The new EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child are out!
Discussion details
The new EU Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child – Leave no Child Behind were adopted 6 March 2017 by the EU Foreign Ministers. A Launch Event was organized in Geneva the same day by the EU Delegation, UNICEF and Plan International to mark their adoption (picture). The event opened a discussion on the importance of the EU Guidelines as a tool to address challenges and provide opportunities to protect the rights of all children and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Guidelines reaffirm EU's strong commitment to the fulfillment of all rights for all children. They aim at strengthening efforts to ensure all children are reached by EU policies and actions, in particular the most marginalised children and those in vulnerable situations. The EU considers that children have the potential to be the greatest agents of change and sustainable development in their communities and in their countries. The Eu commits to continue in standing up for the rights of every child to reach their full potential in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols.
The main objective of the new guidelines is to provide comprehensive guidance to officials of EU institutions and EU Member States by identifying ways and means to work effectively towards the promotion and protection of the rights of all children in partner countries and the steps that the EU will take, using all the tools at its disposal. They take into consideration new global developments globally as well as the evolution of EU policies.
Compared to the 2008 Guidelines, the 2017 Guidelines are more detailed in order to provide concrete guidance on how to implement this approach. They also outline what is meant by a rights-based approach and how to operationalise it. They give a better focus and are clearer in how EU officials should contribute to promoting and protecting the rights of the child. They stress on the importance of a systems-strengthening approach to child protection to ensure that all countries own a national system better able to protect and fulfil all children's rights through the appropriate measures, structures and resources.
The Guidelines, as well as Frequently Asked Questions and Key Messages are available in several languages at: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/22017/guidelines-promotion-and-protection-rights-child_en
The tool for integrating child rights in development cooperation remains the EU-UNICEF child rights toolkit: integration child rights in development cooperation, accessible in several languages at: http://www.childrightstoolkit.com/
A video produced by EU DG DEVCO on EU support to child rights in 3 languages is accessible at
ENG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHmnLH9Yn8&feature=youtu.be
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