This final GUIDE project event will explore how Europe can better protect unaccompanied children, particularly those more vulnerable, with disabilities, trauma, or being separated from their families.

Bringing together policymakers, EU institutions, practitioners, child rights organisations and experts, the discussion will examine current challenges, identify gaps in protection systems, and present recommendations for strengthening child-centred migration and guardianship policies across Europe. Through testimonies and expert contributions, the discussion will focus on practical solutions that can improve protection, inclusion, and access to support from arrival through to durable solutions.

• About 50 participants expected in Brussels, plus online attendees.
• Interpretation will be available.
• Further information, agenda and registration link coming soon.

Background info:
The GUIDE – Supporting Guardians of Unaccompanied Children project is an EU-funded initiative under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) aimed at strengthening the capacity of guardians and professionals working with unaccompanied and separated children arriving in Europe, especially those with disabilities. It brings together organisations from several EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovakia) to develop practical resources, training programmes, and tools that support guardians in providing quality care and protection. Through training of trainers, national manuals, service provider maps, and peer-support mechanisms, the project aims to improve guardianship systems and strengthen cooperation among professionals working with migrant children.

The conference was particularly meaningful not only due to its child-led agenda, but more importantly because children sat at the same tables as adults. In workshops and networking sessions alike, we all sat around the same tables and exchanged ideas on level ground. For some adults, this was in some ways destabilising, to discuss such pressing issues on an equal footing with the children affected by them. The children at the conference were opinionated, fired up, passionate, ready to exchange.

Notably, many conversations kept circling back to age as the limiting, dividing factor. Discussions ranged across topics from social media access to children living in war. Across several different conversations, I noticed adults reaching for comparisons to drinking age or driving age, the idea that if someone isn’t old enough to drink, they shouldn’t be old enough to vote, use social media, or have a say on certain legislation.

I reflect here on how often these conversations are reduced to age, when age is rarely the issue. After all, readiness to vote responsibly isn’t guaranteed by age alone, and plenty of adults are also vulnerable to social media dependency and the risks of the digital world, yet we don’t take these rights away from adults on those grounds. When the same facts hold true for children, though, they’re dismissed outright because of their age, with little interest in the nuance of individual cases, or in levelling the playing field so these spaces are safe and accessible for children from every background.

This tension sits at the heart of the wider issue of child participation. Children are routinely denied a voice, a seat at the table, simply because they are children, welcomed in only when it suits the adults in the room. At this year’s Eurochild conference, we saw the enormous value of inviting children to help build the table, not just sit at it. Children ask us to sit with our discomfort, to question our own norms and practices. They offer perspectives that are essential to how we understand children’s rights.

As Eurochild thanks the 2024-2026 ECC: Abigel, Amina, Arthur, Dario, Faidra, Georgios Efrem, Leon, Lucijan, Oleksandr, Rhythm, Tiana, Tuule for their work, their activism, and their endless motivation, we are inspired by their voices, their passion, and their frustration with the systems that do not listen to them. We continue to commit to bringing children into the spaces where they belong, to asking whether spaces that claim to include children are truly listening, and to staying inspired by the children we work with and for.

See here our recent report on Child Participation, based entirely on consultations with children:  Our voices matter – Children Define Meaningful Participation: Insights from Five European Countries.

From lifelong favourites to recent discoveries, each pick comes with a personal note on why it stayed with us.

• Poor – Katriona O’Sullivan
  Picked by Ally Dunhill, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications – “It gives a powerful, human account of how poverty shapes a child’s life, opportunities and self-worth. But also shows how education, trusted adults, practical support and belief can change a child’s life. It is especially relevant for anyone working on child poverty, education, early intervention or children’s rights because it moves the issue from statistics to lived experience.”
• Ghost Boy – Martin Pistorius
  Picked by Claire Boutry Özkan, Operations Coordinator – “A memoir about a boy, trapped in his own body for years, that shows how love, patience and human connection can give someone hope, while also exploring the challenges of caring for a severely disabled child and the failures of institutional care. Very moving story, but trigger warning for abuse.”
• My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante
  Picked by Brisa Wiklund, Policy, Advocacy and Communications Intern – “This book (and the whole series) reignited a thirst for reading I hadn’t felt since I was 12. Following Elena and Lila from their childhood in a poor, violent neighbourhood of 1950s Naples, through friendship and rivalry, I was gripped so completely that I read until my eyes were red!”
• The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
  Picked by Zuzana Konradova, EU Affairs Coordinator – “Although it was written in the 1960s, its storytelling feels remarkably contemporary. The themes of respect, friendship and love remain as relevant today as ever. It also offers a thought-provoking insight into mental health and the way it was understood and treated then, raising questions that, in some respects, are still relevant today. A powerful and surprisingly timeless read.”
• We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth – edited by Ahmed Alnaouq & Pam Bailey
  Picked by Ciaran O’Donnell, Partnerships and Programmes Coordinator – “Written by a mix of young authors from Gaza over the past ten years. Some contributors started as children and are now adults, some are under 18, and others are young adults. Edited by Ahmed Alnaouq & Pam Bailey.”
• The Notebook Trilogy – Ágota Kristóf
  Picked by Davide Rambaldi, Communications Coordinator – “The story of twin brothers growing up during war, showing how violence and separation shape their lives and erase their sense of right and wrong. The more you read, the harder it gets to tell what is real and what is imagined. Harsh and bleak, but great.”
• When The World Sleeps – Francesca Albanese
  Picked by Federica Marra, Communications Officer – “A collection of ten stories. One of them tells the story of Hind, a child trapped in a car after her family was killed while fleeing. Alone, frightened, and waiting for help that never safely reached her, Hind remains on the phone with the emergency line, her voice becoming a heartbreaking testament to the suffering of children in war. Through her story, the author reflects on the lived reality of many Palestinian children.”
• Solito – Javier Zamora
  Picked by Mieke Schuurman, Director of Child Rights and Capacity Building – “A book about a 9-year old boy fleeing all by himself from El Salvador via Guatemala, Mexico to the USA to get reunited with his parents who fled several years earlier. I found it heartbreaking as it is a journey of hardship, but also about hope, love and compassion from his fellow refugees. It is based on a true story.”
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
  Picked by Juliette Hudson, Event & Child Participation Intern – “One of my favourite books growing up – a fun, captivating read. Christopher takes you along on his adventures, and while the portrayal arguably leans on some stereotypes, it’s still a meaningful and comforting representation of an autistic voice and protagonist.”
• Aya – Marie-Virginie Dru
  Picked by Laure Pailleau, Child Participation and Policy Officer – “I loved how delicately it explores family, identity and resilience. It’s both heartwarming and thought-provoking.”

The Eurochild team wishes you a lovely summer! And meanwhile you’re having fun, do you want to support our work? Donate now! Your donation will help Eurochild make sure that children can shape the world they live in.

On 13 July, the co-chairs of the Special Expert Panel of the European Commission’s President, Ursula Von der Leyen published their report Child safety online: Protecting and Empowering Minors in a Digital World on Monday. The independent report is intended to inform future action by the European Commission and EU Member States. The Commission has announced that it will consider the recommendations and present proposals after the summer.

Eurochild director Mieke Schuurman participated in the 2^nd Special Expert Panel on behalf of Eurochild together with our members Rasmus Kjeldahl from Borns Vilkar (DK), Leanda Barrington-Leach from the 5RightsFoundation (UK)/ Alex Cooney from CyberSafeKids (IE), who are all acknowledged for their contributions.

The report contains many recommendations that reflect what Eurochild and its members have called for, particularly its recognition that social media and other digital service providers retain primary responsibility for children’s safety. It calls for the burden of proof to be shifted to providers, who should be required to demonstrate that their services are safe and age-appropriate for children.

• A harmonised EU-wide access restriction to social media and other digital services, including AI companions, for children under 13. Eurochild recognises the importance of avoiding a fragmented approach across the EU. The report would also allow Member States to introduce additional precautionary restrictions for adolescents over 13. There is a need to ensure that this would not result in unequal access to their rights, protections and digital opportunities depending on where they live in the EU.
• The report also recommends that specific age restrictions apply until key safety design features protecting children and adolescents are introduced by social media and other digital services providers. According to the two co-chairs of the Special Expert Panel, until providers have demonstrated safe and age-appropriate features, therefore complying with EU and national measures, they should not have access to minors.
• Clear safety-by-design and age-appropriate safeguards. The report calls for protection to be embedded into the design of social media and other digital services, including measures addressing addictive features, infinite scrolling, autoplay, persistent notifications and potentially harmful recommender systems. This reflects Eurochild’s call to address the attention-maximising business models and design choices that drive risks for children, rather than placing the burden on children and families to manage them.
• Effective and privacy-preserving age-assurance systems. These should support age-appropriate services and safety-by-design measures. Eurochild underlines that age assurance must be necessary, proportionate, accurate and limited to confirming whether a user meets the relevant age threshold. It must not enable additional profiling or data collection and must always operate alongside wider safety measures, rather than becoming a standalone solution.Adopt measures to ensure social media and other digital services providers have clear obligations to prevent, detect, report and block child sexual abuse online, including in interpersonal communication  – it is recommended that the permanent Regulation to combat CSA) is adopted swiftly.
• Stronger accountability, enforcement and independent research. The report recommends improved cooperation between supervisory authorities, stronger enforcement capacities and better access to platform data for vetted researchers. This reflects Eurochild’s call for independent scrutiny, meaningful researcher access to platform data and more longitudinal, interdisciplinary and child-centred research.
• The report also includes specific recommendations to empower children and adolescents online, such as expanding safe opportunities for minors to actively participate in shaping the social media+ environment; mainstream digital education and literacy; strengthening complaint mechanisms, etc.
• Public investment in support and offline opportunities. The report recommends sufficient public funding and common standards for civil society organisations, Safer Internet Centres, helplines and peer counselling. It also calls for greater investment in safe, inclusive and age-appropriate offline spaces where children can connect, learn, play and build relationships. This is particularly welcome, as governments cannot outsource their obligations to protect and support children to digital platforms.

However, the report places considerable emphasis on parents/carers to support younger children (below 13y). Although it recognises that providers retain primary responsibility and that parents have unequal capacities and resources, its age-specific recommendations continue to rely heavily on parental supervision and control. Eurochild is concerned that this could disadvantage children in vulnerable situations, including children without parental care or whose parents are unable or unwilling to provide this level of support.

Overall, the report represents an important step forward because it recognises that children’s online safety cannot be achieved through age restrictions alone. The EU response must prioritise platform accountability, reform harmful and attention-maximising design, protect children’s rights by design and by default, and ensure that strong legislation is rigorously enforced. Age restrictions must not become a substitute for making the digital environment safe for all children, including those who circumvent restrictions or access services without registering.

Now it is time for action and for the EU to ensure children’s protection and empowerment in the online environment with strong laws that are rigorously enforced.

Next: A more detailed analysis of how Eurochild’s contributions have been integrated into the report will be published in September.

Photo from the 2^nd Special Expert Panel meeting.

Every child deserves to be recognised not only for who they are today but also for how far they have come. This idea inspired “The Path of Good Decisions”, a new initiative by the Croatia for Children Foundation that celebrates children and young people who have made meaningful positive changes in their lives through perseverance, healthy choices and sport.

The initiative builds on the Foundation’s mental health campaign “My Strength, My Path”, which supported children and young people with behavioural difficulties across Croatia. After the campaign ended, the Foundation wanted to understand its long term impact and continue supporting those whose lives had changed for the better.

Working together with ten community based child support centres, professionals identified young people who had become involved in sport, adopted healthier lifestyles and demonstrated significant improvements in their behaviour after participating in the campaign. Instead of focusing on the difficulties these children had experienced, the initiative recognises their determination, resilience and personal growth.

As a reward for their commitment, participants attended the three day “Let’s Play” sports camp, held in Sveti Martin na Muri from 21 to 23 June 2026. Young people from community based child support centres in Osijek, Ivanec, Bedekovčina, Pula, Rijeka, Karlovac and Split participated in basketball, football, beach volleyball, martial arts, swimming and many other recreational activities guided by experienced coaches. The programme also included motivational workshops and team activities that encouraged responsibility, healthy lifestyles, cooperation and self confidence.

For the Foundation, the camp was much more than a sporting event. It was an opportunity to celebrate children’s achievements, strengthen their confidence and encourage them to continue making positive choices in their everyday lives. It also showed how sport can help children develop resilience, build friendships and discover their own strengths.

The project reflects a simple but powerful belief that children should never be defined by the challenges they face. They should be recognised for their progress, their courage and their potential. By celebrating positive stories and investing in children’s strengths, “The Path of Good Decisions” promotes mental well being, social inclusion and hope for the future.

The Croatia for Children Foundation hopes that this approach will inspire similar initiatives across Europe and contribute to a growing understanding that every child deserves encouragement, recognition and the opportunity to succeed.

Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up in a safe, loving and supportive family environment. With this belief at its core, the Croatia for Children Foundation has launched “Parenthood is a Plus”, a national campaign that encourages open conversations about parenthood and the challenges many young adults face when deciding to start a family.

The Croatia for Children Foundation is a Croatian public foundation operating under the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy. Through national programmes and partnerships, the Foundation works to improve the quality of life of children and families across Croatia.

Many young people wish to become parents, yet concerns about financial security, housing, career development and uncertainty about the future often lead them to postpone that decision. The campaign seeks to create an environment in which future parents feel informed, understood and supported instead of pressured or judged.

Running from July to December 2026, the initiative brings together public institutions, professionals, employers, civil society organisations and parents to explore how communities can provide stronger support for families. Through public discussions, podcasts, media campaigns, practical guides and personal stories, the campaign promotes honest dialogue and encourages a more positive understanding of parenthood.

The campaign was officially launched with a public discussion entitled “Is a Baby Boom Possible in Croatia?”, opening an important conversation about the role that families, communities and institutions all play in creating better conditions for children to grow and thrive.

The Foundation believes that supporting parents also means protecting children’s rights. When families receive timely support, children are more likely to grow up in stable environments where they can develop their full potential. By strengthening support networks around families and promoting positive attitudes towards parenting, the campaign contributes to building communities in which every child has the opportunity to flourish.

The Croatia for Children Foundation hopes that this initiative will encourage dialogue beyond Croatia and welcomes the opportunity to exchange experiences and good practices with organisations across Europe working to strengthen families and improve children’s lives.

Despite growing recognition of children’s rights in the European Semester, the EU remains off track to meet its 2030 target of lifting at least five million children out of poverty. Around one in four children across the EU is still at risk of poverty or social exclusion, with child poverty increasing even in several countries with traditionally strong welfare systems.

In its latest analysis of the 2026 European Semester Spring Package, Eurochild assesses the Country Reports and Country-Specific Recommendations for all 27 EU Member States through a children’s rights lens. We welcome the continued visibility of children in the Semester, including stronger references to the European Child Guarantee and dedicated recommendations on child poverty for France, Spain and, for the first time, Italy. Education and early childhood education and care also feature prominently in this year’s recommendations, reflecting concerns over declining basic skills, teacher shortages and unequal access.

However, our analysis also identifies significant gaps. Child poverty, children’s mental health, deinstitutionalisation, digital inclusion and children’s participation remain insufficiently reflected in the Country-Specific Recommendations, while access to quality services and social protection continues to vary widely across Member States.

As negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034) gather pace, Eurochild calls for the European Semester to place children at the heart of EU economic and social governance. This means systematically integrating the European Child Guarantee into Country Reports and Country-Specific Recommendations, strengthening investment in quality services and social protection, and ensuring EU funding contributes to preventing child poverty and promoting children’s rights across Europe.

Read the full policy paper

We send our sincere condolences to Mary’s family, friends and colleagues.

Mary, who was an adoptee herself, fought for the rights of adult adoptees to search for their biological family since the early 1990s. She founded Roots Research Center NGO in 1999 and has since advocated for deinstitutionalisation reform, and took part in a variety of projects, such as the Opening Doors Campaign, as well as networks and coalitions like Eurochild and the EEG (The European Expert Group on the transition from institutions to community-based support).

Mary was a champion of children’s rights. She worked with the authorities to move Greece away from institutional towards family- and community-based care for children and helped hundreds of adult adoptees who were looking for their biological families.

She worked tirelessly to improve the Greek child protection system, apply Eurochild’s vision at the national level, and was a very important member of the network from the first years. Quoting the words of her own team: “She leaves a void that can never be filled. Yet the legacy she leaves behind is both an inspiration and a responsibility for all of us.”

Just to mention an example of one of the last collaborations with Eurochild, in just a few days in 2023, her organisation trained 127 caregivers and social workers, targeting specifically professionals working with vulnerable children.

One of Mary’s last wishes was that, in lieu of flowers or other gestures, people who wanted to honour her memory would consider donating to her NGO so that the work she devoted her life to could continue:

Bank: Alpha Bank
Account Holder: KENTRO EREVNON RIZES AMKE
IBAN: GR6801404150415002002004350

This October, a memorial event celebrating her life and her invaluable contribution will be held. Further details will be announced soon.

In short, free videos, Jonathan distils decades of professional experience into useful tools you can apply the same day: how to get to the root of a problem, how to work out who actually holds the power to make the change you want to see, how to map the arguments against you before you walk into the room, and how to build a theory of change that links what you do to what you want to achieve.

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jonathan.e65
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQTLIUkWT2Vl9HWY_gdn4lw
• Website: jonathanelliscampaigns.com

Children’s participation is increasingly central to policies, strategies, and decisions that affect their lives. But once consultation documents are published, they often remain difficult for children to access and understand: complex language, long reports, and technical formats can shut children out of the very policies they helped shape.

Accessible documents are inseparable from meaningful participation. By reducing barriers and involving children throughout the process, it is possible to create materials that more children can understand, use, and connect with meaningfully.

This guide combines practical accessibility tips with a child participation and inclusion approach, structured like a recipe:

• The Equipment: the people and conditions needed for meaningful results.
• The Ingredients: the essential elements of an accessible document.
• The Method: six practical steps to guide the process from start to finish.

The guide was developed by Eurochild and the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation, building on lessons learned while working with the Eurochild Children’s Council to create a child-friendly version of the European Guidelines on Mental Health and Wellbeing at School, in cooperation with the European Commission.

The aim isn’t a “perfect” document, but one that allows more children to understand, use, and feel included in policy that affects them.

Final version coming in August.