ENOC Chair representing ENOC at Eurochild 2018 Conference

31 October 2018

The Eurochild 2018 Conference “Building a better Europe with children: All aboard!” held on 29-31 October 2018 in Opatija, Croatia brought positive examples of how public decision-makers at local, national and European levels are respecting the right of children to participate in decisions affecting them. One third of the Conference participants were under 18 years of age. Among the other participants there were practitioners, researchers, civil society actors, policy and decision makers, and Ombudspersons for Children. All the participants, of different ages and experiences, were invited to share their stories at the Human Library and to engage with each other in small ‘home’ groups. The Conference was co-designed and co-delivered with children who brought their ideas and perspectives to support their engagement in public decision-making.

The ENOC Chair, Ms. Geneviève Avenard, participated on behalf of ENOC at the final round of a panel debate where after delivering a short speech she spoke about the commitment she will make with regard to the recommendations of the conference and take them back to relevant country authorities and/or organisations thus addressing the young people’s question “How can we make sure that people who are responsible for public-decision making actually reach out to children and can be held to account if they do not take their views seriously?”