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Interview with the Deputy Secretary General for the Portal

30.06.2005

Question: What made you decide to make campaigning for children your top priority?

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: One reason was my growing awareness of the degree of violence to children that takes place in our societies whether it be hidden or not. I was also very influenced by my previous work at the Court and Commission of Human Rights, when many cases I worked on involved children’s rights. These were often extremely painful to all concerned, children and parents alike. Although they did not necessarily deal with issues of violence, they showed the need for a rights-based approach with children not treated as mini-people with mini rights, but given their full rights as human beings, just like any adult.

Question: Why is it important to act now? And why at European level?

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: Every day lost is a day too many. Children are in need and it cannot wait. There are so many areas where the principles of respect for children are not being reflected in law or practice that it is becoming urgent to act.

The Council of Europe is the most obvious place to do that the fact that the Council has succeeded in creating a death-penalty-free zone throughout Europe shows that a whole continent can be brought together around a core value. It is possible to deliver consensus on something other than the national level, and the Council has the expertise and experience to do so.

Question: What are you hoping for from the conferences?

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: This conference is not an end in itself, but just the beginning of a major campaign by the Council of Europe against violence to children. So what I want to see is real results. I want action taken at national level, coordinated by the Council of Europe and I want new, child friendly approaches in our everyday life. For example, I want policy-makers to put children into the centre of any planning, for there to be a “child impact assessment” for new policies to make sure their needs are considered. A child friendly environment is unlikely to be an environment where children suffer violence, so work should begin at that level. Also, I want to see children treated better by the courts, with specialised juvenile courts and better ways for children to get proper justice.