CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TODAY

Every child has the right to education, health care, food, play, protection and more. Children’s rights should ensure that every child has the opportunity to achieve the best he or she can. All rights are connected and equally important. Apart from the fact that our rights belong to us because we were born with them, it is equally important that we respect the rights of others.

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN CROATIA

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN’S LIVES:

Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (OG 85/2010)

Law on Ombudsman for Children (Official Gazette 73/17)

National Plan for Children’s Rights in the Republic of Croatia 2022-2026.
The National Plan is harmonized with the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030 (hereinafter: NRS 2030) as the hierarchically highest act of strategic planning, that is, the design and implementation of the development policies of the Republic of Croatia. The national plan is additionally harmonized with the UN Agenda 2030 and the goals of sustainable development.

Family Law (Official Gazette 103/15, 98/19, 47/20, 49/23)

Law on Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (OG 87/08, 86/09, 92/10, 105/10, 90/11, 5/12, 16/12, 86/12, 126/12, 94/ 13, 152/14, 07/17, 68/18, 98/19, 64/20, 151/22)

Law on preschool upbringing and education (OG 10/97, 107/07, 94/13, 98/19, 57/22)

Law on Nannies (OG 37/13; 98/19)

Law on Amendments to the Law on Compulsory Health Insurance (Official Gazette 137/2013, 98/19, 33/23)

Law on Social Welfare (OG 157/13, 152/14, 99/15, 52/16, 98/19, 18/22, 46/22, 119/22)

Law on Foster Care (OG 90/11, 78/12, 115/18, 18/22)

Rulebook on the conditions and procedure for acquiring the right to work in reduced working hours for the care of a child who needs increased care and attention

Rulebook on the rights of parents of children with severe developmental disabilities to take leave or to work half-time to care for the child

Rulebook on the procedure for determining the psychophysical condition of children and students and the composition of the expert committee (OG 55/2011, OG 67/2014, OG 63/20)

Rulebook on elementary and high school education of students with developmental disabilities (Official Gazette 24/2015)

Ordinance on protection of minors in electronic media (Official Gazette 28/15, Official Gazette 106/22)

Law on Protection from Domestic Violence (OG 137/09, 14/10, 60/10, OG 70/17, 126/19, 84/21, 114/22)

Law on Youth Courts (OG 84/11, 143/12, 148/13, 56/15, 126/19)

Decision on the establishment of the Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the prevention of behavioral disorders in children and youth and the protection of children with behavioral disorders

Act on the execution of sanctions imposed on minors for criminal offenses and misdemeanors (Official Gazette 133/12)

Children’s rights are determined by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Croatia signed and ratified in 1991.By accepting the Convention, Croatia undertook to guarantee every child the rights it contains.

Principles

The principle of non-discrimination (Art. 2); Children must not suffer discrimination “regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, developmental disabilities, birth or other status of the child, his parents or legal guardians”.


The principle according to which every child has the right to life and development (physical, emotional, psychosocial, cognitive, social and cultural) (Art. 6); Children have the right to life and development in all aspects of life, including physical, emotional, psychosocial, cognitive, social and cultural.


The principle of the best interest of the child (Art. 3); When making all decisions or performing procedures that affect the child or children as a group, the child’s well-being must be paramount. This applies both to decisions made by governmental, administrative or legislative bodies, as well as to decisions made by the family.


The principle of freedom of expression (Art. 12); Children must be allowed to actively participate in solving all issues that affect their lives and allow them the freedom to express their opinions. They have the right to express their views, which must be taken seriously.

The Republic of Croatia has signed:

  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Complaint Procedures (Official Gazette 2/17)
  • Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Official Gazette 5/02)
  • Optional Protocol regarding the involvement of children in armed conflicts (Official Gazette 5/02)
  • Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Official Gazette 6/07)
  • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Official Gazette No. 6/07)
  • Convention on the Minimum Age for Employment (2017)

NEWS FROM EUROPE

EU STRATEGY OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS IMPORTANT FOR THE LIVES OF CHILDREN ARE:

  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
  • the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Complaint Procedures (Official Gazette 2/17)
  • Optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Official Gazette 5/02)
  • Optional Protocol regarding the involvement of children in armed conflicts (Official Gazette 5/02)
  • Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Official Gazette 6/07)
  • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Official Gazette No. 6/07)
  • Convention on the Minimum Age for Employment (2017)
  • Bucharest Declaration on Children’s Participation in Decision-Making and Policy-Making (2018)
  • Europe as kids want (2019)
  • Children’s Manifesto from Koln – What would child-friendly cities look like if children were mayors (2019)
  • European strategy on children’s rights 2021-2024.
  • Child Guarantee (2021)
  • Strategy for a better Internet for children (2023)

 

THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

 

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on complaint procedures

Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

European strategy for a better internet for children 2023

European Children’s Guarantee

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Convention on minimum age for employment

Bucharest Declaration on Children’s Participation in Decision-Making and PolicyMaking

 

Every child in Europe and around the world should enjoy the same rights and live without discrimination and intimidation of any kind. In the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the Commission addresses ongoing and new challenges and proposes concrete measures to protect, promote and fulfill children’s rights in today’s ever-changing world. Find out more.

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TAKES THE FIRST STEPS TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN!

The European Parliament (EP) adopted by 495 votes to 58, with 87 abstentions, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The resolution clearly emphasizes the urgent need for the European Union (EU) to act in this field, not only because the promotion of children’s rights is an explicit goal of EU policies and enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, but also because children make up 20% of the EU’s population.

Millions of children in the EU live at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

The European Parliament calls on the Commission and the Member States to adopt the Bucharest Declaration on Children’s Participation in the EU which states that “a culture of child participation can be built at all levels: family, community, local, regional, national and European – and can bring short and long-term benefits to society”. It also calls on Member States to increase children’s participation in their legislative processes by creating “meaningful mechanisms for children’s participation, such as children’s councils”.

With regard to investment in children, the EP calls on the EU and its Member States to step up their efforts to combat child poverty and to “consider children as a priority in the programming and implementation of regional and cohesion policies”. Member States are encouraged to “invest in public services for children, including childcare, education and health”. Importantly, the document explicitly “calls on Member States to support the establishment of a European guarantee for children with adequate resources” and emphasizes “the importance of introducing children’s rights and welfare as parameters of country-specific recommendations within the European Semesters and the European Pillar of Social Rights”.

The document also highlights the following important points:

  • the best interests of the child must be at the heart of all EU policies,
  • calls on the “Member States to treat every child primarily as a child”
  • calls for “appointment of a high-level public figure as EU representative on children’s rights”
  • condemns all forms of violence against children, including sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
  • calls on the ‘Member States to guarantee every child the right to education”
  • calls on the EU to “support the transition from institutional to community-based services”.

 

The shortcoming of the Resolution is reflected in the fact that it only slightly refers to the value of early child development in the context of improving the work-life balance. In this way, it is not emphasized that early childhood is a crucial period of life that laid the foundation for child development and misses the opportunity to highlight the support that parents should provide during this most important period.

Given that the adopted text explicitly reflects many of the issues on which Eurochild advocated (such as child participation, tackling child poverty and investing in children) and that the proposal was supported and drafted by five different political groups, Eurochild considers this to be the first important step in this new parliament, to better protect children’s rights in Europe.

Based on this Resolution, Eurochild looks forward to working with the Champions of Children’s Rights and the re-established Intergroup on the Rights of the Child of the European Parliament to ensure that children’s rights are at the heart of policy-making for the 2019-2024 EP mandate.

SourceEurochild organization

NEW EUROPEAN CAPTAINS: WILL THE CHILDREN BE BROUGHT TO EUROPE?

With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the European Union agreed that the promotion of children’s rights is one of its main goals.

In reality, the European Union often ignores children. Even in policy areas that are directly relevant to children, such as the promotion of childcare, economic problems such as increasing parental participation in the labor market take precedence. Since the founding of Eurochild in 2004, the organization has been committed to bringing a children’s perspective to the EU policy coordination cycle. Eurochild has shown that the EU has a key role to play – setting priorities, providing policy guidance, monitoring progress and providing financial incentives for children and young people.

Perhaps institutional change in 2019 is a turning point. Although there are no children’s commissioners in the new EU, a vice-president for democracy and demography, Dubravka Šuica, has been elected to draw up a comprehensive strategy on children’s rights. Together with Nicholas Schmitt, Commissioner for Affairs and Social Rights, she will develop a European guarantee for children, an initiative that has intra-party political support in the European Parliament and growing support from member states.

As EU priorities take shape, children and families – especially those living on the margins of society due to poverty, migration status, disability or exposure to violence – run the risk of falling out of focus.

We cannot afford to lose this opportunity. Governments around the world have woken up amid child welfare for healthy social development. The European Union – as a world champion in terms of human rights and participatory democracy – should be the leading “power”.

Wondering how? Here’s how:

  • Addressing the climate crisis has rightly been at the top of the political agenda. We urgently need a European framework that reflects sustainable development goals that combine social, economic and environmental goals, putting the well-being of children and young people at the center.
  • Second, there is no better way to provide a “people-friendly economy” than to support families with appropriate support and access to quality early childhood education and care, health, education, housing, and nutrition. In fact, Eurochild’s Childonomics study clearly shows that when these basic public services function well and are inclusive, there will be less demand for services that address the consequences of social fragmentation. Homelessness, poor mental health, substance abuse, and violence reflect the failure of our social, health, and education systems to adequately support children and families. That is why the Child Guarantee will send such an important political signal to the Member States as well as offer the necessary financial incentives.
  • Finally, European democracies are under great pressure. Human rights are attacking disinformation campaigns. Some governments openly violate agreed rules of law. “A new impetus for European democracy” should be one of the EU’s top priorities.
 

But will the EU pay due attention to the role of children’s participation? It is a misconception that citizenship begins with voting at 18. The involvement of children in decision-making should begin at an early age. By acting fully participating in the development of children, critical thinking, self-confidence – are necessary in any healthy democracy. The European Commission wants to stimulate a broad debate on the future of Europe. We believe this will include children as well.

We hope that the European Union will bring her heart closer to children.

We still have a long way to go, and we have many challenges ahead of us. But working together we can make a difference – including our UK members whose efforts to promote children’s rights in politics and practice have been and will remain a key source of inspiration across the continent – whatever happens with Brexit! 

Christine Lagarde, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, David Sassoli

Copyright: European Union, 2019