Children have the right to be heard and have a say in all decisions affecting them, be that at home, in the community, at school or in individual legal and administrative matters. The Council of Europe places participation of children at the core of its children’s rights agenda and mainstreams it into the organisation’s standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation work.
One the key deliverables of the European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project “CP4Europe - Strengthening National Child Participation Frameworks and Action in Europe” was the development of a “child participation leadership network” through the CP4Europe Web-platform. The web-platform provides:
- Access to the Child Participation Assessment Tool (CPAT) and the Handbook on children’s participation for professionals working for and with children developed by the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe prior to the CP4Europe Project.
- Access to new resources developed in the framework of the CP4Europe Project such as the Child-Friendly Version of the CPAT, the CPAT Outcome Indicators, Guidelines for developing a National Children's Participation Strategy, Let’s decide together: a guide for adults responsible for planning for, and engaging with, children in decision-making processes, and a child-friendly campaign package aiming to raise the awareness of national and local authorities on the importance of child participation.
- A Moodle/online training course for professionals working for and with children aimed at strengthening their capacities on implementing meaningful and effective child participation. The Moodle is based on the Handbook on children's participation for professionals working for and with children and contains practical examples and tips as well as videos and case studies.
- Information about opportunities to influence public decision making - within and beyond the Council of Europe - on issues that concern children.
- Limited safe online interaction by child participation professionals and children themselves, and secured data storage, in line with the EU GDPR.
The web-platform has been primarily designed for professionals directly engaged in the CP4Europe Project in the five partner countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Portugal and Slovenia), as follows:
- Professionals interested in learning about and adopting some or all of the Council of Europe tools and training in their own country.
- Professionals interested in practice exchange and networking on children’s participation.
- Professionals and children interested in responding to Council of Europe invitations to contribute views.
The web-platform would also benefit professionals such as Council of Europe staff, European Union institutions (such as the European Commission), government staff, NGO staff, academics, other national and international organisations and networks, civil society organisations. Children may include either individual children or children involved in child participation processes/groups/associations. By association, parents may also be interested in the site.
On 1 July 2023, the CP4Europe Web-Platform was handed over to the Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, one of the partners of the CP4Europe Project, who is now in charge of its management and moderation.
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