Anyone having suffered from a serious health problem knows the anxiety, the frustration, the pain and the other upsetting feelings that may arise when in contact with the health system. It is not difficult to imagine how these feelings amplify when the patient is a child.  A consultation with children carried out by the Council of Europe confirmed that in their contacts with health care professionals, children wish to be listen to, to be respected and to be explained the issues in a way they can understand. Children need a health care system that takes into account their rights, their needs, their feelings and opinions.

As a response to that challenge, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted in 2011 the Guidelines on child-friendly health care. These Guidelines place children’s rights, needs and resources at the centre of health care activities, taking into account children’s opinions and evolving capacities. Creating alignment and synergy between interventions, organisations and individuals is crucial to an efficient child-centred health care. This implies the adoption of an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach, sometimes referred to as a “continuum of care”.

In a nutshell, the goal of the child-friendly health care approach is to embed children’s rights in the health care system to ensure that the right things happen, to the right children, at the right time, in the right place, and using the right staff having the right support, to achieve the right outcomes, all at the right cost.

Newly published brochure on the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly health care and Complete texts including the Declaration issued at the 9th Council of Europe Conference of Health Ministers, Lisbon, 29-30 September 2011

Child-friendly health care: the views and experiences of children and young people in Council of Europe member States, Council of Europe (2011)

General Comment No. 15 on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (Art 24), UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2013)

General Comment No. 3 on adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003)

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Back “All on board – all online”: Council of Europe launches a new Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment

“All on board – all online”: Council of Europe launches a new Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment

On 10 December 2020 - on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day - the Council of Europe held a webinar to launch a new tool: the Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment.

As 1 in 3 internet users worldwide are children, they represent a large group of digital citizens. While they explore the digital environment, children are presented with many opportunities, including access to education material and information, and platforms to express themselves and engage in play. However, children also face many risks online, and can suffer from human rights violations.

To protect children’s rights in the digital environment, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment, which also exists in a child-friendly version. The new Handbook completes these guidelines, by supporting policy makers in dealing concretely with the online rights and protection of children. It will assist the formulation of national frameworks and policies, as well as provide interpretative and practical guidance to ensure the respect of children’s rights online.

The three prominent authors of the Handbook, together with an expert who prepared a closely related Council of Europe Report on children with disabilities in the digital environment, discussed the importance of policy making and presented how the Handbook can be used to safeguard and support children’s activities online:

  • Ms Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom
  • Ms Eva Lievens, Professor of Law & Technology, Ghent University, Belgium
  • Mr John Carr, International Advisor on children’s internet safety and security, United Kingdom
  • Ms Laura Lundy, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom.

 Concept note and programme

 Introduction by Ms Regina Jensdottir, Head of Children's Rights Division, Council of Europe

 Presentation by Ms Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom

 Presentation by Ms Eva Lievens, Professor of Law & Technology, Ghent University, Belgium

 Presentation by Ms Laura Lundy, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom

 Facebook livestream of the webinar

Strasbourg 10 Decembre 2020
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