CHILDHOOD PROTECTION

12/12/2006: Childhood protection: Member States need to adopt dynamic policies.

The need for coordinated action to protect children against exploitation, ill-treatment or violence and to promote their rights in fundamental fields such as survival, health and education was underlined by Mrs Marie Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou, MEP (EPP-ED, GR) during her intervention in the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the occasion of World Children's day.

According to a recent UNICEF study, more than half of the children living in developing countries do not have access to elementary goods and services essential for children. These goods include housing, hygienic infrastructures, basic healthcare, access to education and information, food and drinkable water. The study also indicates that a huge number of children live in low-income households and are obliged to work, many abandon their homes because of armed conflicts, and many are contaminated by various illnesses or die during conflicts. In addition, it is estimated that 15 million children in the world have become orphans because of AIDS.

World Children's day (11th December), aims to raise the issue of rights of children and instances of their violations. The United Nations and more particularly UNICEF, which celebrates its 60th year of existence, have transformed the protection of children into a social necessity and have worked towards it in a responsible manner. In 1959, the UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and established a legal framework for protection against any type of exploitation or negligence. The Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted in 1989 and is yet to be signed by several States, includes rights of survival, development, protection and participation.

The Council of Europe recently (April 2006) launched a program entitled "Building a Europe for and with the Children" which aims at recognising rights for children in order to protect their moral and physical integrity in the same way as for adults. In addition, through its recent Communication on "A European Strategy on the rights of the child", the European Commission adopted a horizontal approach and a global strategy for the protection of children both in the internal and external policies of the EU.

Hoping for a coordination of the actions in the external and internal policies of the EU, Mrs Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou asked each Member State separately to adopt measures in favour of the protection of the rights of children. She underlined that "children are not only threatened by poverty, illiteracy and conflicts outside the EU, but also by violence, committed within our developed countries.