Children’s Day: EU, “ensure that no child is left behind and that the rights of every child are protected, everywhere and all the time”

“Children’s rights are universal human rights”. This is according to a joint statement released today by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. The EU’s commitment to ensuring the protection, promotion, and respect of the rights of the child is both “a Treaty objective” and “a core commitment”. Yet in the EU, one in four children is still at risk of poverty and social exclusion, the Commission went on to explain in the statement, which lists the steps taken in protecting young people and children: from the “European Child Guarantee”, which should ensure free and effective access for children in need of education and care and adequate housing, and the establishment of an EU children’s participation platform, to the strategy for a Better Internet for Kids, the proposal for a regulation on preventing and combating child sexual abuse online, and the first Youth Action Plan in EU External Action. In the area of education, the EU does not spare any efforts, even at a global level. Indeed, it is supporting 7.5 million Ukrainian children, ensuring that students inside Ukraine and newly arrived in EU Member States can access online educational resources in Ukrainian. “The EU will continue to work tirelessly with its international partners”, the statement concludes, “to ensure that no child is left behind and that the rights of every child are protected, promoted and fulfilled. Everywhere and all the time”.
Sarah Numico