How far has Germany come in implementing the European children's rights strategies?
Eurochild member, the German Children's Fund (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk), has been examining how Germany is implementing the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child. Its findings, examples of good practice from across Europe and the remaining challenges are now online.
The project, started in 2024 and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ), covered six thematic areas:
- equal opportunities and social inclusion;
- protection from violence;
- child-friendly justice;
- giving every child a voice (participation);
- access to and safe use of technologies and children's rights in crises and emergencies.
- It mapped state and state-funded measures at the federal and Länder level from 2021/2022 to March 2026, including laws, programmes, studies, networks and campaigns.
The analysis was supported by three expert rounds (in early 2025), a focus group with young people on participation (summer 2025) and four expert interviews on child-friendly justice (winter 2025). The project results reflect the status as of March 2026.
Key findings
- Social inclusion: Child poverty has increased slightly, and social background still largely determines educational success. More Länder now support local poverty-prevention networks, even though their implementation is not consistent.
- Protection from violence: Staff shortages and federalism remain obstacles. There are ten federal states which have state-level strategies for child protection; however, there is no national overall strategy against violence.
- Child-friendly justice: New laws and more information materials exist, but comprehensive evaluations and data on their implementation are still lacking.
- Participation: Participation structures have been strengthened but vary between Länder; the voting age for the EU Parliament has been lowered to 16; however, at the federal level it remains at 18.
- Access to and safe use of technologies: In Germany, AI is already being tested in specific programmes designed to protect children and young people from harmful media content. One example of this is AI-powered age ratings for streaming services. However, while applying the EU AI Act on national level, a child rights-based approach must be closely monitored.
- Crises: Refugee children face clear setbacks: stricter residence rules, cuts to benefits and delayed access to education.
During the digital closing event of the project, young participants from Germany brought up that the European children's rights strategies are lacking visibility for young people.
The project website presents each thematic area in three sections: “Measures”, “Good Practice in Europe” and “Challenges”. It also links to the Council of Europe's Child Participation Assessment Tool (CPAT), which the German Children's Fund piloted in Germany.
Contact: Defne Keltek, Project Management, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk – keltek@dkhw.de
