ENOC 18th Annual Conference
Rights of the child and child poverty
Lara Blake
European Commission DG JUST Unit C1
Fundamental rights and rights of the child
October 2014, Edinburgh
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EU Agenda for the rights of the child
• 11 actions completed
• New EU Agenda 2015, subject to new Commission approval
• Evidence-based policy making (data collection)
• Missing children study
• Study on children's involvement in criminal, civil and
administrative justice proceedings
• Directive: children suspected/accused in criminal
proceedings, adoption in 2015?
• Study: UNCRC Article 12 in EU28: evaluate legislation,
policy and practice on child participation
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Child poverty
• 2013 Commission Recommendation "Investing in children:
breaking the cycle of disadvantage"
• Country-specific Recommendations
• EPIC website: evidence-based best practices
• Study: conditional cash transfers
• Europe 2020 + European Social and Investment Funds
• Target: lift 20 million people out of poverty
• 20% of European Social Fund for social inclusion, integration of
young people into labour market, etc.
• European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion
• Interservice Group
• Annual Convention, 20-21 November, Brussels
• Work on integrated child protection systems
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Childcare service development: the
Barcelona targets
• 2002 European Council in Barcelona
• Provide childcare for 33% of children up to three years
• Provide childcare for 90% of children from three to compulsory
school age
• All by 2010
• European Pact for Gender Equality 2011-2020
• Renewed commitment
• Monitoring the Barcelona Targets
• Only six Member States achieved both targets in 2012
• Europe 2020
• 10 Member States received a recommendation on improving
the availability, affordability and quality of childcare services
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Early Childhood Education and Care
(ECEC)
• Policy guidance for funding:
• European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund,
Erasmus+
• Evidence-based policy making
• Studies on staff competence, link between ECEC and early
school leaving, quality in ECEC
• Thematic working group
• 25 Member States plus Norway and Turkey
• Proposal: principles of a quality framework in ECEC
• 5 areas: access, workforce, curriculum, governance and funding,
evaluation and monitoring
• 2014: 10 Country-specific Recommendations
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Funding on rights of the child and to
prevent violence against children
• Rights, Equality and Citizenship/Justice Programme
• Call for proposals
• Capacity building for professionals in child protection systems
• Capacity building for judicial professionals representing children in
judicial proceedings
• Operating grants for formal networks on rights of the child and to
prevent violence against children
• Pilot project (€700k) to fund projects that raise
awareness of children of their rights in the context of
civil, criminal and administrative judicial proceedings
• Daphne/violence against children
• Call to be launched October 2014: child-centred
approaches, bullying in schools, residential care and
detention, FGM
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