15/12/2005: The meeting of the Intergroup on Family and Protection of Childhood which focused on the "exploitation of children" took place in Strasbourg, on Wednesday the 14th of December under the chairmanship of Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou (EPP/ED). The meeting fostered interventions by Mrs Annachiara Cerri, Head of the Section "Children, Families and the Elderly" of the Council of Europe, Mrs Karin Johansson Administrator at the Department of Crime Problems of the Council of Europe and Mr. Eddy Laurijssen, Director of the Bureau of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Brussels.
During her intervention, Mrs Cerri reminded that 155 million children live in the 46 Members States of the Council of Europe, and that the Organization had taken therefore a strong commitment to promote their rights. Hence, she referred to the programme that was developed by the Council of Europe and which will be launched in Monaco in April 2006, entitled "Building a Europe for and with children" which aims at asserting children's status as rights holders who must be awarded the same respect for their human dignity and physical integrity as adults. In addition, she mentioned the recent recommendations and resolutions which were adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the rights of the child, such as the Recommendation on the " protection and assistance for separated children seeking asylum" and the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly (AP(2005)1 on "safeguarding adults and children with disabilities against abuse". Finally, Mrs Cerri presented the programme "Children and violence" which is currently being developed and which is focused on 4 priorities (4P): Protection of the children, Prevention of violence, Prosecution of criminal and Participation of children.
As far as Mrs Johanssen is concerned, she developed the actions undertaken by the Council of Europe regarding some criminal activities such as the Convention on Cybercrime which contains an article on child pornography. She reminded the adoption by the Council of Europe on the 3rd of May 2005, of the Convention on Action against trafficking in Human beings which is open to the signature of States. Finally, Mrs Johanssen explained that the conclusions of the conferences which were organised by the Council of Europe in July 2005 in Ljubljana in Slovenia on violence against children and sexual exploitation, would serve as a basis for the future work of the Council of Europe in the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
The meeting helped highlight the various types of exploitation of children among which, the worst are bad treatment, negligence, domestic or agricultural work and prostitution. On this regard, Mr Laurijssen mentioned more particularly slavery, the use of children by drug smugglers, forced recruitment of children in armed conflicts and commercial sexual exploitation of children as the worst forms of child labour. However, according to him, there is no need to prohibit all forms of labour but it is necessary to establish criteria on acceptable and unacceptable labour. He also reminded that one should pay particular attention to the contamination of children by infectious diseases such as AIDS. Finally, he addressed the interactions between the ILO standards on child labour and the commitments of States within the UN Convention on the Rights of Children as well as the development of common actions with the UE.
During her intervention, Mrs Cerri reminded that 155 million children live in the 46 Members States of the Council of Europe, and that the Organization had taken therefore a strong commitment to promote their rights. Hence, she referred to the programme that was developed by the Council of Europe and which will be launched in Monaco in April 2006, entitled "Building a Europe for and with children" which aims at asserting children's status as rights holders who must be awarded the same respect for their human dignity and physical integrity as adults. In addition, she mentioned the recent recommendations and resolutions which were adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the rights of the child, such as the Recommendation on the " protection and assistance for separated children seeking asylum" and the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly (AP(2005)1 on "safeguarding adults and children with disabilities against abuse". Finally, Mrs Cerri presented the programme "Children and violence" which is currently being developed and which is focused on 4 priorities (4P): Protection of the children, Prevention of violence, Prosecution of criminal and Participation of children.
As far as Mrs Johanssen is concerned, she developed the actions undertaken by the Council of Europe regarding some criminal activities such as the Convention on Cybercrime which contains an article on child pornography. She reminded the adoption by the Council of Europe on the 3rd of May 2005, of the Convention on Action against trafficking in Human beings which is open to the signature of States. Finally, Mrs Johanssen explained that the conclusions of the conferences which were organised by the Council of Europe in July 2005 in Ljubljana in Slovenia on violence against children and sexual exploitation, would serve as a basis for the future work of the Council of Europe in the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
The meeting helped highlight the various types of exploitation of children among which, the worst are bad treatment, negligence, domestic or agricultural work and prostitution. On this regard, Mr Laurijssen mentioned more particularly slavery, the use of children by drug smugglers, forced recruitment of children in armed conflicts and commercial sexual exploitation of children as the worst forms of child labour. However, according to him, there is no need to prohibit all forms of labour but it is necessary to establish criteria on acceptable and unacceptable labour. He also reminded that one should pay particular attention to the contamination of children by infectious diseases such as AIDS. Finally, he addressed the interactions between the ILO standards on child labour and the commitments of States within the UN Convention on the Rights of Children as well as the development of common actions with the UE.
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