Children’s rights in crisis and emergency situations: a new Council of Europe priority for 2022-2027

With climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and the continued aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, ensuring and protecting the rights of children in crisis and emergency situations has been designated as a new priority in the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2022-2027, launched at a high-level conference in Rome.

The presentation of the new Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child was attended by more than 300 participants, including young delegates. Among them, as a representative of civil society organizations from Moldova, was Elena Botezatu, Executive Director of the International Center La Strada. Her messages focused especially on the needs of refugee children in situations of increased risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation, but also on the need to strengthen efforts to protect children from online abuse and exploitation:

“I believe that at this time, the recommendations of the Lanzarote Committee are more relevant than ever. (...) We all know that children affected by forced displacement should be protected from all forms of violence, have access to humanitarian aid, to the satisfaction of primary needs, to health, education and social assistance services, including when they are deprived of their family environment. But the main question is how to adjust the system’s response to these crucial needs of children in as short a period of time as possible. Both we as representatives of civil society and state authorities now need guidance and data to respond to these challenges effectively. And I am sure that the Council of Europe can come up with these recommendations, setting new standards and the right framework for ensuring an effective systemic response, to ensure that every child is protected from any form of abuse and exploitation in countries that host a large number of refugee children,” the executive director of La Strada said.

According to UNICEF data, by the end of March 2022, two million refugee children had fled the war in Ukraine in search of safety, across the border. In total, 60% of children from Ukraine were forced to leave their own homes.

The video recording of the conference can be found here: https://cutt.ly/yFvNLkS