EU calls for decisive action in global child’s protection effort
November 20, 2015 (JUBA) – European Union (EU) has called for doubled global effort to ensure child’s protection against practices that violate the rights of the child in different parts of the world.
“We are finally entering the much anticipated post-2015 era: leaders from all over the world have committed to goals which shall improve the lives of millions of children. Had we achieved all the goals we had previously set, our task today would be much easier,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday.
It said the road ahead was still long and that the post-2015 era should be different by acting more decisively and consistently to make sure that there will be an impact in the next fifteen years.
Strengthening child protection systems, the statement said, is one of the priorities, as outlined in the new EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy.
“We have launched a diplomatic outreach with a global focus on all forms of violence against children and women and a focus on ending child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting,” it said.
The EU further explained that the current refugee crisis and the dire consequences for migrant, refugee and internally displaced children add a new dimension of urgency. Half of the world refugees are children: they need to be treated first and foremost as children,” it further reads.
Their protection and rights, including their right to education and non-discrimination, it said, must be a priority, including within the European borders. Increasing cooperation between child protection systems could improve their protection when they seek asylum status in the EU.
Despite the global declining trend in funding, the EU has already increased its commitment to education in emergencies, adding they cannot afford to have lost generations of children with no or little education.
Protecting child victims of trafficking and sexual or non-sexual exploitation and enhancing cooperation on these issues with non-EU countries and international organizations are part of the EU strategy.
Promoting children’s rights worldwide requires close cooperation with international organizations and UN bodies. The EU has always promoted such cooperation and keeps reinforcing it.
Global peace and security, the statement added, cannot be achieved without fair and sustainable development and respect for all the rights of all children. “One day they will be adults. The way we protect our world and our children will impact on how they will protect their own world and their own children, in a not-so-distant future.”
The joint statement was issued by Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Neven Mimica, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management and Vera Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, made the following statement:
(ST)