More than 300 EU election candidates pledged to become Child Rights Champions

Together with 15 other NGOs, Eurochild is advocating to create a new Children's Rights Intergroup in the European Parliament

The #VoteforChildren coalition campaign asked European citizens to vote for the candidates that committed to become Child Rights Champions and called on the European Parliamentary candidates to
break the cycles of poverty, invest in children, listen to children’s voices and act on children’s views.

The campaign was signed by 300 candidates, including 3 Spitzenkandidaten (main party leaders):

Frans Timmermans, Party of European Socialists (PES)
Ska Keller, European Green Party (EGP)
Guy Verhofstadt, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

So far, France has the highest number of Child Rights Champion candidates with 33 signatories, followed by Portugal with 26, Spain and Ireland with 22, Italy with 21, Germany with 20 and Finland and the UK with 18.  You can take a look at the interactive map of Child Rights Champions here.

Newly elected Members of the European Parliament, who haven’t yet pledged, are encouraged to become Child Rights Champions! 

Several Eurochild members supported the campaign
Spanish candidates for the European elections met with civil society representatives at the debate organised by Plataforma de Infancia in Spain, while candidates from Croatia and Malta met with children at the roundtable discussions organized by Children’s City Council Opatija and the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. 

The key aim of the campaign is to re-establish the Children's Rights Intergroup.
The Intergroup, previously co-chaired by MEP Caterina Chinnici and MEP Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, will work together with child-focused organisations to promote children’s rights and ensure that the best interests of the child is taken into account in EU internal and external action.

Further info: childrightsmanifesto.eu 
Follow the #ChildRightsChampion hashtag