Child rights are law - Romanian Child rights public awareness campaign
International Conference on
Child Rights
Romania ( Bucharest ), 2 and 3 of February 2006
Child Rights, the Role of Families and Alternative Care Policies
Developments, Trends and Challenges in Europe
States Parties to the CRC still face serious difficulties regarding care provision for children in informal or formal fostering, including kinship care and adoption, or residential facilities. The CRC includes a number of articles which serve to make clear States' obligations to support families in their role, and to remove children from parental care only if certain conditions are met. On the other hand, the Convention also requires States Parties to ensure appropriate substitute care for all children who are without parental care for whatever reason.
Despite the thorough attention to this topic within the Convention, and the existence of certain supplementary instruments which provide further guidance on some of the areas covered, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has called during 2004 for the development of “United Nations Guidelines for the Protection of Children without Parental Care”.
Moreover, the last General Discussion Day of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (held on 16 th September 2005 ) debated the issue of “Children without parental care”. Also the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers adopted in 2005 a Recommendation on the rights of children living in residential institutions”. The Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children (held in Ljubljana in July 2005) also had a Panel Discussion on State Accountability to Protect Children from Violence in the Alternative Care System.
This remains unfortunately a highly acute issue – including in Europe – and the exchange of ideas and best practices in this regard could bring an important contribution for CoE Member States to make progress in this area.
Wednesday, 1 st February 2006
Arrival of international guests
Registration of participants
Cocktail
Thursday, 2 nd February 2006
09.00-13.00 Morning Session
09.00-10.30 Opening session
Plenary session
Chairperson : Baroness Emma Nicholson , the European Parliament, Vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Opening statement :
Romanian high level officials:
Ferdinand Nagy, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Gheorghe Barbu, Minister of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family;
Anca Boagiu , Minister of European Integration
Introductory Statements :
Council of Europe : Maud de Boer-Buquicchio , Deputy Secretary General
European Commission: Jonathan Scheele , Head of Delegation of the European Commission in Romania
UNICEF: Pierre Poupard , Country Representative , Romania
Awarding ceremony for the Romanian Students Essay Writing Competition winners - Bogdan Adrian Panait , State Secretary, the Romanian National Authority for the Protection of Child's Rights and Mihai Hardau , Minister of Education and Research.
Short allocution of an Essay Competition winner
Presentation of a short documentary movie – “Apartment 19”
10.30 -11.00 Coffee break; press conference (Beijing Room)
11.00 -13.00 International and European legal standards on child rights, the role of families and alternative care
Plenary session
Chairperson : Monica Octavia Musca , Deputy, the Romanian Parliament, Euro-observer
• Elda Moreno, Council of Europe, Director of the programme Building Europe for and with children : "Advocating for Children's Rights: Council of Europe legal instruments"
• Eugenia Dumitriu-Segnana , European Court of Human Rights: “Case Law of the ECHR related to child rights, role of families and alternative care”
• Sylvain Vité , NGO Working Group on Children Without Parental Care, Geneva : “International Standards for the Protection and Alternative Care of Children without Parental Care”
- Kate Adie (BBC UK ): “The Identity of Foundlings”
13.00-14.30 Lunch
14.30-17.30 Afternoon Session
14.30 National experiences and best practices regarding child rights, family relations and alternative care
Plenary session
Chairperson : Minodora Cliveti , Deputy, the Romanian Parliament, member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Bogdan Adrian Panait , State Secretary, National Authority for the Protection of Child's Rights and Camelia Goleanu , Deputy Ombudsman , the Romanian experience
• Trond Waage , Senior Fellow, Innocenti Research Center , UNICEF, former Ombudsman for Children of Norway, the Norwegian experience
16.00-16.30 Coffee break
• Vessela Banova , Vice-president, State Agency for Child Protection: the Bulgarian experience
• Theodora Bertzi , State Secretary, The Romanian Office for Adoptions: “Adoption in Romania ”
• Evelyn Robinson, author of “Adoption and Loss – The Hidden Grief” and “Adoption and Recovery – Solving the mystery of reunion: “ Adoption Separation – Healing through Understanding”
Debate
Pierre Cornelis explains the contents of each WG and also the methodology that will be followed during WGs
Ending – entertainment ( Tra-la-la theater band will perform a pantomime moment. The scenario is based on child's rights)
Friday, 3 rd February 2006
9.30-12.30 Morning Session
Four Parallel Working Groups
WG1 Family Support Policies in European Countries: Challenges and Constraints
WG2 States' Role in Preventing and Regulating Family Separation
WG3 Children in Residential Institutions
WG4 Other Types of out-of-home care: existing challenges
Each workshop will have a Chairperson, two Keynote Speakers and a Rapporteur.
11:00–11:30 Coffee break
12:30–14:00 Lunch
14.00-17.00 Afternoon Session
14.00–15.30 Working Groups continue
15:30–16:00 Coffee break
16.00 Reporting back from the Working Groups in plenary session
Plenary session
Chairperson : Ioana Nedelcu , Sub-Secretary of State, the Romanian National Authority for the
Protection of Child's Rights
The rapporteurs draw conclusions from the debates held in the working groups
Bucharest recommendations - Bogdan Adrian Panait , State Secretary of the Romanian National Authority for the Protection of Child's Rights
17.00 Closing remarks
European Parliament : Ana Maria Gomes , Member of the European Parliament
Programming for the WGs
WG1: Family Support Policies in European Countries: Challenges and Constraints
Chair : Tone Dolcic , Human Rights Deputy Ombudsman, Slovenia
Rapporteur : Barry Wilson
Keynote Speakers:
1. Virginia Maria Bras Gomes, Head of Department , Directorate General for Solidarity and Social Security, Ministry for Labour and Solidarity , Portugal
2. Gaspar Fajth, Senior Advisor on Global Policy, UNICEF Division on Policy and Planning
WG2: States' Role in Preventing and Regulating Family Separation
Chair: Pierre Cornelis, the Attorney General's Office at the Supreme Court , Belgium
Rapporteur : Mieke Verheyde
Keynote Speakers:
1. Jyothi Kanics , Program Manager “Separated Children in Europe ” Project , Denmark
2. Izabella Popa, Director of Department for Strategies and Programmes, National
Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights, Romania
WG3 Children in Residential Institutions
Chair : Julien Attuil , Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
Rapporteur : Arundhati Sanyal
Keynote Speakers:
1. Bragi Gudbrandsson , General Director, Government Agency for Child Protection, Iceland
2. Andrew Hosie , Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
WG4 Other Types of out-of-home care: existing challenges
Chair: Lemme Haldre, Psychoterapist, Tartu Child Support Centre , Estonia
Rapporteur : Bep van Sloten
Keynote Speakers:
1. Elaine Farmer , Professor of Child and Family Studies, University of Bristol , UK
2. Emmanuel Sherwin , Chairperson of the Youth Committee, International Foster Care Organisation
