The Council’s of Europe project focused on Children and Families that draws on previous Council’s programmes and projects started in 2001 aiming at promoting social cohesion and tackling social policy issues affecting children and families.  All our work in this field is based on the best interests of the child as it is set in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with the main emphasis paid on promotion, participation and protection of children.

The Forum for Children and Families (CS-FORUM) was the multidisciplinary body responsible for the activities in the children and families field from 2001 till June 2004. Performing its activities, the Forum has addressed such issues as reconciliation of family and professional life, perinatal psychiatry, corporal punishment of children within family, ombudspersons for children, right to education, emotional abuse and neglect, children’s participation in decision making, children in residential care and child day-care.  The Forum has sensitised many bodies within the CoE on children’s human rights and contributed to the external visibility of the Council of Europe in this respect.

The Committee of Experts on Children and Families (CS-EF) was established after the Forum by the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS) from autumn 2004 until December 2006. The programme focused on "Supporting parenting in the best interests of the child", the main activity of the Committee of Experts on Children and Families. This work lead up to the adoption of a Recommendation by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, designed to get states to recognise the importance of parental responsibilities and the need to provide parents with enough support to help them fulfill their responsibilities.