News
Ombudsmen for children from all over Europe meet in Barcelona and claim more attention for minors with disabilities
The rights' defence of children and young people with disabilities is the main issue of this year's European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) Annual meeting, held in Barcelona and hosted by the Catalan Ombudsman (Síndic de Greuges de Catalunya).
During the meeting it has been also presented an statement on implementation of the UN Study on Violence Against Children recommendations. ENOC is a not-for-profit association of independent children's rights institutions. Its mandate is to facilitate the promotion and protection of the rights of children, as formulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to support collective lobbying for children's rights, to share information, approaches and strategies, and to promote the development of effective independent offices for children.
Established in 1997, ENOC includes today 27 institutions in 23 countries and holds an annual meeting participated by all its members plus some gests observers, such as other ombudsman offices, organizations like UNICEF and institutions like the European Union, the Council of Europe, etc.
Some points of the statement on children with disabilities
ENOC members call upon their governments to ratify, without delay, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its optional protocol and to do whatever necessary to fully implement it. The Convention does not really contain any new rights, but it call on governments to initiate a cultural change vis-à-vis the acceptance of disability as part of human diversity and humanity, emphasising equality, inclusion, full participation and non-discrimination for children with disabilities.
