On 23 February 2022, the Committee of Ministers adopted the new Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) “Children’s Rights in Action: from continuous implementation to joint innovation” which will guide the work of the Council of Europe over the next six years.
The new Strategy is the fourth in a series of successful Strategies aimed at advancing the protection and promotion of the rights of the child across Europe, in the framework of the programme “Building a Europe for and with Children” operating since 2006. As part of the Organisation’s long-standing commitment to putting the child at the centre of its work, the Strategy was developed through a large consultative process involving national governments, international organisations, civil society organisations and, last but not least, 220 children from 10 member states.
The Strategy identifies six strategic objectives building partly on previous priority areas remaining relevant (“continuous implementation”) and for the other part including new action aimed at responding to new areas of concern (“joint innovation”).
The new strategic objectives are:
- Freedom from violence for all children
- Equal opportunities and social inclusion for all children
- Access to safe use of technologies for all children
- Childfriendly justice for all children
- Giving a voice to every child
- Children’s rights in crisis and emergency situations
The Strategy will be launched in Rome on 7-8 April 2022 at a High-level conference, co-organised with the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, with the aim to engage key stakeholders in the upcoming six-year process of delivering the Strategy.