Children, defenders of human rights

On July 25-26, APSCF organized a consultation workshop “Children are Defenders of Human Rights”. The workshop facilitated by the Child Rights Information Center (CRIC) was attended by 25 teenagers, selected by APSCF members, who reflected on the situations in which they acted, or wished to act and failed, as human rights defenders.

The work was conducted in the context of the organization by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Day of General Discussion, to be held on September 28, 2018. The Day of General Discussion is an annual event that will be dedicated to international mobilization this year to protect and empower children to act as human rights defenders in general and children’s rights in particular. The theme was chosen to reflect the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 20 years after the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

The workshop discussed the content and importance of national and international documents on human rights and child rights, which means advocacy and communication for the rights of the child, the steps that adolescents have to follow in order to get involved and participate in the process of monitoring children’s rights, who are children and adolescents who defend human and child rights monitoring the respect of children’s rights in Moldova.

The event ended with making recommendations on respect for children’s rights, which will underpin the launch of a national advocacy campaign on the role of children as defenders of their rights. The adolescent group will actively participate in the process of planning and carrying out all the activities of the campaign to be deployed by the APSCF, including setting the purpose of the campaign, messages and action plan.