Expert Seminar on European and international policy agendas on

Full Report

Expert Seminar on European

and international policy

agendas on Children, Youth

and Children’s Rights

–

21 - 23 January 2024

Leuven

Colophon









EU NEEDS YOUTH | 3

Table of Contents

Ocial welcome 7

Follow-up of the Spanish EU Presidency 7

Building on the comparave analysis of child & youth policies at EU,

Council of Europe & UN levels 8

Coordinaon & cooperaon between the EU Coordinator for the

Rights of the Child & the EU Youth Coordinator (22

Jan) 10

How dialogue works – ‘Nothing about us without us’ 10

Integrang child & youth policies at naonal level 12

What research tells us about EU child & youth policies & the potenal

for greater synergies 13

Monitoring implementaon of EU child & youth policies 13

Instuonalising child parcipaon in EU agenda-seng 15

When & how to involve children & youth in public decision-making?

Minimum age policies in parcipatory rights & democracy 16

Mental health support for refugee & migrant children & young people

Reecons on child & youth mental health & access to services 17

Inclusive communies through acve parcipaon 18

Child & youth parcipaon in urban planning – good pracces 19

Child-Friendly Cies – how Leuven secured this tle & what happens

next 19

Construcng Childhood and Youth through policy 22

The rights of younger generaons - a common value base 23

The case for greater coherence 24

EU NEEDS YOUTH | 4

 

Major themac areas for synergy 26

 



 



 

Recommendaons for acon 27

EU NEEDS YOUTH | 5

Full seminar report: Expert Seminar on European and internaonal policy agendas

on Children, Youth and Children’s Rights

Seminar Background



               













              





• 

•           



• 



• 

• 

• 

• 

•             





• 



• 



• 



•  



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 6

•     









EU NEEDS YOUTH | 7

Opening Ceremony – 21

of January

Ocial welcome



• 



• 

• 

• 

• 

Mr Benjamin Dalle











               

             







Ms Marie-Cécile Rouillon 

                







 











Mr Tobias Flessenkemper 



               





EU NEEDS YOUTH | 8



  





Ms María Rodríguez Alcázar 









             





Ms Karen Van Laethem 













Follow-up of the Spanish EU Presidency

Ms Lucía Losoviz, Director General for Children’s Rights & Adolescents, Ministry of Social Rights 









• 



• 

• 

• 

• 

• 







EU NEEDS YOUTH | 9

             



Building on the comparave analysis of child & youth policies at EU, Council of

Europe & UN levels



Ms

Crisna Bacalso – Independent Researcher on Adolescents, Youth, Policies & Human Rights, 

           





               





















EU NEEDS YOUTH | 10

Enhancing Synergy Between EU Child &

Youth Policies – 22

of January

Coordinaon & cooperaon between the EU Coordinator for the Rights of the Child

& the EU Youth Coordinator (22

January)



• 

              



• 

Mr Vanhee 















Ms Rouillon









Ms Sirakova 













              

              

             

EU NEEDS YOUTH | 11







How dialogue works – ‘Nothing about us without us’



• 

• 

• 



Ms Rouillon         









Mr Nicholas Kujala 

  



          



        



          





Mr Spyros Papadatos



















EU NEEDS YOUTH | 12

Breakout discussions 22

& 23

of January

Integrang child & youth policies at naonal level



Alina Seel, Austrian Federal Chancellery









Dorien De Vries, Flemish Department of Culture Youth and Media,





Ann-Kathrin Fischer and Nina Priebsch, Federal Ministry, Germany,







Linda O’Sullivan, Department of Children Family, Equality and Youth, Ireland















• Themac synergies -         

            







• Transion synergies -      







• Cross-sectoral collaboraon and mainstreaming -      



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 13





• Extending protecon for vulnerable groups - 



• Resource eciencies - 



• Opportunies for peer learning –

• Potenal for stronger legislaon -

           





• 





•            



• 

 





• 



• 



• 



• 



What research tells us about EU child & youth policies & the potenal for greater

synergies

Ms Frederike Hofmann-van de Poll 



Dr.

Howard Williamson. 





EU NEEDS YOUTH | 14







Ms Chiara Carla Montà













Dr. Astrid Podsiadlowski, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

       



            











             



Monitoring implementaon of EU child & youth policies

Ms Sladjana Petkovic, EU-CoE Pool of European Youth Research Advisory Group

   















Ms Giulia Salve, UN Brussels Task Force on Youth

             





EU NEEDS YOUTH | 15

      



Mr Pietro Gagliardi, Public Governance Directorate, OECD 





              









Instuonalising child parcipaon in EU agenda-seng

Ms Ana Rizescu, UNICEF Romania 





          





Ms Adriana Negueruela Macias, UNICEF Spain      







Ms Karen Van Laethem, UNICEF Belgium







              









When & how to involve children & youth in public decision-making?

Mr Simon Truwant, KeKi Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre 





           



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 16

Marta Kuljon, European Commission 







• 



• 



• 

• 



Minimum age policies in parcipatory rights & democracy



• 

• 

 Ms Carola Meier 







 Dr Ally Dunhill          











Ms Bacalso





Mental health support for refugee & migrant children & young people

Ms Jolien Potemans, SOS Children’s Villages Belgium       

          



             



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 17

Ms Ronja Ulvfot, Child Helpline Internaonal













Ms Sibille Declercq, Awel 







Ms Aagje Ieven, Missing Children Europe 













               











Reecons on child & youth mental health & access to services

Ms Sarah Meys, Child Rights Commissioner’s Oce in Flanders      





               









Ms Fama Awil, Mental Health Europe 







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











Inclusive communies through acve parcipaon

Ms Mieke Schuurman, Eurochild





 





   



Ms Vica Hortobágyi, SOS Children’s villages Hungary      



              

          





Ms Angie Caruana & Ms Lorella Ga, Malta Foundaon for the Well-being of Society  







               



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 19

Child & youth parcipaon in urban planning – good pracces

Ms Maria Herczog, Family, Child, Youth Associaon, Hungary 







Ms Bena Scharzmay, Wienxtra, Department Stadtbox, Vienna 



           







Ms Mona Meienberg, UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein



             







Ensuring children’s health & safety in public spaces

Ms Gie Van Der Biest & Ms Jessica Vosters, JES Brussels 







Mr Sander Van Thomme, Ghent University,   



















Child-Friendly Cies – how Leuven secured this tle

Ms Imke Pichal, Batalong & Ms Katelijne Wouters former Jeugddienst Leuven   

              

               



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





Closing Plenary - 23

of January



• 

• 



•          



• 



Dr Dan Moxon 

Ms Olena Chernykh       









            



Mr Bálint Karagich



           

              





Mr Benjamin Dalle            











            



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 21









EU NEEDS YOUTH | 22

Conclusions of the General Rapporteur

Construcng Childhood and Youth through policy



            

 









                













               



 













             





               



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 23

The rights of younger generaons - a common value base

              







              































            



             









            











EU NEEDS YOUTH | 24

The case for greater coherence



              

informaon sharing, exchange,

coordinaon, and cooperaon













                

















           









 



             









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







      





















Model of policy coherence between Children, Youth and Children’s Rights





 









 



 



EU NEEDS YOUTH | 26

Major themac areas for synergy

Improving children and young people's parcipaon in public decision making



• 

• 

• 

• 







Development of cross-sectoral policy in response to the voices and concerns of children and young people





• 

• 

• 

• 











Enhanced support for transions from dependence to independence, especially for the most vulnerable children and

young people

                



            









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Recommendaons for acon

•            







•             

    

                









• 

              



•            





• 





• 





           







