Strasbourg 23.03.2006 The Council of Europe is to launch a three year programme Building a Europe for and with children during a conference on 4 and 5 April in Monaco (Grimaldi Forum).
The conference will be open on Tuesday April 4 at 10am by the Principalitys Minister of State His Excellency Jean-Paul Proust, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio and HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover, who will chair the conference.
The conference will bring together government representatives, parliamentarians, children, ombudsmen for children, representatives of NGOs and other experts from the 46 Council of Europe member states. Representatives of the European Union, two regional directors from UNICEF and officials from other international organisations will also be sharing their expertise, along with judges and representatives of the largest international committees on child protection. The young people involved in the conference (14 to 18 years old) will prepare their contributions in a special seminar in Monaco on 2 and 3 April.
The conference will focus on four different themes:
- Promoting children’s rights, information and awareness-raising: introducing a European strategy.
- Participation by children: guaranteeing access to information and developing consultation procedures.
- Combating sexual abuse of children in the cyber-era.
- Towards a Europe free of corporal punishment: priorities and strategies.
Working groups will present the results of their discussions on Wednesday at 2.30pm and the conference will close with observations by the Council of Europe’s new Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio and HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover.
The conference is open to the press.
A press conference will take place on Tuesday 4 April at 12.40 pm.
