We are sharing this opportunity with members in case it may be useful to your organisation. The kits are assembled by employees participating in corporate volunteering activities and are then shipped directly to participating nonprofit organisations. There is no cost to the receiving organisation, and Visit.org indicates that it manages the logistics.

Kits currently available include:

• Children and young people: STEM and coding kits, financial literacy kits and sports kits
• Families and housing: home essentials kits for transitional housing, game night kits and LifeStraw Family water filters
• Health and care: comfort and play kits for children in treatment, and mental health care kits for frontline healthcare workers
• Older people and animals: active walking kits and enrichment toys for shelter dogs and cats

You can view the full range of available kits here

Please note: Eurochild is sharing this information as an opportunity brought to our attention. Eurochild is not formally endorsing, partnering with or recommending Visit.org, and we have not independently vetted the organisation, its programmes or the suitability of the offer for individual members.

Any member organisation interested in pursuing this opportunity should therefore undertake its own due diligence before proceeding. This may include considering relevant safeguarding requirements, the handling of children’s personal data and imagery, any conditions attached to receiving the kits, and whether participation could imply or create any form of organisational endorsement or partnership.

Members should make their own assessment of whether the opportunity is appropriate for their organisation, the children, young people and families they work with, and their own safeguarding and organisational policies.

If the offer interests you, please find more information and contact details here

The webinar will explore how AI affects children’s rights, bringing together research on AI chatbots, children’s development and data protection, alongside relevant EU policy developments.

Register here

According to Civic Space Watch, “attacks on civil society organisation, allegations of non-transparent financing, and accusations of political activity were already prominent during the election campaign”, and on 30 September 2026, the Slovenian National Assembly, without any public consultation, dismantled the NGO Development Fund, putting hundreds of civil society organisations and ongoing programmes at immediate financial risk.

This move could create a potential €5 million gap for more than 300 NGOs that have already signed agreements. The money is said to be redirected to a new fund for the treatment of children with rare diseases. As Eurochild has highlighted several times, anti-rights movements often claim these actions are done to protect children and families.

The Council of Europe also expressed concern about the situation and in open letter called on the government to:

• Reconsider the decision to remove the NGO Development Fund’s dedicated revenue without establishing a sustainable replacement;
• Guarantee full and timely financing of existing contractual commitments, and ensure that no signed agreement is reduced, suspended or terminated as a result of the funding change; and
• Consult meaningfully with civil society organisations and relevant stakeholders on any future reform of the funding system.

In 2021, as reported by Politico, the Slovenian Prime Minister, who served a prison sentence for corruption in 2013, sparked controversy with social media posts “pushing far-right conspiracies in an attempt to discredit the leader of a European Parliament delegation visiting his country”.

According to Deutsche Welle, Slovenia’s LGBTQ+ community is facing a more hostile climate under the current government, which removed the rainbow flag from the Culture Ministry shortly before Ljubljana’s Pride Parade. Activists say anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has grown despite recent legal gains, including marriage equality, while warning that political signals could normalise hostility.

Media organisations also reported intimidation, and the National Assembly threatened to remove funds for public broadcasting.

On 11 October 2026, Slovenians rejected a government bill in a referendum, dealing a setback to the Prime Minister’s reform plans. The bill would have expanded parliamentary inquiry powers and required people summoned to testify to appear immediately, with no court challenge until the inquiry ended.

Futher reading:

• Read about Eurochild’s campaign Fighting Anti-Rights Movements
• Listen to theEurochild podcast episodes on the attacks on civil society and on shrinking funds for NGOs.

From 12 October, ECLAG members and partners across Europe will come together for our Choose to See Them 2.0 2026 campaign, calling for stronger EU action to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation online. We are asking our members and partners to help amplify the campaign.

We encourage you to take a look at our full toolkit. You may copy-paste and publish the proposed (or adapted posts) at the exact same time as ECLAG, to create a momentum. On the last page of the toolkit, you will find options on how to support.

Whatever you choose, your support matters.

Through this FRANET Call for tender, FRA intends to contract at least one organisation in each EU Member State and in the candidate countries Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia, to provide the Agency, upon request, with data and information on a range of fundamental rights issues.

Maximum contract duration: 48 months
Estimated value: 650000 EUR

Deadline: 07/12/2026 16:00 Europe/Vienna

Read more

The EU KIDS Act (“Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy”), proposed by the European Commission in September 2026, aims to strengthen protections for children in digital spaces. The proposal includes new age-access requirements, stronger age-assurance measures, safety-by-design provisions, and greater accountability for digital services, building on existing EU frameworks including the Digital Services Act and AI Act.

The webinar will explore what the proposed legislation could mean in practice for children’s rights and safety online, and what is still needed to create safer digital environments for children across Europe. Short expert presentations will be followed by a facilitated discussion examining progress, remaining gaps and opportunities for stronger action.

Register now

On 1 October 2026, grantee partners from 48 civil society organisations in 9 countries, including colleagues who travelled from Ukraine, met EU institutions and policymakers at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. Four children took part in their own right.

Delivered by Eurochild and Terre des hommes and co-funded by the European Union, Daphne-CHILD has channelled €1.3 million to local projects addressing violence against children. Opening the day, Eurochild Vice President Bruce Adamson called the 48 organisations a rainbow against dark clouds, while Kinga Joó, welcoming participants for the EESC, stressed finding solutions with children, not only for them. Mieke Schuurman, Director of Child Rights and Capacity Building at Eurochild, said: “I am incredibly proud of what Eurochild and Terre des hommes have achieved through the Daphne-CHILD programme, which demonstrates the power of investing in grassroots organisations. Together, we are helping create safer communities where every child’s voice matters.”

Starting with practice

The discussion started with a panel on addressing violence against children with three grantee partners: Tom O’Brien (CASPr, Ireland), the Hintalovon Foundation’s Kid Colleagues group (Hungary), who co-designed and co-led their project, and Tatjana Nikolić (Centre for Girls, Serbia). Tom O’Brien described how a child-led, trauma-informed approach let children turn a conversation about violence into one about kindness; one child’s idea for a kindness protest is now becoming a Kindness Revolution. Tatjana Nikolić explained how women trained as community activists accompany mothers and children to institutions that can otherwise feel out of reach. The Kid Colleagues, who shaped their project’s online free course on children’s rights, reminded the room that children may not be experts in policy, but they are experts in their own lives. Their closing messages: listen with your mind as well as your heart.

From practice to policy

The policy panel, moderated by Mieke Schuurman, turned to the systems needed to support this work. Marie-Cécile Rouillon, Coordinator for the Rights of the Child at the European Commission, said: “The question is: how do we translate children’s rights into reality? The EU legal framework to protect children needs to be supported by policies – such as the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the European Child Guarantee, and the EU Recommendation on integrated child protection systems – and concrete actions. With the CERV Daphne programme CERV-2023-DAPHNE, we wanted to make sure the money would go to grassroots organisations. Civil society organisations are the ones making a difference. The benefit of the project will not stop now, but we will continue building on these good practices.”

Sandra Aigner-Accardo of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights pointed to a gap in what we know, and proposed a European model of child-oriented budgeting to close it: “When we conducted the mapping of the child protection systems in the EU, we analysed promising practices and suggested ways forward as an independent EU body. The most striking finding regarding the financing of child protection systems is that, in many Member States, we simply cannot see how much is spent on child protection. In only half of the Member States did we find a specific budget for child protection. What cannot be measured is hard to manage.”

Kinga Joó, EESC rapporteur for the EU Child Guarantee, presented the new EESC study Breaking the cycle of disadvantage: “To break the cycle of disadvantage, we must act early and address the interconnected challenges facing children and families. Our recent study on intergenerational poverty highlights how economic hardship, family instability, health issues, housing insecurity, discrimination, and limited access to essential services can overlap and reinforce one another. Fragmented action is not enough; we need integrated child-and family-centred support that brings services together for those who need them. Initiatives such as the Daphne-CHILD programme demonstrate the vital role grassroots civil society organisations can play in developing solutions with and for children, and in translating European rights and policies into tangible support at local level.”

Nessa McKevitt shared how the Irish EU Presidency has put the voice of children at the heart of its programme, in line with one of its overarching priorities on Values. “It is important as policy/decision makers that we don’t just listen to children but ensure children’s voices inform matters that impact their lives, and we let children know how their views have been taken on board or not.”

Closing the morning, Rita Skrebiškienė looked ahead to the Lithuanian EU Presidency: “The work presented through Daphne-CHILD reminds us why integrated child protection systems matter. For a child experiencing violence, protection depends on whether someone recognises what is happening, responds appropriately and helps them receive support. This requires cooperation across services and institutions. It also requires knowledge of organisations working directly with children and families. As preparations for Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2027 continue, we intend to encourage discussion on how European commitments can translate into more accessible and coordinated support for children.”

Lessons from re-granting

After an afternoon Human Library, where participants heard grantees’ stories first-hand, the closing roundtable asked what re-granting can teach the EU. Chrisoula Arcoudis of DG Just called it a clear policy choice: resources must reach the communities where children live and learn. Re-grantors from the Bodossaki Foundation, Educo, MODS, World Vision Romania and Eurochild shared what makes it work: adaptive grantmaking practices, capacity building, peer learning, and trust between funders and local organisations.

What comes next

• -> Watch grantee voices from the day in the conference video, and see photos on Flickr.
• In the coming months, Daphne-CHILD will publish a guidebook capturing results and practices developed from the grantee projects, building on the Children at the Centre handbook.
• We have begun working with external evaluators to evaluate and capture learnings from this re-granting programme, due to be published in March 2027.
• Follow the programme at daphne.childhub.org and on social media with #DaphneCHILD.

Every child has the right to participate in decisions that affect them. But if a document is difficult to read, understand or navigate, it can become a barrier to participation. That is why Eurochild, in collaboration with the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation, is launching a new practical guide to help organisations create more accessible documents.

The guide provides simple, practical advice on how to make written and digital information easier to access and understand. It looks at different aspects of creating a document, including language, structure, layout and visual presentation. Rather than requiring organisations to completely rethink the way they work, the guide focuses on concrete changes that can make information more accessible to a wider range of people, including children.

Importantly, the guide has been developed with children experiences and perspectives in mind. Their input has helped highlight the barriers they can face when information is too complex, unclear or not presented in an accessible way. This reflects an important principle of child participation: if we want children to have a meaningful say, we also need to make sure they can access and understand the information they are being asked to engage with.

Accessibility is therefore not an additional step that comes with participation. It is part of creating the conditions for meaningful participation in the first place. Whether children are being consulted, involved in developing a project or taking the lead, they need information they can access and use to make informed decisions and express their views.

With this guide, Eurochild and Learning for Wellbeing Foundation hope to support organisations to identify and remove some of the barriers that can prevent people from accessing information and participating fully. Making our documents more accessible is one practical step towards making our work more inclusive and ensuring that more voices can be heard.

Download the Guide here

Eurochild member, The Smile of the Child is dedicated to protecting and supporting children and their families. Inspired by 10-year-old Andreas, who battled cancer from a very young age, the organisation continues to carry forward his vision of a world where every child can live with dignity, hope, love and a smile.

On the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, Smile focused on the importance of prevention, early recognition, immediate intervention, and meaningful support for children and young people experiencing psychological crises, suicidal ideation, or non-suicidal self-harm.

The organisation’s latest figures highlight the growing need for such support. In 2025, it recorded 764 incidents involving suicidal and non-suicidal self-harm behaviour. During the first half of 2026, 491 more incidents were recorded, followed by an additional 345 cases during the summer months, from June 1st to August 31st, 2026.

According to the LifeLine International Network, which The Smile of The Child is a member of, suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15–29. During the first half of 2025, members of the network received approximately 10 million calls and communications, while around 100 emergency rescues of people in immediate danger were carried out each day in cooperation with police and emergency medical services.

Faced with this reality, Smile has developed a comprehensive network of free services covering the entire spectrum of crisis management.

Helplines and hotlines offer immediate help and support 24 hours a day. They constitute a key tool for direct communication with children, adolescents, parents, educators, and professionals through the National Helpline for Children SOS 1056, the European Helpline for Children and Adolescents 116111, the European Helpline for Victims of Crime 116006 and Chat 1056. These services are free, operate 24/7, 365 days a year and allow for anonymous communication.

When a child or young person is in immediate danger to their life or safety, our intervention is not limited to providing counselling support. The Smile of the Child activates, where necessary, the relevant authorities makes the necessary referrals to ensure the child’s protection and collaborates with agencies such as the Hellenic Police Cybercrime Unit, the Hellenic Police Emergency Response, the European Emergency Number 112 and the National Emergency Medical Service 166.

Through its own House of the Child Psychotherapeutic Day Center, specialised psychotherapeutic support is provided to children and adolescents facing serious mental health challenges or who have experienced trauma.  At the same time, the Mobile Psychosocial Support Unit helps provide psychosocial care services.

Last but not least, The Smile of the Child implements interactive prevention and awareness-raising initiatives aimed at children and adolescents, parents and guardians, educators, professionals, and the general public.

For further information, please contact:

• Maria Koutsantoula, Psychologist, Help/Hotlines, National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, The Smile of the Child
• Chrysofili Kontou, Psychologist, Day Centre ‘House of the Child’, The Smile of the Child

Brussels, 22 September 2026 – In just two years, the GUIDE project equipped hundreds of guardians and child protection professionals across Europe with practical skills, peer support and specialised tools, helping to address critical gaps in the support available to unaccompanied children.

Every year, thousands of unaccompanied children arrive in Europe seeking safety, making strong guardianship systems, well-trained professionals and effective cooperation essential to ensuring they receive the protection and care they need.

To respond to these challenges, the GUIDE (Supporting Guardians of Unaccompanied Children) project worked with professionals in Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Italy and Poland, developing practical resources and recommendations to strengthen child protection and guardianship systems. These included service maps, national manuals, training programmes, peer-support Listening Circles, webinars and policy recommendations.

On 1 September, partners held a hybrid final event, Children Navigating Migration, at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels to share testimonials from guardians and children and to explore how Europe can improve child protection systems. While guardianship systems change from country to country, better coordination, stronger policies and funding, and greater government support are key to improving systems across Europe.

After two years, the project has contributed to stronger support systems for unaccompanied children and those working to protect them. Here are some of the achievements on the ground:

• In Bulgaria, GUIDE helped create a sustainable professional support network, engaging nearly 100 practitioners in Sofia, Ruse, Burgas and Stara Zagora through training and peer-support initiatives that continue beyond the project’s lifetime.
• In Greece, GUIDE trained 300+ guardians and professionals, nearly four times its national target, and strengthened cooperation between frontline services and public authorities. More than 60 people attended the national event.
• In Italy, GUIDE supported more than 60 professionals and developed national recommendations, co-created with public institutions, civil society organisations, academics and experts, helping to advance more coordinated and effective guardianship practices across the country.
• In Poland, several participants reported that the training and certification helped them secure positions in residential care facilities, including homes supporting children evacuated from Ukraine. The project also established five support circles for guardians, fostering peer learning and collaboration so effectively that participants requested their continuation beyond the project’s end.
• In Slovakia, GUIDE trained 50+ professionals, engaging 60+ participants through 36 peer-support Listening Circle sessions, and bringing together 70+ stakeholders through policy and awareness-raising events to improve coordination, training and long-term support systems.

This project demonstrates that improving cooperation between stakeholders can make a meaningful difference in the lives of unaccompanied children. All the GUIDE tools and resources will remain available to support future efforts to build more inclusive and effective child protection systems across Europe.

Download the resources and watch the short documentary