Children

Adults get to exchange opinions at conferences. Children do not have the same opportunity to express themselves. Nevertheless, they deserve to get a child-friendly seat at the table, have a say and be heard. Their perspectives might be different, but that might make it even more valuable.

Among the pressing human rights challenges for Europe as discussed at the FRA Forum 2024 under a valuable cross-generational perspective, it is worth highlighting insights on election impact, civic space promotion and protection, as well as digitalisation and AI impact.

Welcome to our sixth Curated series, which provides a space to reflect on conversations developed in the context of the Fundamental Rights Forum 2024 in relation to various issues concerning some pressing human rights challenges of our time and the significance of preparedness to overcome them.

The global youth climate movement faces significant challenges, including criminalisation and lack of support from the governments, yet it remains resilient. It is worth exploring India, with the world’s largest youth population, in relation to the youth climate movement at the intersection of right to participation and climate justice.

Child participation is an effective tool to advocate for the rights of children residing in unrecognised or de facto states. In acknowledging the importance of meaningful child participation, it is worth calling for further endeavour for research on the rights of children in de facto states.

Surrogacy is becoming a more and more popular way of having offspring. The lack of proper standards of children’s rights in national law raises the risk of their violation. It is worth looking at how relevant monitoring bodies have addressed such a challenge.

The European Court of Human Rights recently delivered two important judgments ruling that overrepresentation of Roma pupils in schools in North Macedonia and Albania was prejudicial, subtly lowering the threshold for finding this type of segregation discriminatory.

The state is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing and rights of children placed in alternative care. Any misconduct by caregivers must be immediately identified and responded to promptly and appropriately. It is crucial that children have a voice in decision-making.

From January 2023 all children in primary schools in Croatia have the right to a free school meal following the government’s decision to introduce it from the second semester of 2022-2023 academic year, thanks to the Initiative ‘Every Child's Right to a School Meal’.

Kosovo Roma children and their right to education during times of emerging crisis represent the black swan of COVID-19 and distance learning. There is a disparity between the theory and the practice of the Kosovar government to provide equal learning opportunities to Roma children.