has really changed for them with these measures in place? Are we really putting children’s rights first?
 

Back Why Europe needs to invest in children

Why Europe needs to invest in children

"Doers should start speaking, and speakers should start doing" – this was the key message of the conference organised by Eurochild “Children's Rights Matter: Why Europe needs to invest in children” in Brussels on 5-7 July 2016.

Experts, policy makers dealing with social and economic rights, as well as children and young people themselves discussed the rights of children in the context of challenges to economic and financial stability.

“The return on investment into children’s rights by far overweighs the potential costs of fixing in future what has gone wrong. So, it is not only socially, but also economically beneficial to invest into children,” said Gianluca Esposito, Head of Equality and Human Dignity Department of the Council of Europe.

The event participants discussed the involvement of children and young people in decision-making and in the budget processes, integration of refugee children, and informing children of their rights.

The event was held under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians.

Eurochild press release on the conference

Austerity Bites: Children's Voices

Brussels 7 July 2016
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page

In 2014, the Council of Europe and the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) embarked on a journey to engage with children and enable them to create their own short films and animations to express their views and feelings.

 

"Austerity Bites: Children’s Voices" is the result of this creative and enriching process of providing children with a channel to express their views. A total of thirty-six children and young people across eight different municipalities and regions of Europe (Rome, the Hague, Ghent, Athens, Brussels, Glasgow, Preston, Marseille) gave us their views as rights holders by creating their own short films and animations on the impact of austerity measures.

A total of 150 million children live in the 47 member States of the Council of Europe. The Strategy for the Rights of the Child places children firmly at the centre of the Council of Europe’s human rights work. Protecting children from violence, giving them access to services and justice, and encouraging states to take the voices and views of children seriously are only some of the priorities of the Council of Europe. The “Austerity Bites” exhibition cuts across many of the key strategic objectives of the Council of Europe.

 

Watch the short films: Giulio, Jacopo, Valerio, Stefano and Matteo from Rome; Sabrina, Arielle, Kishan and Rahma from The Hague; Ashley, Kimberley and Annelies from Ghent; Giannis, Thanoulis, Sakine, Lamaan, Katerina and Spyros from Athens; Shauna, Aklima, Huseyin, Yannis and Loup from Brussels; Emma, Jade, Tamara and Louise from Glasgow; Kat, David, Will, Robyn and Loren from Preston; Audrey, Kaïs, Rania and Youcef from Marseille!

partners
follow us