Stop Violence Against Children

At the core of this initiative was a collaborative effort to bring together key personnel within various sectors, region-wide, to galvanise commitment and accelerate action to protect children from all forms of violence through a face-to-face gathering as well as a research/publication process. The focus of the Consultation, which was held in Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia), was on various aspects of violence against children in Europe and Central Asia, in particular at home and in the family, in the school environment, in residential institutions and in communities. It was hosted by the Government of Slovenia and organised in collaboration with the Council of Europe, UNICEF, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization and the NGO Advisory Panel for the UN Study on Violence against Children. The Consultation was meant to bring regional voices to bear on the UN Secretary's Study, which will provide a global picture of violence against children and propose recommendations for improving legislation, policy and programmes related to the prevention of such violence and responses to the abuse.

To stimulate exchange of ideas about this process, the Ombudsman drew on information and communication technology (ICT). Specifically, "The Ljubljana Final Conclusions to Act Now on Violence against Children" were posted on the Ombudsman's office website, as was the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC) Submission to the Europe and Central Asia Regional Consultation for the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children". The latter document highlights the ENOC's focus on participation as a strategy: "Children and young people need to know what their rights are and they need places and people they can turn to for help, care and guidance, including in confidence. They have a right to be heard and taken seriously with their questions. They have a right to have their views heard and respected when any decisions are being made, including on child protection interventions....Children must be regarded as the experts and we must seek their voluntary engagement in the planning of all strategies to challenge and eliminate violence..."

Printed material was also a key medium of sharing information from the Consultation. The Ombudsman issued a special issue of the newsletter "Varuh - kako zavarovati svoje pravice" ("The Ombudsman - How to Protect Your Rights"), which is published 3 times per year in an effort to educate people about their rights. Drawing on the experiences and perspectives of Omdudsmen from Croatia, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Luxemburg, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, and Northern Ireland, the Slovenian Ombudsman offered this printed platform to cull together some of the lessons learned from the Consultation. In the Preface to the publication, he urges "promotion of values to change traditional cultures, which do not recognise violence as violence but frequently equate it to a method of education, and which regard the intervention of state institutions as interference in family privacy", as well as "an active policy for preventing violence against children." The resource is peppered with drawings/artwork from children around the world. Click here to access the newsletter in PDF format.

Children, Rights.

The institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman was introduced into the Slovenian constitutional order through the new Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which was adopted in December 1991. On February 21 2001, a two-thirds majority of all deputies in the National Assembly elected, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Matjaž Hanžek as the second Slovene Human Rights Ombudsman, for a period of 6 years.