TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

Opening Ceremony

Moderator: Ms Deyana Kostadinova, Chief of the Cabinet to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria

• H.E. Mr Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria
• Mr Ivailo Kalfin, Deputy Prime Minister for Demographic and Social Policies and Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Bulgaria
• Ms Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General, Council of Europe
• H.E. Ms Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta

Keynote Speech

• Mr Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

High-level plenary session

Moderator: Ms Regína Jensdóttir, Council of Europe Co-ordinator on the Rights of the Child

• H.E. Mr Daniel Mitov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
• Mr Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

Member States

• Andorra: Ms Ester Fenoll Garcia, State Secretary of Social Affairs and Labour
• Azerbaijan: Ms Aynur Sofiyeva, Deputy Chairperson of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs
• Croatia: Ms Bernardica Juretić, Minister of Social Policy and Youth
• Cyprus: H.E. Ambassador Stavros Avgoustides, Ambassador of Cyprus to the Republic of Bulgaria
• Czech Republic: Ms Michaela Marksová, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
• Finland: Mr Jari Partanen, Secretary of State, Ministry of Transport and Communications
• Hungary: Ms Katalin Novák, Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs
• Latvia: Mr Jānis Reirs, Minister of Welfare
• Lithuania: Mr Algirdas Šešelgis, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour
• Malta: Mr Michael Farrugia, Minister of the Family and Social Solidarity
• Monaco: H.E. Mr Gilles Tonelli, Government Counsellor for External Relations and Co-operation, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Norway: Mr Kai-Morten Terning, State Secretary, Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion
• Poland: Ms Renata Szczęch, Deputy Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy
• Portugal: Ms Ana Sofia Antunes, Secretary of State for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities
• Romania: Ms Gabriela Coman, President of the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoptions
• Sweden: Ms Pernilla Baralt, State Secretary to the Minister for Children, the Elderly and Gender Equality

Upholding the rights of the child in the current migration crisis

• Ms Marie-Pierre Poirier, Regional Director, UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Special Coordinator, Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe
• Mr Michael O’Flaherty, Director, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
• Mr Apolonio Ruiz Ligero, Vice Governor for the Social Development Strategy, Council of Europe Development Bank (absent)

Protecting children against violence

• Ms Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children
• Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
• Ms Sevinj Fataliyeva, General Rapporteur on Children of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe  

Parallel side events

SIDE EVENT 1: Handbook on European law relating to the rights of children

Moderator: Mr Gianluca Esposito, Head of the Human Dignity and Equality Department, Council of Europe

• Mr Ton Liefaard, UNICEF Chair and Professor of Children's Rights, Leiden University,  the Netherlands
• Ms Anna Austin, Deputy Jurisconsult, European Court of Human Rights
• Ms Maria Amor Estebanez, Programme Manager – Legal Research,  European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
• Mr Luis Jimena Quesada, Professor of Law at the University of Valencia, former President of the European Committee of Social Rights

SIDE EVENT 2: Strategies in Action – the Bulgarian experience

Parallel thematic sessions

SESSION 1: UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN ON THE MOVE: LEARNING FROM THE “REFUGEE CRISIS”

Moderator: Mr George Moschos, Deputy Ombudsman for Children, Greece

Speakers:

• Mr George Tyrikos-Ergas, volunteer from NGO “Agkalia”, Lesvos, Greece
• Ms Anna Austin, Depupty Jurisconsult, Registry of the European Court of Human Rights
• Mr Tomáš Boček, Special Representative of the Secretary General for migration and refugees, Council of Europe
• Mr Jean Claude Legrand, Senior Regional Advisor on Child Protection, UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
• Mr Helmut Sax, member of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)

Discussants :

• Mr Fredrik Malmberg, Ombudsman for Children, Sweden; co-author of "The first report of the ENOC Task Force on Children on the Move"
• Ms Antigoni Angelakis, NGO METAction, Greece

Young delegates report back

SESSION 2: CHILD-FRIENDLY JUSTICE: HEARING CHILDREN IN JUDICIAL PROCEDURES

Moderator: Ms Velina Todorova, Associate Professor, Institute for the State and the Law, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

Speakers:

• Mr Benoît van Keirsbilck, Director, Defence for Children International
• Ms Verginia Micheva-Russeva, Deputy Minister of Justice, Bulgaria
• Ms Margaret Tuite, European Commission Coordinator for the Rights of the Child
• Ms Zuzana Fišerová, Chair of the Council of Europe’s European Committee on Legal Co-operation

Discussants:

• Ms Renata Szredzińska, Nobody’s Children Foundation, Poland
• Ms Astrid Podsialowski, Head of Sector Rights of the Child, Equality and Citizens’ Rights Department, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

Conclusions

SESSION 3: THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD: TAKING CHILD PARTICIAPTION TO A NEW LEVEL

Moderator: Ms Anne Crowley, Policy and Research Consultant, United Kingdom

Speaker:

• Ms Gerison Lansdown, International Children’s Rights Consultant, United Kingdom

Experts for working groups:

• Ms Elizabeth Canavan, Assistant Secretary, Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Ireland
• Ms Anne O’Donnell, Head of Citizen Participation, Play, Recreation and Culture, Department of Child and Youth Affairs, Ireland
• Ms Lily Cheung and Ms Jane Hayes-Nall, young delegates, Ireland
• Ms Kiira Gornischeff, Project Manager and Advisor, Estonian Union for Child Welfare, Estonia
• Ms Elise Nikonov, Chief Specialist, Department of Children and Families, Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonia
• Ms Mia Marta Ruus, young delegate, Estonia
• Ms Petya Dimitrova, State expert, State Agency for Child Protection, Bulgaria
• Mr Plamen Dimov and Ms Yoana Zaharieva, young delegates, Bulgaria

WEDNESDAY 6 APRIL 2016

SESSION 4: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: DESIGNING A CO-ORDINATED APPROACH THROUGH NATIONAL STRATEGIES

Moderator: Ms Elfa Ýr Gylfadóttir, Chair of the Council of Europe Steering Committee on Media and Information Society

Speakers:

• Ms Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
• Ms Luiza Shahbazyan, Deputy Co-ordinator, Bulgarian Safer Internet Centre
• Mr Michael Taylor, Policy lead, WePROTECT Children Online and International Online Child Sexual Abuse, Strategic Centre for Organised Crime, United Kingdom
• Mr Liubomir Tulev, Cybercrime Department, General Directorate "Countering Organized Crime", Ministry of Interior, Bulgaria

Discussant:

• Mr John Carr, Technical Adviser, European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online

SESSION 5: RADICALISATION OF CHILDREN: FINDING THE RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH

Moderator: Ms Audrey Osler, Professor, University College of Southeast Norway, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Speakers:

• Mr Bernard de Vos, General Delegate (Ombudsman) for Children’s Rights in the French Community of Belgium
• Mr Mario Janecek, Bureau member of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Terrorism
• Ms Sevinj Fataliyeva, General Rapporteur on Children, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (absent)

Discussant:

• Mr Pat Dolan, UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement, University of Galway, Ireland

Young delegates report back

SESSION 6: TAKING MONITORING RESULTS FORWARD: FOLLOW-UP TO THE LANZAROTE COMMITTEE’S FIRST IMPLEMENTATION REPORT ON “THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CIRCLE OF TRUST”

Moderator: Mr Claude Janizzi, Chairperson of the Lanzarote Committee

Speakers:

• Ms Susanna Greijer, Project Manager, ECPAT, Luxembourg
• Ms Helen Veitch, Oak Fellow on Children’s Participation in Preventing Sexual Violence, International Centre: Researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking, Bedfordshire University, United Kingdom

Discussant:

• Ms Turid Heiberg, Head of Unit, Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States

Young delegates report back

Conclusions by Mr Claude Janizzi

SESSION 7: THE UN STUDY ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN +10: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES IN EUROPE

Moderator: Mr Ton Liefaard, UNICEF Chair and Professor of Children’s Rights, Leiden University, the Netherlands

Speakers:

• Ms Elda Moreno, Director, Office of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children
• Ms Susan L. Bissell, Director a.i., The Global Partnership to End Violence against Children (absent)

Discussants:

• Ms Gabriela Coman, President of the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoptions, Romania
• Ms Cristina Barbaglia, Child Protection Advocacy Officer, Save the Children
• Ms Diana Kovatcheva, Deputy Ombudsperson of the Republic of Bulgaria

   

SESSION 8: PUBLIC SPENDING AND THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: CHILD BUDGETING

Moderator: Ms Laura Lundy, Professor of Education Law and Children’s Rights, Queen’s University, Belfast, United Kingdom

Speakers:

• Mr Jorge Cardona Llorens, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
• Mr Luis Jimena Quesada, Professor of Law at the University of Valencia, former President of the European Committee of Social Rights
• Mr Johan van den Hout, Thematic Spokesman on Children, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Facilitators of working groups:

• Ms Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General, Eurochild
• Ms Ina Verzivolli, Director, State Agency for the Protection of Child Rights, Albania
• Ms Anne Crowley, Policy and Research Consultant, United Kingdom

   

SESSION 9: NON-DISCRIMINAION OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX (LGBTI) YOUNG PEOPLE

Moderator: Mr Yuri de Boer, Policy Advisor, Council of Europe

Speakers:

• Ms Maria Amor Estebanez, Programme Managers – Legal Research, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
• Mr Michael Barron, Council of Europe Expert, Ireland
• Mr Nick Vijn, Young and Out and Gay-Straight Alliances, the Netherlands
• Ms Gudrun Jevne, Advisor, Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Norway

Plenary Session

Moderator: Ms Ivanka Shalapatova, Executive Director, “For Our Children” Foundation, Bulgaria

Closing Session

• Ms Eva Zhecheva, Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection, Bulgaria
• Mr Gianluca Esposito, Head of the Human Dignity and Equality Department, Council of Europe

Other statements submitted to the Secretariat

• Russian Federation